In our pretentious society, seldom will you find an artist grounded enough to credit a one-hit wonder as the inspiration for their foray into a musical career. For Jeff Hatch, the mind behind Ponyno, the possibility that his music could evoke the same happiness he felt from the catchy hook of the The Stampeders 1971 hit “Sweet City Woman” was reason enough to pursue this artistic endeavor. If his music could create the same joy for one listener then, in his mind, he is a success. Due to our engrained jadedness, resulting from a music industry turned capitalistic, it is difficult to truly grasp the profoundness of such humble aspirations. The foundation for Hatch’s love of a pleasant melody was established as early as age seven, as he often found himself parked in front of the television lost in the heartwarming tunes of David Cassidy and the Partridge Family. During the earliest stages of adulthood Hatch took to music as a creative release. Finding himself amid the burgeoning Seattle music scene, he began to play with a local band called Green Ice. Music soon lost priority, however, as he took on the roles of husband and father. After a 15-year recess he returned to music with a fiery passion. Always urging his children to be unrelenting in pursuit of their dreams, Hatch felt compelled as a role model to hold true to the lesson he taught. With the help of renowned Seattle producer Gary Reynolds (Carrie Underwood, U2) the resulting album, Rosa Mystica, is 12 beautifully composed tracks charmed with the intuitive and nurturing personality of a true family man.Everything surrounding Ponyno carries a great deal of symbolic meaning. The band name is an idiomatic Native American term representing the village black sheep; for Hatch it serves to recognize the shortcomings of the human condition and offer submission to a higher power for guidance. As a Devout Catholic, he aims to bring spirituality back to secular music. Rather than employ the preachy manner that isolates much of contemporary Christian music, Hatch merely uses his music to share his love for God, and all His creation. The title of his debut album, Rosa Mystica, is part of this praise, as Mary, the Mother of God, is referred to as The Mystical Rose. In the early years, as a novice song writer, Hatch strived to create songs that would change the world. George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “The man who writes about himself and his own time is the man who writes about all people and all time.” This is directly relevant for Hatch, as he became a more seasoned songwriter he turned inward and wrote of what he knew: his love for his wife and eight children, experiences of the past, and his faith. Throughout Rosa Mystica, listeners will find enchanting melodies drifting below lyrics that possess a refreshing sincerity. As a self-taught guitarist, and with influences stretching multiple genres, his sound lands somewhere in the realm of acoustic folk with a bit of country twang. It has often been described as, “if Neil Diamond went country” or “a blending of The Grateful Dead and the Partridge Family.”

The Beatles, Neil Diamond, The Stampeders