Jonas Brothers are having their own breakthrough
Posted by johnnytalkback on May 16, 2008
If 2007 was the year of Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, 2008 might be the year of the Jonas Brothers.
At least, the teenage pop-rock act seems to have all the pieces in place for a breakthrough of “Montana-mental” proportions.
The initial step is the Jonas Brothers’ first tour as a headlining act, which has had the group doing dates since the end of January.
“We’re very excited about this tour,” Kevin Jonas said in a recent teleconference interview. “It’s our first time where we actually have some type of production on the tour, instead of just three risers and, you know, our instruments.
“We remember a year ago, we were in a van and that’s how we traveled, no buses, no trucks or anything, and it was kind of just starting from the ground up,” he said. “And now a year later, we have a sold-out tour. It’s really exciting. And we’re just really blessed.”
The band’s popularity has mushroomed, thanks in part to being the opening act on last fall’s monumental Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus tour. Those arena shows sold out in minutes.
The Jonas Brothers’ self-titled second CD, meanwhile, has sold more than 1 million copies since its release in August, and a third CD is finished and due for release this July.
About that time, a Jonas Brothers movie, “Camp Rock,” will premiere on the Disney Channel (the same network that made Cyrus a star). Then production is expected to begin in the fall on “J.O.N.A.S,” a live-action spy comedy series starring Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas, also set to air on the Disney Channel.
But while the rise of the Jonas Brothers has been quick, it took a little while for the sibling trio, who grew up in Wyckoff, N.J., to get the ball rolling on their career.
The Jonas Brothers’ 2006 debut CD, “It’s About Time,” for Columbia Records, was in the works for almost thee years before it was released. It was going to be a solo project for Nick Jonas, who had performed in several musicals.
But when songs written by all three brothers began to get submitted for the CD, Columbia shifted gears and decided to turn the Nick Jonas solo album into a group project.
“It’s About Time” made only a modest commercial impact, and before making the second CD, the group split with Columbia and signed with Disney’s Hollywood Records. Soon the Jonas Brothers were being groomed to be the next superstar teen act.
The Jonas Brothers, though, is a different kind of teen act — one that is more like Hanson than ‘N Sync or the Backstreet Boys.
Like Hanson, the Jonas Brothers co-write most of their songs. They also play instruments on their CDs and onstage, with Kevin on guitar, Joe on keyboard and guitar and Nick playing keyboards, guitar and drums.
Kevin Jonas said he thinks part of the group’s appeal is that it’s not just a choreographed dance group. “We do write our songs,” he said. “We perform our songs and play all of the instruments. And I guess, that allows us to perform in a way that it really does show who we are as people. I think it’s another way for people to connect with us.”
For the third CD, the brothers have hinted that the new songs have influences such as Elvis Costello, the Beatles, the Animals and the Rascals filtering into the music. Such influences, the brothers said, give the third CD a different feel from the first two albums.
Kevin Jonas said fans who see the tour will get the added treat of being among the first to hear some of the new material.
“We’re actually going to be playing some brand-new songs from our record that we just finished, that will be coming out in the summer, and that’s going to be very exciting for a bunch of our fans as well,” he said.
