John Munson

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John Munson is a Minneapolis musician who is best known as the bass player for Semisonic. He was also a member of Trip Shakespeare during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

1 Trip Shakespeare
2 Semisonic
3 Current projects
4 Notes

[edit] Trip Shakespeare

Matt Wilson, lead vocalist of Trip Shakespeare, recalled how Munson joined that band in 1985:

Back in Minneapolis, we started trying out bass players. John is somebody that I'd played with in a band a few years earlier, so we already knew each other. But John was not that good of a bass player when I had known him before, so it didn't really occur to me to try him out.

But he came over anyway and played, and he'd improved a lot. And I don't believe it's because he kept active, either. I don't know what it is. He's not a major practicer.

Elaine [Harris] and I, together, were very weak. John was by far the best player. We ended up begging him to just give it a try and stay around. We didn't even know he could sing at the time, either.^[1]

[edit] Semisonic

When Trip Shakespeare dissolved, Munson and fellow band member Dan Wilson--Matt's brother--formed a new band called Pleasure, which later became Semisonic.

[edit] Current projects

Currently Munson is working on several different projects, including working with former Trip Shakespeare mate Matt Wilson on new songs, and also on the New Standards, a band that plays covers of a wide variety of music in a jazz format. Other members of the New Standards include Chan Poling (formerly of Minneapolis dance pop band the Suburbs) and Steve Roehm.