I’m three years late writing this post.

In 2017, I was at my first Mile of Music Festival in Appleton, Wisconsin. I wanted to see Matt Hires play, so I dragged my best friend to a brewery a full hour ahead of time so that I wouldn’t miss him.

I’m so glad I did. Because on that day, I fell head over heels for the music of J.S. Ondara. Plus, he was so impeccably dressed, it was hard not to immediately love him.

J.S. Ondara, Appleton Beer Factory, August 4, 2017, Mile of Music

After learning his story, I promise you that you’ll be fascinated by this singer-songwriter – how a bet about the song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” led him to move to Minnesota and Bob Dylan’s hometown. To hear him tell the story live is heart warming and humorous.

A day after I caught that first show of his, I saw him play a song called “Saying Goodbye” in a very loud Irish pub. I took video of it…but there were so many people talking that it’s hard to focus. The song stayed with me and I was relieved when it made the cut for his first album, Tales of America, that he released earlier this year.

Luckily, a few years later, the fine folks at KXT in Dallas recorded him singing the song in a beautifully broken old greenhouse… How this video only has 855 views is beyond me.

What a treat this young man is to watch sing.