{"id":1529,"date":"2011-09-26T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2011-09-26T05:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2011-10-13T09:35:09","modified_gmt":"2011-10-13T14:35:09","slug":"jookhouse-a-conversation-with-soul-singer-jj-grey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2011\/09\/26\/jookhouse-a-conversation-with-soul-singer-jj-grey\/","title":{"rendered":"Jookhouse: Q&A with soul singer JJ Grey"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a>Host Vince Meserko talks over a long, and still-going-strong, career.<\/p>\n

Vince Meserko:<\/strong> I\u2019ll ask you to start from the beginning – how you started playing music and what you were listening to in those formative years.<\/p>\n

JJ Grey<\/a>:<\/strong> I grew up in a little place called Whitehouse, right outside Jacksonville, Florida. My dad listened to the radio when we were kids. Kids were sneaking around listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and disco stuff. There were a couple of jook joints around there where people played. There was always music around. Some of it you weren\u2019t supposed to listen to.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: How did you get hooked up with Fog City Records to put out your first record, Blackwater<\/a><\/em>?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: That was when I was in London. London had always had a big DJ scene. The indie rock scene really took off 10, 12 years ago. It\u2019s all about indie rock, what people call indie rock now. I dig that stuff, but that ain\u2019t what I do. I got fed up with it. I just contacted a couple of labels that I thought were cool. Fog City was one of them and Dan (Prothero) and I really hit it off and have been working together ever since.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: How has the band evolved musically, not only who comprises the band, but musically how has it changed from Blackwater<\/em> through Georgia Warhorse<\/em>?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: There\u2019s been so many people in this band, but musically it hasn\u2019t changed at all in my opinion because I just write and arrange things as they come. The one thing that has evolved is the level of players. It\u2019s gotten better and better and better. It\u2019s more suited to what I want to hear anyway because all of the guys I\u2019ve played with have all been great. I don\u2019t really know. It\u2019s kind of like asking people how they\u2019ve changed personally. I live it (my music). It\u2019s hard for me to say what it\u2019s done and what it hasn\u2019t done. I\u2019ll leave that to other people.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: How about your own role in the band. How has it changed?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: It hasn\u2019t changed at all. I just chose not to play keys on stage for right now. On stage, I just said \u2018I\u2019m going to retire keys for awhile.\u2019 I don\u2019t really have a role. I just jam. I just play.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: How about your own guitar playing. I\u2019ve seen you guys almost 15 times. Your guitar playing has become a bigger part of the sound. You can flat out rip now. Maybe that wasn\u2019t as much a part of the sound early on?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Vince & JJ (left). Credit: Dennis Marion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JG<\/strong>: I never really wanted to play guitar. I just wanted to sing. That\u2019s what I did for the first 15 years. Dan Prothero [producer and owner of Fog City Records] has always been adamant about me playing. He\u2019s always saying \u2018you gotta play, play, play.\u2019 I\u2019ve definitely gotten better. All this stuff is like a bodybuilder who takes 20 years to get huge muscles. They don\u2019t even notice and still think they\u2019re small. They don\u2019t even notice, but everyone else does and they say \u2018wow what\u2019s it like now.\u2019 I don\u2019t even notice the difference between me then and me now. I couldn\u2019t even tell you.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: In terms of songwriting, where you come from makes up such a huge part of the sound of the band, and you don\u2019t have to be from the part of the country you\u2019re from necessarily to be able to connect with the sentiment that you\u2019re expressing. How do you make sure you keep it universal so that everyone can relate to it and also sing about where you come from?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: The first I\u2019d do is avoid trying to make sure I do anything. If you \u2018make sure\u2019 of something then it\u2019s going to be caricature or cartoonish. I\u2019m like a salmon swimming upstream, man, I don\u2019t know why. I just do it.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: I noticed on all of your albums it\u2019s a really strong mix between the slower ballad-type stuff and the uptempo funkier stuff. These are songs that even someone who has no rhythm like me can dance to. How do you balance those elements?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I want a record to feel like a good movie. Happy moments, sad moments, dance moments. It\u2019s kind of like putting together a set. I won\u2019t necessarily \u00a0sit down and say \u2018ok, I\u2019ve got a bunch of ballads. Now I really need to write a bunch of dance tunes.\u2019 I\u2019ve tried that, and I\u2019ve failed miserably. I just write what comes.