Fort Atlantic

In 2010 Fort Atlantic began as an experiment by Jon Black. After his small Athens, GA label closed their doors in 2009, Jon was left with a question: How can he continue to do what he loves in the current musical climate? "Most artists I know just open a Kickstarter account and ask for money so someone else can help them make a record. I felt like it was foolish to ignore the advances in technology that allow records to be made for relatively little money. Why couldn't I learn to make a record on my own?" says Black. With that DIY-attitude and all of his savings, Black built a modest home studio and worked for countless hours learning the in's & out's of producing.

From 2009 to 2011 he recorded over 30 songs and released three EPs under his name. Keeping with the DIY mentality, Black played a wide variety of instruments himself. "The idea of making a record myself wasn't to hire someone for every instrument and then put my guitar and vocals on it. While I did ask friends to play on the record I was more interested in pushing my creative limits. If I didn't know how to play something and had access to it, I would learn." In November of 2011 Black finished recording and took the record to New York to work with Grammy-winning mixer and producer Tom Schick (Wilco, Ryan Adams, Mavis Staples, She & Him, Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright). They mixed songs, new and old, for five days in Studio A at Magic Shop (Coldplay, Arcade Fire, David Bowie) and became friends through the process. "The songs on this record are instant classics. Jon has an impressive voice and crafts beautiful songs with many great twists and turns. I love this record," says Schick.

The past few years have been crucial to laying the groundwork for Fort Atlantic's debut LP. Several songs have been licensed by film/tv including Private Practice (ABC), 90210 (CW), United States of Tara (Showtime) and the hit video game, Rock Band. He's toured with The Civil Wars, he's opened for cred acts such as Jack White, Alejandro Escovedo, Mark Kozolek (Sun Kil Moon), and The Whigs among others, and was asked to play the first and second years of the Hangout Music Festival. Dualtone Music Group (The Lumineers, Colour Revolt, Brett Dennen, Guy Clark) became interested in his work after the first EP released and they teamed up immediately to release a full length. After completion of the album, it was clear a change was needed. Black says, "I've evolved over the past two years and feel like my name doesn't represent the music well. It's much bigger than a singer/songwriter project. It's much bigger than a guy and a guitar. This album is a monster patiently waiting in the shadows." Thus, Fort Atlantic was born. It's a place for refuge and place for fighting.