John-Allison Weiss is a traveling songwriter, guitarist, singer, and performer specializing in heartfelt, autobiographical, guitar-driven pop songs.
Born April 13, 1987 in the Detroit suburbs and raised in rural Hall County Georgia, Weiss started making music and sharing it online during their high school years in the early 2000s. Influenced by young love and internet counter-culture, they were a pioneering participant in the act of creating art online, sharing their music in the early days of Myspace, YouTube, and Tumblr.
A budding songwriter with an overflow of teenage feelings, Weiss unabashedly posted their indie-folk pop-rock breakup songs to their public feeds and found lifelong fans across the globe. They joined a startup called Kickstarter to fund their first full-length studio album ...Was Right All Along (2009) and became a poster-child for crowdfunded indie music.
Meanwhile in the real world, Weiss was finishing up a BFA in graphic design and realizing that music was their calling. They moved from Athens, GA to Brooklyn, NY where they began to discover and examine their queerness, while writing and recording their most critically acclaimed album yet: Say What You Mean (2013).
For the next decade, John-Allison toured relentlessly, sharing the stage with everyone from Letters to Cleo to Lou Reed, who hand-picked Weiss as the opening act and background singer on his European LuLu tour in 2012.
As time went on, Weiss paid their dues and racked up their cred, co-writing with legendary songwriters like Kevin Devine, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Tegan Quin of Tegan & Sara. They took their music internationally, touring the UK, Australia, and the US with bands like The Front Bottoms, The Wonder Years, Mal Blum, Future Teens, Tim Kasher of Cursive and The Good Life, Max Bemis of Say Anything, Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids, and countless others.
Flying just under the radar, Weiss earned a niche cult-lite following and the respect of their esteemed peers, but never quite garnered the industry attention and financial support required to reach a mainstream audience. Despite the enthusiasm of their fans, Weiss struggled to find that enthusiasm within the music industry. Still, they played the game and pressed on independently.
After signing a three-album recording contract with SideOneDummy Records, Weiss released their next album New Love (2015) with high hopes for more music to come. Their dreams dissipated when the label folded suddenly in 2018, firing their employees and halting support for their artists, leaving Weiss with no funding for the next album and no plan for their future.
At least the letdown was well-timed. After three years in Brooklyn and nearly eight in Los Angeles, Weiss followed a pipe dream and moved into their hand-me-down Jeep to begin a life of travel. They were unsure of their future in music, and they were on the precipice of a personal transformation that would last three years through a global pandemic, the end of a marriage, a testosterone prescription, a vocal metamorphosis, and a name change.
The divorce was hard. The pandemic was harder. The world shut down and John-Allison Weiss shut down with it. Still, the isolation brought introspection, and the impending apocalypse brought a new sense of urgency for authentic pursuits. Through it all the songs kept coming.
In January 2021 Weiss rented a remote cabin to record ideas for a new album, their first since everything had changed. Later that year with the support of their fanbase, they successfully raised the funding to independently make the record. They went into the studio that summer with SOMBEAR, alias of multi-instrumentalist and producer Bradley Hale (Now, Now, Alex Lahey, Chelsea Jade) to record The Long Way. Nearly a year later Weiss announced a partnership with Get Better Records and in February 2023, The Long Way was finally released.
After a year in the Jeep, Weiss moved into a travel trailer where they currently reside with their cat, Mouse.
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See John-Allison Weiss on tour this summer. Find them online for daily updates from their life on the road. Subscribe on Patreon for access to new songs and archive content. Join the community on Discord to meet other fans of John-Allison Weiss.
2004-2005
The beginning. JAW plays bass in a pop punk band and a metal band in their hometown of Flowery Branch, GA. No real shows played. They start an acoustic duo with a friend and mostly play emo covers and songs JAW writes. This leads to eventual solo sets at open mics in Buford, GA.
2006-2009
JAW attends art school at University of Georgia. They play tons of shows in Athens, GA and Atlanta plus weekend shows in surrounding towns across the southeast. JAW books a couple DIY tours during this time by messaging coffee shops on MySpace and promoting on Facebook.
2009-2010
A kickstarter campaign to fund their EP goes early internet viral on Tumblr and JAW is recognized in outlets like the New York TImes and Wired for being on the starting end of this tech game changer. JAW also does a couple self booked tours with friends like Bess Rogers, Jenny Owen Youngs and Lelia Broussard: The Spring Break Forever Tour and the Quest For Glory Tour.
2010-2013
JAW moves to Brooklyn, NY where they live for three years. They play tons of shows in NYC and the surrounding cities with friends like Jenny Owen Youngs, Bess Rogers, Lelia Broussard, Field Mouse, A Great Big World, and Greg Holden. During this time they come out as gay and cut their hair into a cool mullet. Tours around this time included the self booked Forever Alone tour. This was the first time JAW got a taste of the solo road touring.
2012-2014
JAW runs another successful Kickstarter campaign, this time to fund their 2013 record Say What You Mean which they record in a literal closet with friend Chris Kuffner. The duo tours Europe opening for Lou Reed with JAW also singing in his backup band. After getting attention from Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years, JAW starts hanging around more folks in the "alt-press scene" (as they like to call it). During this time JAW plays Warped Tour twice on the acoustic stage. It was the best of times and the worst of times. JAW makes a big move to Los Angeles, California.
2015-2017
JAW signs to SideOneDummy records and releases a new album New Love produced by Bradley Hale and Forrest Kline. Things quiet down as JAW settles into a married life... but gender feelings are bubbling. JAW releases a song called Runaway that's co written with the legendary Tegan Quin, and does full-band tours in the UK and Australia.
2018
JAW officially comes out as nonbinary and briefly identifies under the moniker A.W. (now defunct). SideOneDummy drops all of their artists and fires their employees. JAW is left without funding for a follow up to New Love. Switching gears, they book a DIY living room tour in late fall of 2018 and launch Lower Key Music in the process. JAW's song "Who We Are" is used as the theme for Cameron Esposito's podcast Queery.
2019
The AWFC is born on Patreon, which later becomes J.A.W.S. Club after JAW officially changes their name to John-Allison Weiss. Music is a little stagnant as Weiss is focusing on gender. They take voice lessons with Allie Moss to navigate a changing voice. Touring as always, JAW hits the road with Hit Like A Girl for their last tour before the world changes.
2020
The year starts strong with JAW releasing an EP from their new project Charlie Mtn. After all tours are canceled amidst the covid pandemic, JAW makes a decision to move into their Jeep and spend the year exploring the outdoors, camping, writing, and visiting friends. They deep dive into discovering themselves and what they want out of life: to write songs and share. This is also the year JAW loses touch with their parents over Black Lives Matter protests and begins to question their relationship to capitalism. Identifying as an artist becomes more important than ever.
2021
In January JAW writes and records demos for a new album. In February they buy an old camper on craigslist and move in. With a battery and a solar panel they spend their time boondocking in the desert, or plugged in at friends places. A Global Event will get you reevaluating your life, and JAW decides it's time to pursue art and personal pleasure for a while. In the Spring JAW launches a fundraiser for an album and in May they drop in on friend and producer Bradley Hale to make it. JAW and SOMBEAR spend two weeks in the suburbs of Minneapolis recording Weiss's next full-length record, their first in six years.
2022
JAW announces a partnership with Get Better Records and finally makes plans to release their new record.