The Story of My Radio

My Radio is a melodic rock band that has its beginnings in Roanoke, Virginia. Members JP Powell, Hunter Johnson, Brett Lemon and Jeff Hofmann all grew up there completely unaware that they would one day debate chord changes and stage outfits. While JP's first live pop experience was Duran Duran, Brett held witness to the Metallica spectacle. Not to be outdone, Jeff was lucky enough to catch the twilight of Kiss while Hunter paid tribute to REO Speedwagon. My Radio doesn't really sound like any of those bands, but they'd like to thank their parents for taking them along anyway.

JP Powell grew up listening to his parents' Beatles records. He studied classical piano and joined his first rock band at age 13. JP left Virginia and joined the Air Force, and he very nearly lost his left arm in a parachuting accident. He therefore decided that moving to Boston to play rock and roll was a much wiser career path.

In addition to living the side man's life for bands My Favorite Relative and Bleu, JP fronted an indie rock band called Chauncey. They had monogrammed tube socks, toured with Midnight Oil, Supergrass and Guster and they made a record with Steve Albini. JP once led Chauncey in a stirring love ballad that was performed live for Juli Ashton. Johnny Knoxville and Gene Simmons were also in attendance. It was kind of a weird day. Like most promising young bands with the usual issues, they broke up. JP then moved back to Virginia to work on his songwriting.

Hunter Johnson remembers watching his father and uncle play country music. He learned to play the drums so that he could join in. When he grew up, he decided to attend the Sorbonne in Paris, where he worked as a nanny in order to get by. Hunter has toured with the great, great grandson of Edgar Allen Poe and made records with Mitch Easter and The Wilshires. He is a 'master roaster' and has done volunteer work in Tanzania, Africa. He once gave Nikki Sixx a pep talk regarding the Crue's contributions to rock and roll. Hunter also likes to beat the shit out of his vintage drums.

Jeff Hofmann followed in his grandmother's footsteps by picking up the sax. It was only after she began gigging more than him that he said to hell with it. Jeff's grandmother currently plays in three local groups and Jeff now plays the bass. Jeff has studied ethnic music from around the world and he continues to play tumbaos (Latin bass lines) as well as walking lines in the jazz idiom. Jeff's participation in My Radio allows him to emulate one of his favorite artists: Elvis Costello. In addition to having music aired on NPR and the Discovery Channel, Jeff also met Boss Hog when he was just 8 years old.

At age 13, Brett Lemon needed to play guitar. His parents agreed to get him a Tele under the following conditions: play it or pay for it. Needless to say, Brett never had to give his parents a nickel of compensation. After attending school for film and photography, Brett toured extensively with friend and band mate Ross Copperman. Brett then moved to London, hung out with famous footballers and wooed English women. He returned to America ready to dive into a new musical venture. Brett stills plays his telecaster like a man on a mission.

My Radio is a young band that is not afraid to wear its influences on its collective 'sleeve.' My Radio loves melody and rock, and they are just getting started exploiting the hell out of both. Currently, My Radio is in the studio working on its first full length record with Micah Wilshire handling the knobs and faders. They are also touring in between, and would very much like to be the first band any and every 8 year old out there might happen to see.