Complete List Of Jonny Craig Bands And Musical Projects

Feature Photo: Alex Kral, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Jonny Craig built his name on a voice that did not fit the standard post-hardcore template. Born Jonathan Monroe Craig on March 26, 1986, in Minot, North Dakota, he grew up mostly in Canada before returning to the United States as an adult. His early musical influences included Boyz II Men and New Found Glory, while his later vocal identity drew strongly from soul music, gospel roots, R&B phrasing, and the emotional intensity of alternative rock. Craig left high school, earned his GED, and focused fully on music, using singing as a way out of a difficult home life and a troubled childhood.

Craig’s early career began after he moved from Abbotsford, British Columbia, to Washington State. He formed the Tacoma garage band WesterHALTS in 2000 and released his first known song with them, “Change, Leisure, and Retirement,” in 2001. In 2002, he joined the Tacoma pop-punk band Ghost Runner on Third as lead vocalist. The group released the EP Speak Your Dreams on January 4, 2005, giving Craig one of his first real platforms as a recorded singer. Even at that early stage, his voice stood out for its soulful quality, setting him apart from many of the more straightforward punk and post-hardcore singers around him.

Craig became much more widely known through Dance Gavin Dance. His work on the EP Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean and the full-length album Downtown Battle Mountain helped define the band’s early sound. He also came up with the name Dance Gavin Dance, originally intending it for his previous band, Ghost Runner on Third. After leaving Dance Gavin Dance, he briefly filled in for A Skylit Drive while vocalist Jordan Blake was ill, then joined Emarosa, where his voice became central to the band’s sound during the late 2000s and early 2010s. Craig later returned to Dance Gavin Dance in 2010 to record again with the reunited lineup, including original vocalist Jon Mess.

Craig’s career also included the short-lived supergroup Isles & Glaciers, which brought him together with Craig Owens, Vic Fuentes, and other figures from the post-hardcore scene. The project released The Hearts of Lonely People on March 9, 2010, after working in Seattle, Washington, and Michigan. Around the same era, Craig’s vocals also crossed into hip-hop-related work through samples used by Game, DJ Skee, and Bizzy Bone. Those outside connections reflected the unusual reach of his voice, which often felt closer to soul and R&B than the heavier bands surrounding him.

As a solo artist, Craig released A Dream Is a Question You Don’t Know How to Answer on August 18, 2009, through Rise Records. The album included songs such as “Istillfeelher III,” “Children of Divorce,” and “7 AM, 2 Bottles and the Wrong Road.” He later released the EP Find What You Love and Let It Kill You independently on September 24, 2013, followed by a special edition on November 26, 2013. His second solo album, The Places We’ll Never Be, arrived in September 2021. Across his solo career, Craig has released two studio albums, two EPs, and a live album.

In 2014, Craig became the lead vocalist of Slaves, a band signed to Artery Recordings. The group released Through Art We Are All Equals on June 24, 2014, with guest vocals from Kyle Lucas, Tyler Carter of Issues, and Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil. The album’s lead single, “The Fire Down Below,” premiered on April 22, 2014. Slaves later released “I’d Rather See Your Star Explode” in 2017, followed by the album Beautiful Death on February 16, 2018, and the acoustic EP Revision on January 18, 2019. Craig was removed from Slaves later in 2019, although he announced during solo tours in 2022 that Slaves would return with a new lineup and future music.

Craig’s newest chapter began in 2024 with the launch of Old Flame. The project released its debut single, “Pray,” in March 2024, followed by “Thank You for the Patience” in May 2024. His career has included work with WesterHALTS, Ghost Runner on Third, Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa, Isles & Glaciers, Slaves, Old Flame, and his solo catalog. There are no major awards listed for Craig in the supplied material, but his reputation has rested heavily on the sound of his voice. Fans have followed him through multiple bands because of that unmistakable mix of soul, emotion, technical control, and raw melodic instinct.

Craig’s career has also been marked by serious personal and public controversies, including drug-related issues, a 2011 internet scam involving alleged MacBook sales to fans, arrests connected to narcotics possession and failure to appear, and later sexual assault allegations. Rise Records and the Artery Foundation assumed financial responsibility for reimbursing people connected to the 2011 scam, and Craig entered detox that same year. Outside of music, the most specific non-musical project identified in the supplied material was his announced 2011 plan to take an indefinite hiatus to film a documentary, although he soon reversed that decision and continued with his planned music commitments. His story remains complicated, with a career shaped by undeniable vocal talent, repeated band changes, struggles with addiction, public conflict, and a fan base that continued to recognize the power and originality of his singing.

Solo Albums

A Dream Is a Question You Don’t Know How to Answer (2009)

A Dream Is A Question You Don't Know How To Answer [Explicit]

The Places We’ll Never Be (SBG Records) (2021)

Solo EP Albums

Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (2013)

Find Your Home (2020)

The Vocal Sessions (2021)

Still Searching (2023)

With westerHALTS

Change, Leisure, and Retirement (2001)

With Ghost Runner on Third

Speak Your Dreams EP (2005)

With Dance Gavin Dance

EP (2006)

Downtown Battle Mountain (2007)

Live at Bamboozle 2010 (2010)

Downtown Battle Mountain II (2011)

With Emarosa

Relativity (2008)

Heads or Tails Real or Not (Acoustic) (2009)

Emarosa (2010)

With Isles & Glaciers

The Hearts of Lonely People EP (2010)

The Hearts of Lonely People (Remixes) (2014)

With Slaves Through Art

We Are All Equals (2014)

Routine Breathing (2015)

Beautiful Death (2018)

Revision (Acoustic EP) (2019)

With Old Flame

Pray (2024)

Thank You for The Patience (2024)

Small Town Liar (2024)

Larkin (2024)

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