JJ Dion Boise Idaho Bio

AFTER his time in the Air Force, he moved to Los Angeles, formed a band and did some studio work. Then he drifted to San Francisco where he sang in coffee houses and wine bars and busked in front of Ghiradelli Square. In late '72, he returned to Idaho, playing around Boise with folkie Silkie Miller. They formed a trio with a lady named Sunshine and headed for Portland under the name "Road, Sweet Road". There they did the round of live music clubs, changed lady partners, and toured the great cities of the Northwest Coast through '74. The group drifted apart, JJ settled in Seattle / Portland. Silkie called in early 1975 from Berlin, Germany and invited JJ over to re-form the duo, calling themselves "Silkie & the Idaho Kid".

THEY gigged in Germany, England, Scotland, Holland, and Denmark with various interludes in Spain, France, and Saudi Arabia. (Silkie
has, in fact, been hard at work the last few years, writing a mostly fictional account of their adventures, to be published in the near
future.) Their biggest success was in Denmark, where they appeared on national TV, several prestigious music festivals and
cut an LP, titled "Road, Sweet Road", which was released the same day that Elvis died. (Guess who got the headlines?).

IN Denmark at the Skagen Festival in the north of Jutland in June of '76, they met Kirsten, one of the festival organizers, a gregarious
brunette, and even though she was dead set against allowing Americans to perform at this mostly Scandinavian festival, she and JJ
formed the beginnings of a friendship. They ran into each other later that summer and their friendship blossomed into romance.
They were married in March of '77. Their daughter Lina was born in October of '80.

DURING that period, JJ did fewer gigs with Silkie, who had settled in Hamburg. He teamed up with Danish singer-songwriter Poul Krebs, who went on to become quite successful, a Danish-American group called "Bluegrass Connection", and a French-German-American trio known as "Detour". He also toured with British sing-songwriter Mike Silver and Dutch songstress Christien Eterman. All of these musical associations produced recordings.

BY the time Lina was born, JJ was feeling burned out by the touring, and so the decision was made to return to the United States and Idaho, where he could study electronics and have a stable life and be close to his parents, who could now enjoy their first grandchild. The family moved to Boise in '81; JJ studied at Boise State University, Kirsten found work in a Scandinavian furniture store. JJ eventually was hired at the Micron Electronics factory, which allowed the family to purchase their first home. In '84, Micron fired 600 workers (JJ included), and JJ was back playing music 5 nights a week with a local country-rock band and teaching guitar. In '88 he returned to BSU to take Music Education courses, leading to a BS degree in music, which he put to good use teaching at two of Boise's Catholic Schools. The studies also enhanced his vocal abilities (he studied with Baritone Prof. Lynn Berg) as well as his compositional skills.

IN '84, JJ recorded his first collection of original songs, "Midnight Choirboy". This was followed by a string of locally produced cassettes, "Hang In There" and "Idaho Zone". In '85, JJ was a national finalist in the Wrangler-Dodge Country Music contest, finishing in the top 15. The finals were held at the Grand Ole Opry house in Nashville where he met country music legend Roy Acuff in his backstage dressing room/shrine.

IN 1990, JJ's song "A Simple Hello", tied for 2nd place (with Peter Cetera) in the Idaho Centennial Song Contest, and in 1991 one of JJ's songs won the Idaho Catholic Centennial Song Contest. In the late '80's, JJ's focus shifted to Christian music, and in '88 he recorded "Glory Report". This was followed by "Sing My Love" and "Share the Spirit" in 1990. A children's collection "Jesus Lives in Me" was produced in '91.

IN 1990, JJ began his career as summer camp counselor with the establishment of Camp Treble, a music camp run by Harriet Dean and Pam Link. It runs every summer in McCall, ID for 2 weeks and recently has expanded to Oregon for a week. As the years went by, the camp grew in size and success, and now some of the original campers are helping to run the camp.

RECENTLY renamed Camp Crescendo, it still remains one of the primary focal points of JJ's whole year. He has also spent many
summer weeks as music director for the Catholic Junior and Senior High camps as well as UCC's Pilgrim Cove facility. In the
summer of 2002, JJ was up at the lake for 6 weeks! (for more info on, Camp Crescendo, contact Pam Link in Boise at 208-345-7003).

IN the mid-'90s, JJ formed JUBILATION JAM with Dana and Rick Strack, whom he met at a telethon at a local Christian cable TV
station. They have performed at countless events around the Treasure Valley, including the Boise River Festival, Art in the Park,
Zoo Daze, and the Teddy Bear Tea. They recorded an album, "Jubilation Jam" at a local studio with help from JJ's daughter
Lina, her friend Michelle, and TJ Hedges, one of JJ's Camp Treble alumni.

Most recently JJ has been dividing time between teaching privately (guitar, bass & keyboard students of all ages), leading the choir at Bishop Kelly High School ('01-03), retirement centers, pre-schools, libraries, ContraBand (one of Boise's several Celtic bands), and church music on the weekends at St. Mark's and Holy Apostles. A new CD is in production featuring songs co-written by JJ and Lucy Kobusingye. Also in the works is a video of JJ's retirement center singalong performances. JJ will also be providing the music for two upcoming Catholic group cruises on Norwegian Cruise Lines: Alaska in August and the Caribbean in December.