Meet Musician Jon Worthy

August 17, 2026 Jason Shrum

Someone once told me that in order to hone your skills in the music business you need to get out of your comfort zone and travel to new places. Playing your hometown crowd in the very beginning is of course helpful but to truly cut your teeth you need to get on the road. I have never been a musician, but I was a standup comedian for over a decade (don’t ask me to say anything funny), and I can completely relate to this take. One has to get uncomfortable because it helps you get better at your craft and honestly, it helps you write more solid material. In speaking with singer/songwriter Jon Worthy, I got a sense that this is his exact approach. To sit still is to get stagnant, and this dude never sits still.

Jon is a grinder. A hustler is the greatest sense. A go getter of all things and he will not be bogged down by the way that the music industry is dictating how you should go about your tactics. Go back to 2019 when he played 121 shows – including a handful of festivals such as Musikfest. In 2020 (you remember that beautiful year), Worthy pivoted to recording and production where he set up a studio in his house and began releasing self-produced tracks. Songs such as “She’s Alright,” “Remember When” and “I’ll Be Ok” were released at that time. Worthy has also worked with several prominent names including Lincoln Parish (Cage the Elephant), Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes) and Arlie. Also, in 2019 Worthy released his third full-length album called Something’s Gotta Give. This album veered towards more of an indie-Americana-folk blend than his prior releases. The album has amassed well over 300K streams and radio play across the country including heavy rotation on Nashville’s Lightning 100.

Another friend (that completes the two I have) told me that “you can find the means”. Meaning do not let money control what you are capable of. Go travel and see the world. You’ll find it is actually a lot easier than you think if you don’t let materialistic constraints tie you down. When we first started talking Jon told me, “I am doing a 6-week tour across Chile and Argentina starting August 26th. I also just completed an 11-show tour across Europe in Denmark, Germany, and Poland. I do all my own booking, planning, scheduling, and funding. It’s all about my love of performing, connecting with people via music, and my desire to travel and experience as many cultures and people as possible. I’ll also be doing a number of collaborations with some Argentinian artists while I am there including 2 brand new songs with some Spanglish lyrics and a music video.”

I was immediately drawn into the work ethic that goes into creating a tour and experience like this. He did say, “I make money by producing songs for people, writing songs for people, singing songs for people, and mixing/mastering songs for people. I’ve also had hundreds of songs in shows on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and continue to get royalties. I make a little bit of money when I tour that helps cover the costs on the ground, but not even close enough to cover the total cost of the tour”. However, that also takes a dedicated craftsman. Nothing has been handed to him. Here is some more from our talks:

I am hearing a lot of Americana overtones in your musicianship. Are you okay with this label or how would you describe your music?

I think certain songs of mine certainly have some americana in them, particularly my album. Something’s Gotta Give which was written with the intention of being more in an americana style. But Yes, I like to say that my music sounds like if Nirvana had a baby with the Lumineers so there is certainly some acoustic/songwriter/americana vibes!

I see that you tour a lot. Tell us what touring means to you? At Rock Oracle we often say that we are bringing people together through music. Can you explain the importance of human connection?

Connecting with people via my music is truly what it’s all about. To have people hear my music which is an extension of me as a person and be moved by it is a very surreal feeling. It’s one thing to release a song, but to be able to perform it and tell the story behind it and put physical emotion into the performance of the song adds a whole new element to music and that’s where the amazing connection of a live show comes from.

You just got off an 11 show tour across Europe in Denmark, Germany, and Poland and now you are getting ready to do a 6 week tour across Chile and Argentina starting August 26th. Tell us about that last tour and what you expect from this next leg of your journey?

I do all my own planning, booking, scheduling, and funding. I got back from a 3 week South American tour in early April, and I felt a sense of anxiety over not having something big planned over the summer. So, I googled the cheapest one-way flight to Europe I could find, which was Copenhagen, and I booked the flight and told myself I was going to book a European tour. I had no contacts, no real idea of where to even begin, but I did some basic research, sent hundreds of emails and messages and I was eventually able to string together an 11-show tour across Denmark, Germany, and Poland. It was an awesome experience. I met so many cool people, played some great shows, and I got to eat and travel all over Europe, which are two of my favorite things! I received several messages from people who came to my shows about how much my music and performance moved them. And like I said earlier, that’s truly what it’s all about. To be able to come across a total stranger, perform your music, and move them emotionally is a powerful feeling. South America is going to be wild! This will be my third time there in 9 months. I love it there. The people of South America, in particular Argentinians, are some of the warmest people on the planet. I’ve made so many friends and contacts in such a short amount of time, and I don’t even speak their language! I will be playing 24 shows over 6 weeks including 3 shows in Chile and the rest all over the country of Argentina. I will have different friends in each city that will be my band, and they will learn my songs, so it ends up being a little different every night, which is really cool. This will also be the longest I’ve ever been away for one time by quite a margin, so overall it will be a truly unique experience.

