Jonas and Christy, The Official Site.

Jonas Anderson, a Swede, was 9 years old when his parents relocated to Thailand. Shortly after arriving, they moved to the Northeastern province of Nakorn Ratchasima (Korat)—crossroads of the northeast, a wellspring of traditional music and folklore. It was there that Jonas Anderson learned to not only speak Thai fluently, but even some “Issan”, a Northeastern dialect in which many lookthung songs are sung. From an early age, Jonas was exposed to lookthung music and took an especial liking to the songs of the late Poom Puang Duangjan, also known locally as the “Queen of lookthung.”

Jonas Anderson's interest in music dates back to his early years. He took music lessons as a child and later gained experience in studio work and audio recording. Always wanting to learn more about music, Jonas even learned to sing several Thai songs made famous by local pop stars. Eventually, Jonas and his friends formed a small music group that participated in musical programs in Bangkok and upcountry Thailand from time to time.

Jonas’ first attempt at singing a lookthung song occurred several years ago when he and Christy were requested to sing at a community event. They acquired a tape of the requested song, “Sanya Gohn Lahn” (a famous classic song featured in a popular TV series at the time), and learned it by listening to it over and over, trying to imitate the difficult technique. Fascinated by the uniqueness of lookthung, he quickly added several more lookthung numbers to his repertoire, with the help of Thai friends.

Says Jonas of his initial attempts to sing lookthung, “Although my performances were by no means perfect and my style had many flaws, the response I received was overwhelming. lookthung is an integral part of the Thai way of life and close to the hearts of the Thai people. I think it meant a lot to them that a foreigner would try to learn to sing it and by so doing, show appreciation for this unique part of their culture."

A major turning point for Jonas occurred when he was discovered by famous TV personality Khun Wittawat of the top rated variety TV show “At Ten”. Khun Wittawat saw Jonas singing a popular lookthung song at a New Year’s eve party and consequently invited him to appear on his show. Due to its wide popularity, once the TV show was aired Jonas became instantly recognizable to the public and was approached by music labels interested in recording contracts.

Jonas chose to turn down these offers preferring to operate independently, however in January 2000, he was invited to participate in a project to preserve and promote Thai culture via lookthung music organized by the company Wetee Thai. He had originally not been particularly interested in being part of the music and entertainment industry, but because he had long held dear the values of Thai culture, he was attracted to the concept of a project aimed at preserving the beauties of Thai culture, and for that purpose felt it to be a worthwhile endeavor.

He trained with the respected lookthung artist and vocal instructor, Ajarn Wilai Panom. "He taught me there were two core aspects to lookthung: luk koh, a very distinct and prolonged vibrato, almost a tremolo; and luk euan, the note inflections or skats. In the countryside, kids practice these by singing into big water jars."

After a month and a half of intensive training, he recorded his first album: “Phom Chue Jonas” (My Name is Jonas), which was released on June 15th 2000, and quickly rose to No. 2 on the national charts. A series of albums followed, including: "Rong, Oo, Laeng, Wao", "Jonas Mahasanook", "Rak Lae Kit Tung", and “Nakrohng Panehjohn”. To date he has recorded a total of seven albums, including two duet albums with Christy Gibson: “Ram Tone Ram Thai” and “Noom Dtam Lao Sao Dtam Thai”. He and Christy have worked with some of the premier producers and songwriters in the lookthung world and released albums under three prestigious record labels to date. They are now working on a new album which is almost ready to be released.

Jonas is active in social work and has found that as music is the language of the heart, it is very effective in a wide variety of charity endeavors from reinforcing positive morals with youths at anti-narcotics programs, to encouraging the elderly, to cheering up young hospital patients and orphans, to showing respect for Thai traditions. Despite the recognition Jonas has received, he will be the first to admit that he has much to learn when it comes to singing lookthung and understanding Thai culture more completely. “I have a long way to go before coming anywhere close to the professional level of Thai lookthung singers,” he says. “I am indebted to all the lookthung singers in Thailand who have so graciously accepted and encouraged my efforts to perform lookthung, even though my singing abilities do not compare with their own. I am grateful to them and all Thai people for their kindness. My hope in singing lookthung is that I can, in some small way, show support for Thailand and repay the Thai people for all the hospitality they've shown me.”