Danko Jones

Formed in 1996, Danko Jones played consistently for two years in and around the northeastern United States and Canada, opening for The New Bomb Turks, Nashville Pussy, Blonde Redhead, The Make-Up, The Dirtbombs, The Chrome Cranks and The Demolition Doll Rods. Originally they did not intend to release an album, preferring to have the band's live reputation spread by word of mouth.

Eventually, the trio relented and put out a self-titled six song e.p. on Sonic Unyon records in 1998. In 1999 the band performed around Toronto, including at Lee's Palace[4] and the Horseshoe Tavern.[5] That year they released the self-produced My Love Is Bold E.P. and release the single "Bounce". They were nominated for a Juno Award in 2000 for Best Alternative Album.

In early 2000 Danko Jones opened for Beck at Maple Leaf Gardens.[6] In 2001 Bad Taste Records released a compilation of the band's early recordings, demos, and b-sides entitled, I'm Alive and On Fire. A five-week European tour followed to promote the release including shows at the Roskilde festival in Denmark and Hultsfred festival in Sweden. By the end of the year they had returned twice more, once as main support for the Backyard Babies.

Danko Jones, vocals/guitar. Live in Rouen, France 2008

In 2002 they released their first full-length album, Born a Lion, produced by Bill Bell, on Bad Taste Records in Europe and on Universal in Canada. The band did several European tours and two Canadian tours to promote the record including a repeat performance at Roskilde and a return to Hultsfred as well as stops to Pukkelpop in Belgium and The Lowlands festival in the Netherlands. They also performed the opening slot with The Rolling Stones on their "40 Licks" World tour kick-off show at the Palais Royale in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 16, 2002.

2003 saw the release of We Sweat Blood, produced by Matt DeMatteo, and the group taking a heavier approach to their hard-rock sound.[7] More touring followed that included Europe and Japan. They were also nominated for two Junos: Best Rock Album (Born a Lion) and Best video ("Lovercall").

While success was happening abroad, home relations with Universal Canada had soured and the band was dropped mid-album run. Explanations from the label were vague, but the separation happened after Jones' February 2004 appearance on CBC Sunday where Jones appeared as a pro-downloader opposite then CRIA president, Brian Robertson.[8]

In spite of being dropped from Universal Canada, the group continued to tour heavily for the rest of the year well into 2004 with Turbonegro, Sepultura and The Bronx. While touring they received another Juno nomination for Best Rock Album (We Sweat Blood) and tour Australia as well as more European dates including Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park in Germany and Download, Leeds and Reading in England.

Early 2005 recording sessions for the follow-up to We Sweat Blood were interspersed with a series of tours amidst recording that brought the band to the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa-promoted by their record label and events company ASP Records, who released a collectors double set featuring Born A Lion and We Sweat Blood. In April, American label, Razor & Tie released We Sweat Blood and the band set out to America in support as well. Working two releases simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic proved time consuming, and the worldwide release for the upcoming album, Sleep Is The Enemy, produced by Matt DeMatteo, was pushed back to 2006.

Bass player John Calabrese, live 2008.

In 2005, Danko Jones signed to Aquarius Records.[9] During the summer and fall of 2005, the band toured America heavily with two of We Sweat Blood's singles being played regularly on rock radio in America ("Lovercall" and "Forget My Name"). Stateside tours with Flogging Molly, Our Lady Peace, The Supersuckers, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy followed. Prior to the release of Sleep Is The Enemy drummer Damon Richardson left the band, citing fatigue. He was replaced by Dan Cornelius.[10]

In January and February 2006, the band set out to do their first Canadian tour in almost four years, opening for Nickelback.[11] With the release of Sleep Is the Enemy came more touring including America and a headlining European club tour with support from Brant Bjork & The Bros.

That summer they performed at Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, With Full Force and Wacken Open Air in Germany; Hellfest and Furiafest in France, Metaltown in Sweden, Pinkpop and Lowlands in The Netherlands, Tuska Festival, Ruisrock and Ankkarock in Finland, Gampel in Switzerland and Wireless in the UK and about a dozen other venues. In October 2006, a two week tour of Norway saw the band play with the former Kyuss front-man, John Garcia who appeared on the band's song "Invisible" off Sleep Is The Enemy.

