Jack Jones

Australian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist Irwin Thomas Whittridge, known professionally as Jack Jones, was born on 6 January 1971 in Manhattan, New York City. He began his music career in the mid-1980s while attending secondary school in Traralgon, Australia. His early bands included Get off the Cat, Survival, Hans Valen, and Gnomes of Zurich. In 1990, he joined John Farnham's backing band to record Chain Reaction. This led to the formation of Southern Sons with former members of The State, including Peter Bowman, Geoff Cain, and Virgil Donati. Their debut self-titled album was released in June 1990, reaching number five on the ARIA Albums Chart. The first single from this album, "Heart in Danger", also reached number five on the ARIA Singles Chart. Southern Sons toured extensively with John Farnham and went on to headline their own national tours. Jack Jones co-wrote several tracks for Southern Sons' later albums, Nothing But the Truth (November 1992) and Zone (1995). The group disbanded by the end of 1995. Throughout the 1990s, he worked as a session musician on various albums and toured with artists such as Lisa Edwards, Debra Byrne, Phil and Tommy Emmanuel, Bachelor Girl, and Tina Arena. In 2002, he released his debut solo album, The Evolution of Irwin Thomas, under Gotham Records. He released the California Dreaming LP with Rick Price in 2017 via Sony Music Australia.