Jason Daniyel Englishman was born in Kingston, ON on December 22, 1971. After spending his childhood bouncing around Ontario with his family, he packed up his bags and his guitar and moved to Toronto at 18. j. paid his rent by working horrible day jobs, including five years "basically being Al Bundy," selling ballet shoes.
He spent $30,000 to record an E.P, and it happened to fall into the hands of his future manager, Bob Luhtala. At the time, Bob's client, Edwin, was starting to write his own record. The next Friday, j. played a packed show at Lee's Palace. The following Monday, Bob called j. up and told him that he was going to be j.'s manager...and he had no choice in the matter!
j. has been doing music "ever since he can remember." He got his first guitar on his 14th birthday, and by the time he was 16, he was playing in bars, with a note written by his mom, giving him permission to play.
j's longterm aspirations are simply related to music, and not money. "I'd love to be the career artist that keeps going and going and going...The Odds are that if I'm still alive in 20 years from now I'll either be on a big stage or playing at your local bar."
thanks to Access Magazine, and Pulse (the Niagara weekly alternative) for much of the info :)