Jon Brooks

Toronto singer/songwriter Jon Brooks is the latest in a long, honourable –and depleting — line of folksingers who write and perform to further the cause of social justice. 

The 13 songs comprising Ours and the Shepherds offer a clear-eyed, sharp-minded and big-hearted series of snapshots of Canada at war, encompassing the two world wars, Korean War, conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda and mission in Afghanistan. Brooks has deep compassion for the men and women who are wounded — psychologically and spiritually…

Rating: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4) 

Twelve songs – originals except for World War I Canadian veteran Frank Dixon’s poem “Cigarettes”, which Brooks’ has put to music – examine the Canadian experience of war from 1914 to the present through the eyes of characters that inhabit this gifted Toronto singer-songwriter’s imagination, or are drawn from published accounts in newspapers and journals. Though Brooks’ evocative work chronicles emotional, spiritual and corporal pain, it is neither a cry of protest nor…

When Jon Brooks was growing up in King City, he was more concerned about delivering his newspapers than world events. 

“I delivered papers, skipped classes, dislocated shoulders in the King arena, carried out bags of groceries at the IGA and made lots of necessary adolescent mistakes.” 

Two years of washing dishes at Hogan’s give him plenty of time to reflect on his place in the world and he eventually found it in music. 

He describes himself now as “a troubadour wholly devoted to the song as being a…

The vast majority of CDs received by this scribe are clearly designed to entertain or titillate. Not so Ours And The Shepherds, the brilliant new disc from local songsmith Brooks. He aims to educate us, via a collection of songs that examine Canada’s war experience, from the Second World War to the current and likely ill-fated Afghanistan mission. Given the continued blurring of the truth from our politicians and military leadership, his timing is impeccable. Brooks personalizes the stories of the soldiers…

Rating: NNNN 

CRITIC’S PICK 

It’s hard to believe, but there’s more going on in Toronto than just indie rock. This city has a thriving folk scene, and it’s a shame more stoic indie kids aren’t heading to Hugh’s Room to hear 40-something guitar-slingers peddle their organic tunes. One such musician (though he’s still under 40) is Jon Brooks, a wandering folkie who’s spent time playing in Poland and Bosnia. His new record is full of simple but infectious guitar tunes about Canada’s history with war. Tunes…

No Mean City 

Exile 

* * * * (4 STARS) 

If you’ve ever waited for the all-night bus to take you home after putting in overtime on the Friday late shift at a downtown bar, you’ll know where this former Norge Union organist and Richmond Hill native is coming from. No Mean City reflects on a bittersweet homage to life in the urban world – namely, Canada’s largest city. While the music itself isn’t anything you haven’t heard before (the acoustic guitar and harmonica on How Good It Is To Love Someone, How…

‘Oh great,’ I thought, ‘another bloody singer-songwriter.’ But, as I’ve learned before, never judge a book by its cover. This is a startlingly simple CD, which proves that if you have solid content you don’t need much else. It is made up of songs about living in a Toronto that remains unseen by the casual visitor. Back alleys, mean streets, dollar stores, bars, cheap hotels, low rent apartments and such-like form the scenarios through which Brooks’ characters move, sometimes desperately, sometimes…

This is certainly no typical singer-songwriter release, as Toronto-based Brooks has one ambitious concept in mind. In his own words, No Mean City bears witness and indictment to the modern urban disaster as seen through Toronto’s example. A well-travelled troubadour (formerly leader of the Norge Union), Brooks had planned to write a novel about the city before deciding on a musical forum for his thoughts. The result is a highly literate, musically sparse work of true grit. Some tracks are totally solo –…

No Mean City – 

Equal parts folk-blues record and literary piece, No Mean City is a bittersweet love letter to Toronto, though often more bitter than sweet. Local singer-songwriter Jon Brooks has crafted a sparse, thoughtful and eloquent collection of stories that cast light into some of the dark corners of urban life. Political without being preachy, Brooks’ roughened vocal delivery invokes shades of Tom Waits or NQ Arbuckle. The understated acoustic instrumentation aids the flow of the songs in an almost…