Mendelson Plays McGuinn 

“Mendelson Plays McGuinn” is a captivating retrospective of Roger McGuinn’s career. Jason uses authentic period instruments and storytelling to connect the Byrds’ 1960’s hits to Roger’s trailblazing use of the internet in the 1990’s to share folk music with a wider audience. Jason evokes the vibe of Roger’s solo concerts through the lens of a new generation.
Jason Mendelson started playing various musical instruments at age 4, but didn’t come into his own until buying his first Rickenbacker 12-string guitar with summer job money at age 17. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music in with a focus on theory and production enabled him to record and perform in various bands in his native Florida in the 1990’s and 2000’s, including a residency at the dueling piano bar Howl At the Moon, and as a founding member of original group It Rhymes With Orange.
After moving to Alexandria, Virginia in 2010, Jason participated in a wide variety of musical projects in the studio, on film, and on stage, including playing in the Kennedy Center house band for their Pete Seeger tribute, and hosting the Clara Barton Sessions. He was regularly featured on keyboards with Jonny Grave and the Tombstones, including at D.C.’s famous 9:30 Club, and enjoyed a successful 8-year run as a founding member, 12-string guitarist and bassist with Genesis tribute band Selling Fairfax by the Pound.
With his original project MetroSongs (2010-2017), Jason received attention from The Washington Post, Northern Virginia Magazine, Virginia Public Radio, WAMU-FM, and WJLA-TV, for writing, recording, and performing an original song for each of D.C.’s 91 Metro station locations, based on the geography, history, and ethnography of each neighborhood.
Since 2020, he has called the Shenandoah Valley home and serves on the board of StreetWise Studios, Inc., a nonprofit organization with a mission to support and enhance the local music ecosystem by building connections in the community and increasing opportunities for musicians to practice their craft through educational programs and live concerts.
The jangle of the 12-string guitar that fueled the folk-rock boom of the 1960’s is something Jason always comes back to, and is happy to share with audiences today.