Event

Jon Pontrello and Pepper Proud

"The lone holdout who drew some inspiration from artists popular prior to 1960 was a young man who goes by the name Gene Pool (nee, Jon Pontrello). Armed with a guitar, banjo and a sharp singing voice, his set of lovely country and folk tunes spoke to universal experiences, from getting one's heart broken to more personal fare, such as getting lost in the woods and almost dying.

It was the kind of emotionally potent performance that will likely pull Pontrello out of the underground scene before too long. But whether the spotlight finds him or he remains a cult local favorite, he'll always find a home at Hollow Earth Radio."

- CityArts Magazine

From the heart of Greenbrier Valley and those Eastern Appalacian Rolling Hills- Pepper Proud was raised surrounded by a thriving arts community in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Her musical adventure began with devotion for the Performance Arts- participating in rock bands, jazz bands, show choirs, theater, guitar lessons, marching bands, campfires, dance classes, front porch jams and back porch jams- she developed a style unique to her desire to communicate- with the emotion of meaningful melodies.

When she finished studying Voice and Performance at Radford University in 2007- Pepper headed as far west as her truck would take her and settled in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Humbled by the Mountains and somber skies of Seattle she now spends most of her time writing new songs, singing loudly to the people at the markets and serenading the local bars, cafes and pubs.

Pepper's first full length album Riddles & Rhymes was released regionally in November 2012, and nationally on March 15th 2013. The album portrays life as a journey, filled with interesting characters, relationships, spontaneous creativity and patient effort. Her message is simple- its time to share the love. love. love.