04: Southside Jonny (feat. Jon Sewell)

Written By Mary Mancini
Young punk boy with spiky hair wearing a Crass band t-shirt standing in front of a red brick wall.
 

In the mid-90s, Jon Sewell was a fish-out-of-water mischief-maker at a private conservative all-boys school. He was called “Johnny G” by the older kids and “Troublemaker” by the headmaster. Then he discovered Crass and an anarcho-punk was born. He protested against the military industrial complex, ran the local Food Not Bombs chapter, and played drums in the band Murdered Minority. When it came time to try and get a show at Lucy’s he did what any punk prankster without recording equipment would do, he faked the demo.

Jon still thrives in the current that runs underneath Nashville’s mainstream. In 2006 he turned an old, dilapidated house into a punk club. A few years later he turned an old, dilapidated meat packing plant into a community space for musicians, artists, and other creators. Called The Packing Plant, the space is also the headquarters of Salt Weekly, Jon’s beautifully designed ‘zine with an open submission policy and a mission to radically upend traditional print publishing.

Now known as “Southside Jonny, the Mayor of Wedgewood-Houston,” Jon confused Nashville’s politicos by twice running for actual mayor on a platform he called CHIT: Corruption, Hypocrisy, Influence, and Taxes. He also spent two seasons acting opposite Billy Ray Cyrus on the CMT sitcom, Still the King. For real.

This show is part of We Own This Town, a podcast network of original entertainment and documentary content. You can find more info at the official site: WeOwnThisTown.Net and on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Mary Mancini
Previous

05: Parallel Universe (Feat. Smilin’ Jay McDowell)
Next

03: The Spikes Protect Our Tender Hearts (feat. Christine Hall)