The Band
JoBu has been a full-fledged touring band for several years now. With the perfect mix of reggae dance vibe and head bobbing rock JoBu delivers a performance that leaves everybody ready for more. JoBu is the ultimate crowd pleaser, hooking people with catchy lyrics, and filling dance floors with hard beats. Put JoBu in front of 50,000 people and watch them shine. After the release of their first studio album “Stop Time” the band has been seeing a great increase in fan volume, especially at live performances. This success has begun to jet them across the nation with tours stretching from Milwaukee Wisconsin, to Key West Florida. Across the Midwest and in some places across the nation JoBu is becoming a household name. Their current exposure is causing an explosion of website and myspace visits, plays, and activity. “Stop Time” is available at cdbaby.com, itunes, and like always at JoBu shows everywhere!!
Please feel free to contact the band with any thoughts and/or concerns.
Thank you for visiting!!
Peace, Love, and Music,
JoBu
Aaron VanVooren - Lead Vox, Guitar
Aaron was born in the small town of Geneseo, IL, just east of the Quad Cities. He loved music growing up, and as early as the age of two years old, was taken in by the sites and sounds of music.
Aaron first picked a guitar up at age 12, when a hip surgery left him in a wheel chair for four months and on crutches for four months. His early hard work and dedication drove him through three teachers in a short two years. His first performing role was as lead guitarist for a local church youth group at the age of 13. This lead to other endeavors in high school including a popular quad city metal band, Make Shift, at 14 and a popular jam band, Spicoli, at 16. With Spicoli is where Aaron honed on his vocal skills and overall musical abilities.
At 18, Aaron started to perform as a solo act in several local coffee houses in the Quad city area. He took this act with him to Carbondale, IL when he went to college and preformed under the name VanVoo for two years. This lead to 2004 when Aaron met future pal and bassist of Jobu Andy Neel, and future pal and guitarist of Jobu Matt Hines. Since October of 2005 Jobu has been his musical home.
Musical influences are… Umphreys Mcgee, Phish, Keller Williams, Chet Atkins, Eddy VanHalen, Herbie Hancock, Sublime, and many others.
Gear, 2002 Fender Stratocaster, Randall 2x12, Dunlap Cry Baby Wah, Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus, FAB Overdrive, Digitech Overdrive, Fender Tuning pedal, Boss Equalizer.
Matt Hines - Lead Guitar, Vox
Matt Hines was born on the 1st of May in 1984. At the age of 12 he began playing and performing on the guitar. Throughout junior high, and high school, Matt studied with numerous guitar teachers and began performing in Jazz quartets. His senior year he was invited to perform in Drumshow at Naperville Central High School. He was the only guitarist asked to perform with the schools top percussionists. At the end of his High School career he went on a European tour with Naperville Central’s Jazz Studio Orchestra.
While attending Southern Illinois University, he achieved a degree in Classical Guitar and Music Business in 2007. Under the direction of Joseph Breznikar, Matt performed with various guitar ensembles, studio workshops, and maintained a high level of respect among his peers and teachers with not only his playing ability but his leadership qualities also. This gave him the opportunity to be first chair in many of the groups he played with. Wanting to branch out from the classical world, Matt performed with many bands outside the school setting. Though many came and went, the Rock/Reggae group JoBu is where he landed.
Now, Matt is touring with JoBu all over the mid-western United States and is beginning to explore the band at a national level.
Matt Hines is endorsed by Martin Guitars, and performs with Fender amplifiers, and Schecter guitars.
Andrew Neel - Bass
Andrew Neel was born in 1983 near Chicago Illinois. He began his musical exploration in grade school when he studied the guitar under some of the Midwest’s most astounding guitarists. Some of his early mentors include Kevin Buck, a transcriber for Guitar magazine, and Paul Ciccareli owner of the great Chicago land music store Stone Grove Guitar. It was there that Andrew learned the art of guitar construction and repair. Andrew graduated from Southern Illinois University with a B.A. in music. There he studied classical guitar technique, as well as music theory and music history. During his time at SIU Andrew began expanding his skill to the bass guitar. It was then that he brought this new found love to his fellow music class mates Matt Hines, and Aaron VanVooren. Together with their first drummer Jeb Rendall they formed Jobu, and only one short year later began performing all over the Midwest.
