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JJ's musical journey began in the desert Southwest. Born in El Paso, Texas, he started playing cello in grade school and picked up the guitar at 15, playing in several area rock bands. JJ recorded his first album with local band Arrival in the early 1990s and began studying jazz fundamentals on both upright and electric bass.
JJ's love for jazz led him to Dallas in 1994, where he studied at Brookhaven College. Before long, he was invited to join the then-unknown band Sixpence None the Richer. Leaving his scholarship behind, JJ hit the road with the Austin-based group, gaining valuable musical and road experience across several albums and hundreds of dates at clubs, theatres and festivals around the world. "Alisha's First Step" a track from Sixpence's album Tickets for a Prayerwheel, was the first song he wrote for the group.
Following several accomplished years with Sixpence, JJ exited the band to join Plumb in 1996. For the next two years he toured extensively with Jars of Clay on the Bubble Makers Dream Tour. After visiting all corners of the U.S. JJ decided to pursue his own musical voice and departed Plumb for Nashville as a studio musician, where he picked up new skills from the city's rich tapestry of songwriters, recording engineers and producers.
Before long the Lone Star State began calling JJ back home. In 1999 he moved to Austin where he took up residence at Gateway Community Church as its director of music. That same year, he also finished his debut self-titled album featuring such musical compatriots as Mark Nash (PFR), Dale Baker (Sixpence), and Tiffany Arbuckle (Plumb). Critical acclaim for the album earned JJ a chance to play the massive Cornerstone Festival.
Today JJ continues to perform with national acts as Fernando Ortega, Derek Webb, Sandra McCraken, and Kim Hill, as well as established Austin acts like Malford Milligan and Wide Awake. A first-call engineer and producer (Hot Pepper Studio), his production skills have been noted on local award-winning albums, and most recently he produced and performed on Wide Awake's Live at the Lucky Lounge.
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