Now Spinning Music Magazine - Artist Interviews and Music Reviews · Phil Aston

Jon Davison on Singing YES Classics, Fragile at 50, and the Future of Progressive Rock

·31 min·2 clips

John Davison never imagined singing “Roundabout” with Yes after entering through “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

1. Now Spinning Music Magazine hosts Phil Aston and guest John Davison on a Yes-focused interview about Fragile at 50 and the future of progressive rock. 2. Phil Aston is the host, and John Davison is the Yes singer who joined the band in 2012 and now fronts its classic catalog. 3. The episode asks how a fan born in 1971 ends up singing Fragile, Roundabout, and new Yes material onstage. 4. Davison says he first heard Yes through “Owner of a Lonely Heart” while he was a high schooler. 5. He explains that reading Bass Player magazine about Geddy Lee, early Genesis, and “Supper’s Ready” pushed him back toward Fragile and Yes’s earlier influences. 6. Davison says the original album sounded “so vintage” to him, even though it was released in the year he was born. 7. Phil Aston asks about singing “Roundabout,” and Davison says the backward piano and harmonics still create “pin drop moments.” 8. Davison says he listens to the original album repeatedly before shows so he can reference its bass sound and recreate its “goosebump moments.” 9. He says his lack of baggage gives him an observer’s perspective, which became “an edge” when he joined Yes. 10. Davison says that perspective helped “revivify the band as a whole” because he could bring freshness without heavy attachment. 11. The conversation shifts to progressive rock expectations, and Phil Aston says listeners can get upset when bands move away from a template. 12. Davison agrees that Yes has always changed shape, pointing to the mid-80s material, the Drama period, and later reassessments of Tormato. 13. He says performing John Anderson’s lyrics is “a little bit of everything,” combining theatrical interpretation, mysticism, and personal connection. 14. Davison says he must avoid being a “copycat” while still doing justice to “the gospel truth” of the original design. 15. He notes that he has now been in Yes for 13 years, which he says is longer than John Anderson had at one point. 16. Davison says his own Yes song “Circles of Time” feels special because he leads it on acoustic and voice while Steve Howe, Jeff Downes, and Jay contribute onstage. 17. The interview tone stays conversational and detailed, with Phil Aston prompting long answers and Davison adding side notes about age, memory, and set lists. 18. Davison says Steve Howe drives the band’s touring and recording plans, including Fragile in full and future thoughts about Relayer. 19. Listeners who like Yes history, Fragile, and progressive rock set lists will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners who want short answers without album-by-album detail may skip it.

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