ProStudioMasters.com

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara, now mononymously known as Ondara, reveals Folk N’ Roll Vol 1: Tales of Isolation, a new collection of songs written in direct response to the current global pandemic. The album was composed and produced by Ondara while in lockdown in Minneapolis over the course of a week, and came out of Ondara’s deep need to create as a form of therapy during this incredibly uncertain time. The songs on the album are a direct response to the current pandemic: some characters are dealing with lost jobs; one is trying to cajole his landlord into accepting food in lieu of rent; and all are struggling to deal with isolation. Ondara finds ways to not sound isolated, as when he overdubs other layers of vocals to suggest that he is not, in fact, just one guy alone in a room with a guitar. “As I’m sure it has for all of us, I found the period of isolation to be wearing down the equilibrium of my sanity. After being stuck in a mental rut for four weeks, I woke up one morning and spent three days writing these songs and three more days recording them in a friend’s living room in Minneapolis. It was a kind of vomit of words and melodies, compulsive and without any control or forethought. I wasn’t trying to make a record, I wasn’t trying to do anything really, I was only trying to provide myself with some kind of therapy, a desperate attempt at preserving my sanity. They are stories about the ramifications of a whole population isolating; about the personal, political and economical scars that will linger for the rest of our lives long after we have found our way past this. In crisis, the human spirit is laid bare, its volatility preyed upon and its resilience tested. This record is hence not only a portrait of the bizarre times we have unknowingly fallen into, but also a collective tale of the human spirit navigating uncertainty." - Ondara