“Jon-Michael” is a contraction of Johnson + Michael, as in Ken Johnson and Michael Loomis. I had known Ken well in high school and we had played together in the band Fred. Ken’s musical path had taken him to the prestigious Berkeley School of music in Boston and he was looking for a situation upon his graduation and subsequent return to Ohio. We thought we might combine forces and try a jazz guitar duo in southern Ohio in the Cincinnati area.
The original idea was to work up several instrumentals to highlight Ken’s considerable composition and arranging skills. But our agent at the time convinced us that we would have more success if we would sing as well as play – so we changed the format and the Jon-Michael Duo was born.
No photos, sorry.