Jon Auer

All Music Guide:

Jon Auer is co-founder of one of the most critically acclaimed power pop bands of the '90s, the Posies, formed in Bellingham, WA, with Ken Stringfellow. The two created a demo tape in Auer's parents' basement and sent it to PopLlama Records in Seattle; the tape was well received and they released it as their first album, Failure. They signed with David Geffen's DGC label and released three albums that were revered by music critics but went unnoticed by the general public. Upset that the Posies weren't selling as well as DGC's other Seattle-based bands, the label dropped them after the release of their third album, Amazing Disgrace. The Posies went on to release a final LP, Success, on PopLlama Records, before they broke up in 1998. Both Auer and Stringfellow joined Alex Chilton's Big Star in the early '90s and have toured off and on with them as well.

Auer moved on to several different projects after the end of the Posies. He released his first solo EP, The Perfect Size, and began to play in two Seattle bands, Lucky Me (who toured with the Posies before they broke up) and Jeanjacket Shotgun (formed with Posies bassist Joe Skyward). Auer and Stringfellow released a post-Posies EP, Nice Cheekbones and a Ph.D., in March 2001, and joined up for a sometimes acoustic re-formed Posies tour the same year. Auer released his second solo EP, a collection of cover songs called 6 1/2, in 2001. Jeanjacket Shotgun released their first album the same year.

In 2005, The Posies released Every Kind of Light, the band's first full-length studio album since disbanding in the late '90s. Interestingly, that same year Chilton released In Space his first album under the Big Star name since reforming the group with Auer and Stringfellow. A year later, Auer also released his first full-length solo studio effort Songs From the Year Of Our Demise.

Wikipedia:

Jonathan Paul "Jon" Auer (born September 29, 1969) is an American musician who co-founded the power pop band The Posies, along with Ken Stringfellow. Auer and Stringfellow have also been a part of the rejuvenated Big Star.

Auer was a founding member of Sky Cries Mary. Auer was also a member of The Squirrels, Lucky Me, Jean Jacket Shotgun and Chariot.

As a solo artist, Auer has released an EP, , and a full-length record on the label Pattern25 called Songs from the Year of Our Demise.

Auer is also a record producer. He has worked with bands such as You Am I, Monostereo, Cheap Star, Love Battery, Redd Kross, Truly, The Melismatics, and Tad.

In 2003, Auer and Ken Stringfellow released Private Sides, a six-song split EP (Arena Rock Recording Co./Rykodisc). Auer played guitar on the 2004 William Shatner record Has Been which was produced and arranged by Ben Folds.

Personal life [edit]

Auer grew up in Bellingham, Washington. His father was a university professor who also played music, and he and Jon built a recording studio at home, which Jon used as a teenager. Auer is twice divorced, and has an adopted daughter.