Jon had moved to Sacramento earlier in the year to join the blossoming music scene there, hoping to make it with the next Oleander or Papa Roach. It was there he met Shannon Glauson and Leah Wolfkin, a mother and daughter duet. Jon had offered to help produce as well as play drums on a couple of demo tracks. Eventually the relationship between Jon and Shannon deepened.
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| Shannon Glauson - Vocalist, Frettless Mistresses |
It just sort of happened. We spent a lot of time together, mixing in the booth and brainstorming ideas. It didn't help that Wolfie reminded me a lot of Nicole.
It was during a promo tour in San Fransisco where Jonathon would be reunited with a familiar face.
We had decided to hit up an Unsigned Bands festival in San Fran to throw out some demos and maybe get our name known outside of Sac. I had heard about this hot-shot guitar goddess that everyone was raving about, calling her the next Orithani, so we managed to check out her set. As soon as I saw her, I knew.
Nicole Feather had taken the stage name of Nikki Falcon with what would become her signature, pink hair and white hats.
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| Young Nikki |
I took the name as a kind of tribute to Sheryl Crow, but the hair was all me. I needed something to stand out from the other 'young guns' so to speak.
Nicole had already been touring for the past few months, free from her father's controlling grip now that she was of age.
As soon I was able, I managed to get back stage and the first thing I did was hug my sister. I introduced her to Leah and Shannon and she instantly took a liking to them. It was like we instantly became one be happy family again.
With Nikki on guitar, the group recorded a new set of demo tracks which became an overnight success. Jon took over managing the band as well as drumming.
With the group consisting of 3 ladies up front and 1 guy in the back, we decided on the name Frettless Mistresses. For some strange reason, maybe because of Nikki, we also decided to come up with these outrageous stage personas.
Shannon Glauson became Shanmanglow, dressing in reactive colors and body/facepaint with a black-light trained on her.
It was a really cool effect when we first started out. But once we started playing bigger venues the effect kinda got lost.
Leah took a more simplistic approach, shortening her last name into her persona.
It was simple enough. Leah would dress in near rags with a wolf painted on her face and act kind of feral on stage. Jon's name though, that drew a lot of looks.
Jonathon would take the moniker 'Big Unit'.
It was a tribute to my dad since he was called Unit back in the day. Also, I figured people would ask why is this one guy hanging out with three hot women and well, I let people draw their own conclusions from my name. It was either that or be known as the Gimp.
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| Jonathon in make-up and costume as Big Unit. |
