THE POLICE ACADEMY
BAND MEMBERS
About the Band:
The Police Academy (“TPA”) is a unique group on the tribute circuit due to their youthful energy, which allows them to replicate the spectacle of seeing The Police in their heyday. With similar rock and jazz backgrounds to Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers, the three band members of TPA are able to capture the raw punk sound of the earlier albums as well as the layered and synth-driven pop pieces from later in their career.
Joshua Jones, Christian Hernandez, and Jon McCracken have made quite a mark in the tribute industry, being involved in many top acts. Although they are all under the age of 40, their talent and experience is respected by many in the music world. All three members of The Police Academy perform in many critically acclaimed tour acts such as The Fab Four, Wild Child, and Jumping Jack Flash. Furthermore, the three are part of the international touring show “Beatles vs. Stones: the Greatest Show that Never Was!” This experience allows them to provide a captivating and genuine show, while also incorporating their own flair of performance and wit.
Between shows while on tour together, Josh, Christian, and Jon discussed the pros and cons of the music industry. Seeking to avoid the negatives, they made the decision to establish their own band. Given their limited numbers, they opted to choose a power trio to tribute, and it was clear that The Police was the perfect choice! All three musicians were avid fans of The Police, and have been since childhood.
This shared passion enabled them to deliver a performance that would captivate both casual listeners and die-hard Police enthusiasts alike. Their attention to visual detail, coupled with their precise musical execution, top-notch on-stage media, and captivating stage presence, mirrored the very essence of The Police themselves. As a result, audiences of all ages are thoroughly entertained, just as they were when experiencing The Police firsthand!
Meet the Band Members:
Jon McCracken, a Los Angeles native, developed a passion for classic rock after being introduced to The Beatles at a very young age. His interest in music led him to begin to learn the drums at the age of six, drawing inspiration from Ringo Starr and starting with an improvised drum set made of pots and pans with wooden spoons for drumsticks.
Jon’s parents and relatives introduced him to many great artists in classic rock and jazz throughout his childhood, including Queen, The Who, Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and many others. Not to mention The Police!
Throughout his school years, Jon actively participated in music, joining his high school’s drum line, marching band, and jazz band. Following his graduation, he enrolled in the PIT program at Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles, CA, where he studied with top musicians and began to learn about the music industry.
At the age of 18, Jon began performing with various bands, including festival-headlining Irish techno band Sonic Impulse, and even managed to sneak into Southern California bars for gigs until he turned 21.
In a remarkable turn of events in 2011, at the age of 20, Jon received the incredible opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC with an original band he was in called Arrest My Sister. During this period, he was also performing in 15-20 bands and playing almost every night.
In 2017, Jon auditioned for the national touring Rolling Stones tribute, Jumping Jack Flash, and a year later, he secured the position of the show’s media manager. Presently, Jon continues to reside in Los Angeles and pursues his musical career performing with major acts such as Jumping Jack Flash, The Chambers Brothers, The Fab Four, Wild Child, and now The Police Academy!
From a young age, Jon found great inspiration in The Police. There were times when he would spend an entire month solely listening to their music. Throughout his career as a musician, the influence of Stewart Copeland could be heard in his playing, especially in the studio. Copeland also served as one of Jon’s primary influences for adopting the traditional grip early on in his drumming journey. When the opportunity to co-create a tribute band for the Police arose, Jon joined without hesitation.
Born on Sting’s 37th birthday, Joshua Jones began his musical career at an early age, starring in musicals and choir performances beginning at 4 years old. He then progressed to playing drums and performing as Ringo in his father’s Beatles tribute band before moving on to playing with adult jazz bands through middle and high school, winning state awards for his drumming.
Discovering Eddie Van Halen in middle school, Joshua went on to form an original rock band, Menace, as the guitarist, lead singer, and principal songwriter. Opening for such acts as Randy Hansen and Peter Frampton, Menace won many battle of the bands, Joshua also winning numerous guitar competitions.
In his early 20’s, Joshua was asked to portray Paul McCartney in a Beatles tribute, having only 30 days to learn to play bass left-handed. Since then, he has performed with many of the top Beatles tributes in the world such as The Fab Four and 1964, as well as performing all over Europe and the Mediterranean. He was also the Paul McCartney in the Beatles show at Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip for 5 years.
Joshua currently has many tributes, performing as Elton John, Billy Joel, Brian Wilson in Surf’s Up, Micky Dolenz in The Monkee Men, Paul McCartney in the Wings tribute Band on the Run, and of course, Sting in The Police Academy.
Christian Hernandez is a Southern California-based multi-instrumentalist with 20+ years of experience playing guitar, bass, and drums, and has been teaching since 2001. He currently performs with a variety of touring acts, including the legendary Wild Child (a celebration of Jim Morrison and The Doors), and Jumping Jack Flash, one of the nation’s premiere tributes to The Rolling Stones. In the tribute world, Christian has performed the music of Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Santana, The Police, The Doors, and the Beach Boys.
Christian zoomed through the guitar performance program at Berklee College of Music, earning his Bachelor of Music in Performance, in just three years. While on the east coast, Christian studied with many notable figures in jazz guitar, including Mick Goodrick, Adam Rogers, and David Gilmore. He was hand-selected by the chair of the guitar department (Larry Baione) to become one of eventually only two students to be mentored. He was awarded two scholarships to Berklee while living in California and was awarded an additional three scholarship increases during his studies at the college.
While in high school, Christian was awarded an “outstanding soloist” award at every jazz band competition, except for the last one where the venue chose not to hand out individual awards. He formed a quintet in high school and submitted his demo of original compositions to 88.1 KKJZ, where they chose his group for their first-ever High School Jazz Festival combo competition, alongside OCHSA and LACHSA. Christian was awarded another “outstanding soloist” award at the competition, and his group was asked to open for David Benoit at the Long Beach Jazz Festival later that year.
Christian formed an instrumental funk/rock band, The Christian Hernandez Rotation, after returning from Berklee. His third release, Sonic Flow (2015), was engineered and produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Anton Pukshansky (Santana – Supernatural, 1999). His fourth release, Enter the Void (2020), features Christian on guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards.
Christian also performs with major acts such as Wild Child, Jumping Jack Flash, and is also “Carlos Santana” of Smooth Sounds of Santana.
