JW-Jones
“This young man is one of the people who will keep the blues alive” – Buddy Guy , 8 time Grammy Award Winner
Billboard Top 10 Blues Artist, 2020 IBC Winner, and JUNO Nominee, Canadian singer/guitarist JW-Jones is known for his high-energy shows!
After winning “Best Guitarist” at the 2020 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Jones started working on his 12th release 'Everything Now', an all-original project with special guest Jimmie Vaughan, and production by Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar).
"Songs! It's all about the songs!" said the JUNO-nominated Jones, whose searing axemanship has been praised in recent years by legendary blues artists Buddy Guy and Chuck Leavell (The Rolling Stones). "While there are plenty of burning lead guitar solos, I wanted to open up and get more personal than ever with the lyrics. From the true story 'Papa's in the Pen' to 'When You Left' that I sang with tears rolling down my cheeks about my mother's passing, these are stories that I feel like I can finally share through my music." JW penned the entire album with Dick Cooper and Gordie.
This album features some heavyweight instrumental support; The Texas Horns, Stanton Moore, Aaron Sterling, Rob McNelly, and includes unchartered sonic territory for Jones with real strings on the exceptional 'To Tell You The Truth (I Lied)".
The recordings were produced in Austin, Texas with multi-platinum-selling artist and producer Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, as well as in Ottawa with long-time collaborator Eric Eggleston.
The frequent resident of Billboard’s Top 10 Blues charts and roots radio favourite continues to accelerate his career momentum to new heights, whether it’s as a personally requested sit-in with the likes of 8-time Grammy winner Buddy Guy, opening for blues-rock icon George Thorogood, or entertaining thrilled audiences in 23 countries and four continents.
www.jw-jones.com / @jwjonesblues
Touring Band:
Joel Oppong-Boateng (Drum/Voc) - Jacob Clarke (Electric & Upright Bass/Voc)
Don't miss JW-Jones & Band, Friday September 22 at the McDonald's Corners Agricultural Hall, 194 Camerons Rd., McDonald's Corners.
Doors open 7:30pm. An all age licensed event hosted by the McDonald's Corners Agricultural Society.
Tickets are $30 plus fees available at TicketsPlease.ca
JW-Jones - Live: Raw, real, and from the heart.
The improv magic you hear on JW-Jones’ 10th album, Live, is the spark that has awakened new sonic frontiers for the veteran Maple Blues Award-winning Ottawa bluesman.
“This album is a big departure for me,” Jones explains. “Especially on songs like ‘I Don’t Believe A Word You Say’ and ‘Moanin’ at Midnight:’ both of those songs clock in at over six minutes and I’m playing that overdriven guitar in a way I’ve literally never played on record before.”
As he continues to evolve as one of Canada’s most versatile bluesmen, with one foot in the terra firma of the traditional blues espoused by the likes of Howlin’ Wolf sideman Hubert Sumlin and harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite (who both guested on Jones’ memorable Midnight Memphis Sun, recorded at the historic Sun Studio) and blues contemporaries Robert Cray, for whom the JW-Jones band has occasionally opened, he continues to challenge and raise his standards through his recordings and the 130 dates on average yearly that he clocks in on the road.
With the last JW-Jones studio project, the Colin Linden-produced High Temperature, capturing the coveted Memphis Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge honours for Best Self-Released CD, the frequent resident of Billboard’s Top 10 Blues charts and Canadian roots radio favourite continues to accelerate his career momentum to new heights, whether it’s as a personally-requested sit-in with the likes of blues legend Buddy Guy, opening for blues rock icons Johnny Winter and George Thorogood or entertaining thrilled audiences in 23 countries and four continents.
“Audiences get excited because it’s all so organic,” notes Jones, who stretches out on Live with his Goldtop Gibson Les Paul. “The blues is such a universal language, and the fact that we never play the same solo twice just adds to that vibrant energy, which I think we really capture on this album.”
Live also embraces Jones’ continuing appreciation of modern days blues music, best illustrated by the album’s opening number, a rendition of Robert Cray’s “A Memo (Nothin’ But Love.)”
“When I first started out, I studied old blues records and wanted to be accepted by my heroes. I wanted them to notice that I was staying authentic to the sound. Over the years things have changed, and I want to play and write music that moves me, even if it doesn’t sound like a Chicago blues tune cut in 1956. I feel that I need to play the music that speaks to me personally.”
An additional highlight is the inclusion of the JW-Jones showstopper – the 17-song medley that rifles through snippets of classic guitar riffs backed by the energetic support of 2018 Maple Blues Award Bassist of the Year Laura Greenberg and the inimitable Will Laurin on drums.