The second installment in the weekly Red Dirt Concert series will take place on Friday, Sept. 13, starting at 5 p.m. at the Posse Grounds Pavilion at the Barbara Antonsen Memorial Park at Posse Grounds Park, featuring folk artist Jonathan Cady of Flagstaff, followed by headliner synth pop artist Reverend Jon of Jerome.
“The selection committee did a great job of choosing a lot of acts that complemented each other,” Parks and Recreation Special Events Coordinator Jason Vargo said. “Our first performer, Jonathan Cady is the first thing that you think of when you think singer-songwriter, a musician with guitar and voice, just doing their thing; it’s exciting, earthy.”
“Reverend Jon is a singer-songwriter of a very different ilk,” Vargo continued. “He has a setup that allows him to create a journey through his songs. He creates layers of all the different elements of a full band song, you know, song that might otherwise be performed by a full band, and he is an adept programmer as well as a performer.”
Reverend Jon
“I’ve jokingly called it synth pop for people who like post-rock,” “Reverend Jon” Margulies said of his style. He recently expanded his one-man show to simulate a fuller band experience by pre recording additional instruments and layering them to create background tracks. He also borrowed Lou Moretti — the famed drummer of Sedona’s The Naughty Bits, Yin Yang & Zen Some and Goldmund — for future performances including Red Dirt Concert series.
About 90% of Reverend Jon’s songs are originals, but he sometimes throws a Thompson Twins cover into the mix.
“The music is intended to be of service to the soul and it’s constantly exploring stuff that is kind of at the intersection of very mundane personal dramas and big universal questions,” Margulies said of the relationship he perceives to exist between his faith and music. Formerly a member of a New Age religious group, he is in the process of converting to Eastern Orthodoxy.
Margulies relocated to Jerome in 2020 and opened Old School Studios at the Jerome Arts Center.
“I had this idea for 10 years of trying to find a cool place to open a studio, something that would be enough of a destination spot that people might want to travel from L.A. or Vegas, but also that would be in a location where it was kind of underserved by recording studios, and where the overhead would be lower,” Margulies said. “I finally found my way to Jerome, and got the recording studio open here over the last few years.”
“I guarantee they haven’t heard anything quite like this,” Margulies said of his show. “For anyone who’s even the smallest bit musically adventurous, I think they will be delighted.”
Jonathan Cady
Photo courtesy Jonathan Cady
“My songwriting process is the thing that I take the most pride in,” Cady said. “I’ve written songs from anywhere from plane rides to big cabins, and I try to make the songs sound as diverse as the places I’ve written them in. The art of songwriting is just such a therapeutic and beautiful thing for myself.”
Cady said he draws inspiration from nature and fellow folk artists, such as English singer-songwriter Passenger and William Fitzsimmons. His performances balance original songs with covers from artists like Gregory Alan Isakov and indie rock band Lord Huron. Craving a landscape with four seasons and mountains, Cady relocated from Hawaii to Flagstaff in 2020.
“I draw so much inspiration for my music from nature, and that’s easy to do when you live in northern Arizona,” Cady said. “Some songs just write themselves. I can name multiple songs where I saw an elk herd walk through the forest, or I watched the sunset over the red rocks … It’s almost just observing what’s going around me. And then, of course, sitting with the song for a few months and making sure that each line has purpose.”
“I’ve never played in Sedona before, and I’ve always wanted to,” Cady said. “I’m super honored to be a part of this event and can’t wait to meet some new faces and share my stories and songs with the audience.”
