Jonathan (Jon) started playing the cornet at 10 years old, joining the ‘learners’ section of the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Youth Band. He joined the Youth band properly in June 1983, just missing out on playing at the National Finals a year later! In 1991 he took a step upwards and joined Carlton Main and achieved promotion back to the Championship section!

During his first spell at Frickley, Jon was also a member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, and the Young Ambassadors Brass Band. This gave him a taste for travel, after touring America and Canada as well as Europe.

In 1999 he left Frickley and joined Wallace Arnold Rothwell Band for a couple of contests - not a good move as Frickley won the area! So it was inevitable that he came back to Frickley for the British Open and National Finals!
Feeling the need to travel again, he joined Grimethorpe Colliery Band towards the end of the year, and spent nearly 3 years playing concerts and contests nearly every weekend, even is as far flung places as Australia! He decided that enough was enough and ‘retired’ in 2002; however the lure of Carlton Main proved too strong and he found himself back in the band in 2003!
Hopefully this time he can win some more contests with the band!