Jason and deMarco

Jason Warner (born 1975) and deMarco DeCiccio (born 1976) are the members of an openly gay Christian musical duo.

They have released the following CDs:

*"The Spirit of Christmas" (2002)
*"Songs for the Spirit" (2003)
*"Spirit Pop" (2004)
*"Trying to Get to You - the remixes" (2006)
*"Till the End of Time" (2006)
*"This is Love DVD - CD" (2006)
* "Halo" (2007 Internet Only Release)
* "Safe" (2008)

With the international release of their latest album, "Till the End of Time", Jason & deMarco became familiar names to music fans around the world. Their first single "Trying to Get to You" climbed the Billboard Charts and their second single, "This is Love" won "Music Video of the Year 2006" on MTV's LOGO. A remix of "This is Love" produced by DJ Scotty K was also added to Abercrombie & Fitch's playlist in April of 2007 and can be heard nationally in stores. Currently, a full-length feature documentary film entitled "We're All Angels" is circulating the independent film circuit where it premiered at NewFest 2007: The 19th Annual New York LGBT Film Festival as well as OUTFEST 2007: The 25th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Jason and deMarco met in 2001 at Vermont Restaurant in Los Feliz Village in Hollywood, CA where deMarco worked as a host. "The owner of the restaurant played Jason's solo album for me one night after work and I was caught off guard by his beautiful voice and the feelings that his music evoked in me," remembers deMarco. "A few weeks later when Jason visited the restaurant, the owner introduced us but then he and Jason proceeded to have a ten minute conversation where I was completely ignored." As deMarco describes in WE'RE ALL ANGELS, "I had this moment when I thought to myself, I hate him - I must have him." "After that night we e-mailed a few times and planned to get together for coffee," says Jason, picking up the story, "but a friend later spilled that deMarco had a girlfriend, a little fact deMarco had conveniently forgotten to tell me". "What can I say? I was keeping my options open," laughs deMarco. "I was obviously still trying to figure out who I was and I regrettably broke a few hearts along the way. Jason helped me find myself in many ways."

Before launching their duo act, deMarco was the lead in the international touring company of the musical "California Dream Men", but after a little convincing from Jason, the duo released their first album together, The Spirit of Christmas, in 2002 followed by 2003's Songs for the Spirit. In 2004, Jason and deMarco appeared on the cover of The Advocate magazine with their new album Spirit Pop, a 12-track album of original compositions, combining pop and inspirational genres and yielded both critical and popular acclaim.

"The Advocate cover introduced us to people outside of the community of faith. It was very exciting and I definitely think it introduced us to many new people" says Jason. "The irony, however, was that we were launching our mainstream pop career while The Advocate focused on the gay Christian aspect of who we are, and so many people assumed that our music was gay and Christian. We became the poster boys for the gay Christian community.

"We've had to work at clarifying that although we are both gay and men of faith, our music is not religious, nor is it gay," continues Jason. "Our music has a message, and if I had to call it anything, it would be "uplifting." We want it to speak to everyone, not only people of one particular faith." After The Advocate, many different denominations began booking us such as Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Episcopal groups as well as other interfaith groups. We truly don't consider ourselves 'religious' but rather consider ourselves spiritual. Not only has this opened the door to many of these churches, who had primarily 'straight' members where we were invited to come and share our music and our story of reconciliation, but it has also introduced us to important GLBT organizations". Since, Jason & deMarco have had the opportunity to perform at numerous high profile GLBT events including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Awards in Los Angeles, the Matthew Shepard Foundation's annual gala in Denver, and the 2006 Human Rights Campaign Gala at the Waldorf Astoria New York." They have also been a part of the Human Rights Campaign star-studded benefit two-pack CD album celebrating marriage equality, "Love Rocks", alongside artists such as Christina Aguilera, Pink, and The Dixie Chicks.

After recording three albums together, Jason and deMarco moved RJN MUSIC to Los Angeles and formed it into a partnership. In early 2005, they started working with Letthead Productions, a recording studio and production company based in Houston, TX. Last summer, the duo released their fourth album, "Till the End of Time" produced by Alan Lett, with additional production from Grammy Award winning producer, Joe Hogue (LeAnn Rimes, Michael W. Smith, Carmen), Rhys Fulber (Sinead O'Connor, Josh Groban, Conjure One), and Eddie X and Luigie Gonzalez (Ricky Martin, Barbara Streisand, etc.). This mainstream pop/rock release offers an edgier sound to fans and takes listeners on a journey through the depths and emotional plateaus of relationships from discovering love, to losing it, then rediscovering it and holding onto it and trusting that it will last the test of time. Seven of the album's twelve songs are written by Jason and deMarco. Additional writing credits on the disc include the two-time Academy Award, Grammy and Golden Globe nominated songwriter, Allan Rich (Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys, and Patti LaBelle). "It's a powerful and extremely personal album," reflects deMarco. "It is essentially the story of our lives together as we battle what others want us to be, while staying true to our beliefs in who we are. Jason explains, "through our music, we strive to give hope that it is possible to be gay and spiritual and to a have a loving partner with whom to share your life and dreams." While Jason & deMarco tour internationally in various venues, they also continue sharing their music and message with the community of faith around the world. The duo performs over one hundred concerts per year.

Jason & deMarco's music is distributed by RJN MUSIC in partnership with Centaur Entertainment and is available for purchase via www.jasonanddemarco.com as well as digitally throughout Europe in France, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, The United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Australia.

Warner is a 1997 graduate of Lee University in Tennessee, and comes from a Pentecostal faith background. DeCiccio, who grew up a Roman Catholic, is a native of Canada and a 1999 graduate of York University.

External links

* [http://www.jasonanddemarco.com/ Jason and deMarco home page]