Jon Shaban

Jon Shaban is a singer songwriter based in Cape Town, South Africa. Shortly after quitting his job and committing to being a full-time artist, Jon launched his first album in 2015 titled ‘Fortune Favours the Brave’ and has since toured relentlessly both nationally and internationally with his solo material and his band, The Shabs.

Fortune has indeed favoured the brave as Jon has never looked back and has performed his music all over South Africa, Mozambique, England, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland. Life on the road can teach any man about personal achievements, failure, love and an appreciation for the small and big things that happen, and Jon has fully embraced the challenge and the experience that comes with it.

In 2017, Jon started recording his second solo album, ’Speak Your Mind’ which was released in June 2018. This project was always set to be bigger and better than the first album and includes appearances from local and international artists such as Stelth Ulvang from The Lumineers, Ann Jangle and Jay Bones (Fuzigish and Rambling Bones) amongst others. Recorded at Space Rock Studios in Cape Town, Speak Your Mind is a culmination of songs and stories written on the road over a 3 year period and cover topics such as heartbreak, politics, failure and personal discovery.

2018 and 2019 also saw Jon’s band, The Shabs, embarking on their biggest European tours to date, performing in 7 different countries and appearing at various festivals including Mighty Sounds, Whatever Happens Festival and Earthquake Festival to name a few.

In March 2020, at the start of the initial lockdown, Jon took on the mammoth task of writing and recording 21 songs in 21 days from home. What ultimately started as a way to keep himself busy through those uncertain times, quickly turned in to a multi-city collaborative project, with friends all around South Africa, Europe and America lending their skills to either performing certain instrumental parts or backing vocals to the songs Jon had penned.

Jon is also the co-owner and founder of Sit the Folk Down, a local Recording Studio, Record label and all-round creative hub in Cape Town South Africa, whose main drive is providing a platform for up and coming musicians, as well connecting musicians with music lovers through various events they facilitate.
Another spin off of Sit the Folk Down or STFD, that Jon is a part of,
is M-PIRE Music, an Indie Record and Merch store in Woodstock, Cape Town!