Evan Ryan - Drums/Percussion
Born in Naperville Illinois on November 4th 1984, Evan Ryan started playing the drums at the age of 4 and hasn’t stopped since. After 7 years of lessons with famous drummer Chick Evans, Evan started up with Steve Przyzycki, who is now the Principle Percussionist for the Air Force Band of the Rockies. Throughout elementary, junior, and high school, Evan preformed in everything possible from the DuPage Youth Symphony, Wheaton Symphony Orchestra, Yorkville Big Band, The Chicago-land All-star High School Jazz Ensemble, and the Madison Scouts Drum and Bulge Corps, along with every school music group available. During high school, he participated in the Drumshow, a concert of the top ten percussionists at Naperville Central High School; put on by Vernon A. Spevak Jr., his teacher all threw high school. Also Evan was chosen to be in the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) his junior and senior year for Jazz Drums. After graduating, Evan went on a European tour with the NCHS Jazz Studio Orchestra.
A full scholarship landed Evan at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he was met by then head of the Jazz Department Rob Parton and drumset master from the Pat Methany Group, Paul Wertico. Rob and Paul are Evan’s close friends, mentors, and source of inspiration.
Paul has been quoted in saying,
“I've had the great pleasure of being Evan Ryan's drumset instructor at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University for the last four years. During that time, I've found him to be an extremely gifted and dedicated student. In addition to his innate musical talent, Evan truly enjoys the process of learning and practicing new things and this gives him the ability and advantage to make any musical challenges to him seem like fun. Even more than that, he's the type of person with an abundance of enthusiasm and love for music that give him an extraordinary drive to "go that extra step". He constantly shows his support for others by attending events outside of what is required at school and this is something that is truly impressive. I feel Evan has a wonderful future in music ahead of him and he will indeed make a valuable contribution to any endeavor he undertakes.”
Being at the CCPA, Evan was in the top big band and combo, along with performing in the Percussion Ensemble, directed by Ed Harrison, Principal Timpanist of the Lyric Opera and Maraca Master. Symphonic Orchestra and Wind Ensemble directed by Steven Squires, and the Brass Ensemble directed my Jay Friedman. In the Jazz Program, Evan played hundreds of shows, concerts, and festivals with many heavy hitters in the jazz scene like Bob Mintzer, Tim Haegens, Orbert Davis, Jim McNeely, and Dave Douglas to name a few. Evan was chosen as all festival drummer at the Elmhurst Jazz Fest and the Notre Dame Jazz Fest.
While residing in Chicago Evan played many freelance gigs with professionals like Rob Parton, Mike Smith and Tom Garling. Along with freelance, Evan’s trio, The 353 Trio made up of Evan Ryan on drums, Dave Holloway on keys and Patrick Mulchay on bass, have played all over the city as well as doing one album titled “Ripping and Dipping.”
During the summer of 2006 Evan was chosen to be the drummer for the Disneyland All-American College Band under the direction of Ron McCurdy; Chair of Jazz Studies at University of Southern California University. This was a 15-week program composed of the top college musicians from all over the United States to perform at Disneyland five times a day, five days a week. In addition to performing, the musicians had the opportunity to interact with professional musicians in the Los Angeles area. This gave Evan the opportunity to play with some of the biggest names on the LA studio scene, such as Wayne Bergeron, Alex Isles, Sal Lozano Shelly Berg, Gregg Field, and Rick Baptist to name a few.
Having graduated from CCPA, Evan is currently residing in Savoy, Illinois performing with the Reggae Fusion Band JoBu. JoBu is a collaboration of many genres that come together to become one amazing rocking show. Other members are Matt Hines on lead guitar and back up vocals, Aaron Vanvoorn on guitar and lead vocals, and Andrew Neel on bass. JoBu’s performance schedule is very full, touring all over the Midwest. April 26th, brought the band’s first studio album “Stop Time,” which is now out on iTunes and many other resources. Since then the groups myspace page has exploded with over 200,000 plays, record number of visits to the Official JoBu Website, and the opening track “Voices” being selected for the 2009 Great American BBQ Anthem. Held at the largest venue in Kansas, the beautiful Capital Federal Park at Sandstone, The Great American BBQ is the second largest barbeque in the world where the band was asked to play twice during Memorial Day 2009. The band is looking forward to expanding their fan base and playing larger venues as well as multiple large music festivals around the nation.
Along with the bands extensive tour schedule, Evan is now the Head of Percussion and the Champaign School of Music. With this new “gig” Evan will have a full roster of students studying in a brand new state of the art Percussion studio, Jazz and Classical master classes at various high schools and will put on clinics for drummset at not only in Champaign but at other music stores and schools all over the Midwest.
Evan endorses Paiste Cymbals, sounds and gongs, Vic Firth drumsticks, mallets, and brushes, and Factory Metal Percussion, and plays DW Drums, hardware, and pedals, Remo drumheads and World Percussion,
Please feel free to contact Evan at,
630-805-3875
www.jobumusic.com
evan@jobumusic.com