Jon Herington is a longtime New York city based guitarist, singer/songwriter, producer,
bandleader, and educator. He has been the guitarist of choice with the iconic band
Steely Dan for both recording and touring since 1999, and has toured and/or recorded
with Madeleine Peyroux; Donald Fagen; Walter Becker; Boz Scaggs; Bette Midler;
Phoebe Snow; Bobby Caldwell; The Dukes of September and many more.
Jon’s solo discography includes Pulse and Cadence, an instrumental record dating from
1992, and four records and a live DVD of his singer/songwriter material (Like So; shine
shine shine; Time On My Hands; Adult Entertainment; Live - The Jon Herington Band).
In addition, he has released five books and three records of his arrangements for solo
guitar.
Jon was featured as a co-writer and co-producer of Madeleine Peyroux’s “Let’s Walk,”
released in 2024; and he recorded a duo album with longtime collaborator Jim Beard
entitled “Chunks and Chairknobs,” released in 2019.
As an educator, Jon has courses and a video “channel” available via TrueFire, the
world's most comprehensive library of guitar instruction. The TrueFire EAR IQ series
currently has two offerings, “Reactive Improvisation: Develop big ears and powerful
improvisation skills,” and “Soloing Strategies: Creative and harmonic approaches for
crafting solos.”
Jon's love for music surfaced early, and he studied piano, saxophone, and harmony in
his grade school years. Just before his high school years, however, he developed a
passion for pop music and the electric guitar, and soon was writing songs and
performing with his own band near his New Jersey Shore home doing opening slots for
local hero Bruce Springsteen, beginning a performing career that has continued ever
since. College followed, with extensive musical studies in both classical and jazz
composition and theory at Rutgers University, and private jazz guitar study, with the help
of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, with the late, great jazz guitarist, Harry
Leahey. Next came several years of study with the late Dennis Sandole, the acclaimed
music teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who once taught the late greats James
Moody and John Coltrane.
Jon's gigging life took a detour for about three years when he moved to Indianapolis,
Indiana, home to jazz guitar great Wes Montgomery. There Jon played jazz, with the
many accomplished local players and former band-mates of Wes. Jon also began doing
extensive session work at the time in several of the local studios, and played on dozens
of jingles and albums.
After a return to the New York area, Jon began the challenging process of establishing a
working life in New York. His work included performing with many different bands and
for many Broadway shows; session recording; teaching; and an occasional writing or
arranging job.
Jon's current work remains a combination of free-lancing as a guitarist, songwriter and
producer in New York, private music and guitar instruction, and world-wide touring in
support of some of the world's most renowned musical artists.
Jon has a wonderful channel here on truefire, well worth the extra monthly fee, apart from an insiders look at all the Steely Dan voicing (The real deal, not the myriad web search faux dan voicings) Jon has some wonderful insights on theory, composition, technique, and even pick choice! (I bought a bag of Dava picks on his recommendation, incredible picks, just discovered Johnny Hiland is also a staunch user!) Well worth checking this out, plus, he has a couple of very cool cats that pop up as a bonus! If you've seen or heard Jon play, either with Steely Dan or his own band, you'll know the depth of his talent on guitar, thanks Jon!
A
aditya2509
12/28/20
Underrated!
As a Music Producer it was very important for me to focus on my guitar playing and develop my own sound. A few months ago I came across Jon Heringtons lessons on Truefire and it was a boon for someone like me who was exploring and being creative. The lessons were so intuitive, engaging and most importantly the topics covered were very helpful, creative and niche. The All access pass that I have won has surely helped me a lot to access all the content on the website and made me a better Musician! Hoping to see more in the future.
K
Kurt
06/10/20
Innovative
Jon is a fantastic guitar teacher. His Ear IQ courses offer a truly innovative approach to guitar soloing and improvisation. Improvisation is probably the most difficult skill for any musician to master, and Jon's unique approach is practical, intuitive, and most of all fun. I really appreciate his down to earth teaching style and I'm looking forward to more courses from him in the future.
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MarkG333
04/29/19
The Duke?
So I scored The Dukes of September DVD for under $10, bargain. It features Don Fagen, Mike McDonald and Boz Scaggs. Great concert.
So I'm checking out all the other musicains and thinking: "That guitarist has some tasty stuff. Now wait a minute, have I seen him before somewhere?"
And later when Fagen introduces the band and mentions that Jon is a Steely Dan regular I'm like: "I'm sure I've heard that name before."
But too caught up in the excellent music to worry about it too much, and then near the end it dawns on me: "I think that guy is on Truefire, must check him out."
Sure nuff.
So the only remaining question is when can we expect a Steely Dan style course Jon?
M
Manolo
02/20/19
Gracias, Maestro!
I absolutely love your channel, no fluff just meat. And I have just purchased your two arrangement books, I can't wait to receiving them! Gracias, Maestro!