Career
He has written several books, released nine albums, and tours nationwide. While the great majority of his recordings are his own compositions. He has recorded many traditional and cover songs.
Originally from New York State, Johnathon moved to rural Mousie, Kentucky (in Knott County) during the early 1980s in order to learn about the folk tradition.
He began his career performing at schools and fairs and touring with established artists including Judy Collins. In the summer of 1993 Johnathon began producing the Troubadour Concert Series at the Kentucky Theater in Lexington, Kentucky and the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, Kentucky.
The weekly show is a live webcast from the Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center. in Lexington, Kentucky which is also recorded for broadcast internationally on 493 radio stations. The broadcast is heard by over one million radio listeners and is carried by the rado service of the American Forces Network (AFN) which broadcasts it to 175 countries and all United States naval ships at sea.
lieutenant is also on XM Satellite Radio on XM-15 The Village.
The live webcast which has both audio and video streaming, can be accessed weekly at the Woodsongs website. There is also a related archive page which allows downloading. The television broadcast reaches at least 51 million television homes nationwide on Public Broadcasting Service and the Bluehighways cable television channel.
Johnathan wrote the script for the play Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau, performed in over 8,700+ colleges, community theaters, high schools and home schools in nine countries for Earth Day since its release in 2007.
The play is set during the final two days Henry David Thoreau spent at his cabin in Walden Pond. The production explores the roles we play in the protection of the earth, challenging the audience to live more simply, thus preserving the natural environment of their home communities.
A film of the play that aired nationwide on Public Broadcasting Service stations was one of ten winners of the 2009 John Muir Award for Feature Film. He also wrote the script for the motion picture project, "Caney Creek: The Legend of Alice Lloyd".
lieutenant is the true story of the educator, Alice Spencer Geddes Lloyd.
Woodsongs Incorporated., a 501(c)(3) private foundation of which Johnathon is president is currently seeking tax-deductible donations to fund the project All the proceeds from the release of the motion picture will be administrated by a selected overseer, and will contribute to or pay the costs of eligible Appalachian students to attend the college of their choice.