Their fourth album, Never Too Loud was released on February 27, 2008 and produced by Nick Raskulinecz.[12] The album yielded three singles, the international hit, "Code Of The Road", followed by "Take Me Home" and "King Of Magazines". A city tour of Europe in April 2008 was followed by a Canadian tour in May and a three month stint in Europe playing about 30 dates on the festival circuit that included Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park and With Full Force in Germany; Bospop and Lowlands in The Netherlands; Sziget Festival in Hungary; Rabarock in Estonia; Provinssi Rock in Finland; and Eurockeennes and Hellfest in France, where Jones sang on stage with Death Angel for the song, "Bored". In the fall/winter of 2008 Danko Jones toured England, Germany, France and Benelux opening for Motörhead.[11]

On February 3, 2009 B-Sides was released in Europe only - a collection of previously released b-sides from European singles and unreleased tracks that spanned 1996 to 2008. On February 24 they set out on a seven week tour in support of the release that spanned The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France and the UK with support coming from The Backyard Babies, Winnebego Deal and The Black Spiders. The CD yielded the singles "Sugar High" and "My Problems (Are Your Problems Now)". A greatest hits compilation titled This Is Danko Jones was released on April 7 the same year in Canada only.[13]

In the summer the band made a few festival appearances, including the Sziget Festival in Hungary on the main stage with Faith No More and The Offspring, as well as Huntenpop in The Netherlands, Winterthur and Gampel Open Air in Switzerland, Parken Festival in Norway and Jurassic Rock in Finland. In January and February 2010 the band toured across Canada with Guns N' Roses and Sebastian Bach.[14] In March the same year they toured the United States with Clutch.

Their fifth album Below the Belt was released on May 11, 2010 and produced by Matt DeMatteo.[14] The album's first single, "Full of Regret", features Elijah Wood, Lemmy Kilmister, Selma Blair and Mike Watt in the accompanying video, the first in 'The Ballad of Danko Jones' video trilogy. It debuted at No. 36 on Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks in November. It is also featured on EA's NHL 11 soundtrack. The second single, "Had Enough", has Ralph Macchio appearing in the accompanying video while "I Think Bad Thoughts" features Wood, Macchio, Jena Malone and Watt in the final installment of the music video trilogy.

In June, 2011 drummer Dan Cornelius left the band and was replaced by Atom Willard.[1]

In early 2012 Danko Jones began working on a new album, and posted footage of the writing process on the band's YouTube channel. A 90-minute documentary about the band, entitled Bring on the Mountain, was released in June 2012. The 2-disc DVD also featured a short film based on the band's latest three videos, all their music videos and several live clips.

An oral history book about the band, called Too Much Trouble: A Very Oral History of Danko Jones is set to be released by ECW Press in October 2012.[15]

Rock and Roll Is Black and Blue was released on 21 September 2012 in Europe and 9 October in North America.[16]

Danko Jones went on a 2013 Spring tour with Volbeat and Spoken.[17]

On November 13, 2014, Danko Jones revealed the title of their 7th studio album, Fire Music. The album was the first to feature new drummer Rich Knox, and it was released on February 10, 2015 in Canada.[18]

In July 2015, the band announced a nine-date tour of the UK and Ireland scheduled for September, with support from The Amorettes.[19] More touring followed, including a tour of summer festivals.

Danko Jones' eighth album, Wild Cat, was released on March 3, 2017.[2] The band also went on a 17-date European tour to accompany the release of the album.

2017 saw four more tours: a spring Canadian tour, the usual summer festival tour, an autumn Canadian tour and a winter Nordic tour.

On February 14, the band began recording tracks for an upcoming album at The Farm in Vancouver, with producer Garth Richardson and uploaded a studio tour at Hipposonic Studios with the band to YouTube.

Danko Jones supported Skindred on their April UK tour, alongside CKY.[20] The band performed in Luxembourg in May that year.[21]

The first single, "We're Crazy", was released on September 21 2018, although it's been played live since April.[22]

"A Rock Supreme", their 9th studio album, was released on April 26, 2019. Followed by a European summer festival tour. [23]

The band supported Volbeat and Baroness in Europe in October/November 2019.

• Born a Lion (2002)
• We Sweat Blood (2003)
• Sleep Is the Enemy (2006)
• Never Too Loud (2008)
• Below the Belt (2010)
• Rock and Roll Is Black and Blue (2012)
• Fire Music (2015)
• Wild Cat (2017)
• A Rock Supreme (2019)

• Danko Jones (1998)
• My Love Is Bold (1999)
• Mouth to Mouth (2011)

• I'm Alive and on Fire (2001)
• B-Sides (2009)
• This Is Danko Jones (2009)
• Garage Rock! - A Collection of Lost Songs from 1996 - 1998 (2014)
• Danko Jones (2015)