Jonny J’s songs sound like they have been lived in. On For the Poison, the hard-strumming folk troubadour traces a path through heartbreak, drinking, faith, memory, and the long, uneven work of carrying yourself through hard seasons. Built piece by piece over several years, the album gathers songs that began as emotional snapshots and turns them into something cumulative, a record that moves through darkness without ever fully giving in to it.

There is grit in these songs, but also movement, honesty, and a quiet thread of hope. Early tracks wrestle with emotional dependency, self-destructive habits, and the unresolved weight of growing up around religion. As the album unfolds, something begins to shift. By the final stretch, the storm has not disappeared, but the air has changed. There is room again for light, for distance, for the possibility of starting over.

Ahead of his heartBEAT show at GATHER with his band, the Whiskey Fish, Jonny talks with us about how the album came together, what it means to write from real life, his home recording process, the Irish folk roots in his sound, and why Fairbanks remains the kind of place people keep choosing, even when they swear they are ...