Our readers would love to get to know you better as well. What are your earliest memories of music impacting your life and when did you know you wanted to be a full-time musician?

The reason I started playing the guitar was after watching VH1’s Behind The Music “Guns N Roses”. I fell in love with Slash and the very next week I started taking guitar lessons. My dad really loved music, so going to my first shows with him was always special. When I went to college, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands and also not many friends so I would spend a lot of time playing guitar, beginning to write songs, and just in general making music more important in my life. In my final year of college my band was able to get a weekly gig at a bar and while doing those gigs, I fell in love with performing. It was around that time that I realized music would probably be a big part of my life moving forward. I didn’t even consider being a full-time musician or really even have that as something I thought about until 7 years ago and fortunately about 4.5 years ago, I was able to make the leap to full-time musician. I hear many singer/songwriters complaining about having to deal with social media, algorithms, and aspects that don’t necessarily have anything to do with making music but seem to be necessary these days.

Can you share with us the toughest obstacles of being in the music industry today? Thoughts on social media platforms?

I think building a fanbase is by far the single most challenging thing. Getting people to consistently care about you and your music enough to either come to your show when you’re in their city or buy your album or consistently watch your social media videos is mind-blowingly difficult. And ultimately to be successful as an artist you need fanbases all over. You need to be able to have at least a dozen markets where you can play a killer show or sell your merch or get consistent viral views on your videos. I think social media is an amazing platform to share your art and potentially get fans, but it’s extremely saturated and when you start posting and sharing everything about your art/life, it becomes exhausting and, in my opinion, unhealthy.

What does the songwriting process look like for you? Are you completely DIY? Do you record, mix, produce yourself?

At this point I’ve done most forms of songwriting. The most common way has been just me writing on my acoustic guitar and then eventually building the song out, but I’ve done a bunch of co-writes that include just toplining a track which means coming up with melodies and lyrics over an instrumental, to co-writing the music and lyrics with someone, to doing more of just the music and the other person doing the lyrics. It really just depends on the situation and the song! Now I mostly do my own production/mixing, yes. But I still do a lot of collaborations as well, so that is a mix of people doing different things.

What advice might you give to those trying to cut it in the industry today?

My only advice would be to not listen to what people say you should be and just be yourself and do your best to do things your way. That’s ultimately what’s going to draw people to you is your own unique vibe, so don’t hide that.

Band or solo? Which do you prefer as a performer and/or in the studio?

I do both quite a bit! I greatly prefer performing with a band live. So much more energy and it’s way easier to capture a crowd when drums are involved. Especially if they don’t know your music which is pretty much every show I play lol! But in the studio, I prefer to work by myself. I come up with my own ideas on my own time.

Who are some people that you look up to in music today?

I honestly live in my own little bubble and don’t really pay attention to what anyone else is doing lol, but in general people that find ways to be themselves and achieve what they want to achieve is always something I am envious of and something to be greatly admired.

What is your desert island record? One album you can’t live without?

I think if I had to choose one, I would choose a Beatles album. Maybe Abbey Road. The variety and the timeless songs make it tough to beat.

Where do you see yourself next? More tour dates? Recording? Writing?

The answer is always all the above. I don’t really go through seasons like a lot of people. I always just try to do whatever is available and whatever makes the most sense. I don’t like to set time aside just for one thing. I see myself continuing to travel the world, releasing music, making more songs. I will say, my second vinyl release and 5th album “Where To Now” will be out in 2027!

Going through Worthy’s catalogue, I find him to be quite endearing and very emotive with his songwriting, and his voice is captivating to the ear. It is sensational production that lends to enjoyable listening. With Jon, you get honorable principles within the structure of the lyrics. It’s a blend of the 1970’s sound that is threaded with that modern twirl. When watching his live performance videos on YouTube I am also drawn to his infectious energy. He has an image that is easy to follow and I cannot wait to catch him live the next time that he is back in Nashville. Hell, maybe I’ll head to Chile and/or Argentina to watch him perform. Like I said, it’s not that hard to do. I just need someone to watch my dog.