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: I know a lot of people have a hard time figuring out what kind of band you are. It\u2019s swamp-funk, swamp-rock, swamp-soul, Southern rock. The word \u201cswamp\u201d gets thrown around a lot. I was wondering if you had any idea why that label is so often attached.<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I don\u2019t really know what it means. I don\u2019t really think anybody else does either. It\u2019s more of a feel, I guess. It feels that way. Jerry Reed feels swampy. I couldn\u2019t tell you what made it feel that way, but it does. Same for Tony Joe White. Something about it is swampy, but I\u2019m not sure what. On the other side of the coin, there\u2019s something swampy about the Meters. I can\u2019t tell you what it is.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: I have to ask about the phrase that gets thrown around a lot, especially when you start doing the festival circuit. The jam band label, which is just a meaningless term in my opinion.<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I don\u2019t mind it. I think it\u2019s just another phrase that doesn\u2019t mean anything. The closest thing that it could mean is a \u2018jam fan.\u2019 Basically, they go to a show, and it means that they\u2019ll listen to just about anything as long as it\u2019s not overly rehearsed, staring at your tennis shoes. It\u2019s about, are you playing to the audience, to the moment, or are you just blitzing through 20 songs as fast as you can? I\u2019m not really familiar with the official jam band scene. We play a lot of the festivals, and I think the fans are great. I don\u2019t know what the big deal is. Most of the groups I like that have influenced me would all be considered jam bands now, from Jimi Hendrix to the Allman Brothers. Even The Beatles in some ways. When you got beyond their pop stuff when you get into their crazy records.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: Aretha Franklin jammed.<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: Yeah. Everybody did back in the day. \u2018Ah James Brown, that\u2019s just a jam band\u2019. What are you going to do? Everyone\u2019s got their own stroke. A fad is a fad. The worst thing that you can do is try to navigate all that shit.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: Almost every album you put out gets 4 or 5 stars. Is that something you pay attention to? The reviews have been so positive for most of your records.<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I guess it\u2019s nice. I don\u2019t really read it. I learned my lesson. For most people, man, you can read 10,000 reviews that say you\u2019re great. All it takes is one bad one and you feel bad about it. It\u2019s silly, but it\u2019s human nature in a way.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: It seems like there\u2019s been a bit of a revival in soul music with the Daptone label and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. I was wondering where you saw yourself fitting in to that.<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: Nah. No. It\u2019s all cool. I\u2019m just influenced by the people I\u2019m influenced by. I make no concerted effort to sound like I\u2019m from a certain era.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: Well, how about some of those influences. People that influenced you vocally and instrumentally.<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: Everybody from Stevie Wonder to Otis Redding, Toots Hibbert<\/a>. Toots and Otis are my two favorites of all time. Jerry Reed and his guitar playing are phenomenal. Donnie Hathaway is another one of my favorite singers. I love Stevie Ray Vaughan\u2019s singing as much as his guitar playing.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: Let\u2019s talk about Georgia Warhorse<\/em>, your newest album. There seems to be more acoustic guitars on this album. Do you have any intentions coming up to do a solo album?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know. To me, all of these records are solo records. I don\u2019t know what I would differently other than play every instrument, and I wouldn\u2019t want to hear that crap. It\u2019s a band. I\u2019ve got a great band. I don\u2019t know what I would do differently.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: One of my favorite songs on the new album is Gotta Know.<\/a><\/em> I\u2019ve heard bootlegs where you\u2019ve played that from awhile ago. What made you want to record it for this album?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I\u2019ve recorded it on every record. I wrote it a long time ago. It just didn\u2019t make it on there for whatever reason. The only thing different about this version compared to all the other versions it the line \u2018I finally understand, it can\u2019t be understood\u2019 at the end, and that was it. Plus these guys just nailed it in the studio. It just came together. You never know why sometimes things come together. The song is my own stab at myself and the scientific part of my mind that just has to know everything.<\/p>\n

VM<\/strong>: Looking towards the future, where do you see the band next year or in 40 years?<\/p>\n

JG<\/strong>: I have no idea, man. I don\u2019t think about the future. I don\u2019t dwell on the past too much. I don\u2019t really think about either one. If I can play music, I want to play music. If I can\u2019t or if I don\u2019t want to, then I won\u2019t do it. You can say the same for any of the guys. They may get better gigs, hopefully. Maybe a bigshot gig and get us to open up for them. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n

Jookhouse airs every Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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