Music
Press
Here's what some music-industry professionals had to say after hearing Chris's demo at the 2005 Americana Music Convention:
"He has a very interesting character in his voice that is really unique sounding in different parts of his range. Very cool. And the picking is just outstanding. That whole package there just shows a whole lot of talent. That first song is just so memorable and the melodies are just so cool."
- Josh Jackson, co-founder and editor, Paste magazine
"I really, really like that. I was afraid when I heard it a first that it was rockabilly and it was going to be just that. But I’m glad that he’s breaking it up and doing traditional country and bluegrass sound in there as well."
- Jenni Finlay, Promotions Director, Compadre Records, Houston
"I think these songs are a good illustration that not every song has to change the world. I mean these are great groove songs, they’re not particularly lyrically fantastic or deep but they’re wonderful to listen to. I really, really enjoyed the sound. The picking is outstanding... I think he’s got real talent... I think he has a future as a player and as a writer. And the vocal was not bad either, for that matter."
- Robert K. Oermann, author and journalist, bi-weekly columnist for Music Row Magazine, author of seven books and written liner notes for more than 90 albums and boxed sets.
"Particularly that first song, with his picking and just the soufulness of it; the bridge there went in a little interesting direction. Unique."
- David Rivers, National Workshops Director for the Nashville Songwriters Association International
- None
Don't know about the whole band, but seeing Chris solo acoustic style was a real treat. The guy sings like a canyon wren, writes insightful lyrics and catchy songs, and seriously knows his way around the songs from the classic roadhouse jukebox collection. I was way impressed.
- Paul Kimball, "Careless Hearts" - Bandega.com
So there I was just last week with High Diving Horses, with SF songwriter Chris Jones opening the show.
Chris Jones was the bomb and left me wondering, where the hell have I been that I haven't known of him before? This Tenesee native can write a top-notch song and play a mean guitar and tell a story with grace and charm, and man, can he croon. Imagine a voice that sounds something like a blend of Jeff Buckley and Dwight Yoakam and Chris Isaak. I really look forward to hearing more of him, and you might want to, too!
- Soupandsong.blogspot.com
Discography
Chris Jones - "Chris Jones" (2006)
Chris Jones - "Recent News" (2007)
Everyday Stranger - "Everyday Stranger" (2007)
Photos
Bio
Chris Jones is a San Francisco-based retro-revival songwriter who grew up in the South. The influences of both coasts colliding in his brain have led him on a journey to find the bridge between tradition and innovation. His southern heritage is one of musical community and culture, and he carries on this tradition with pride. There is down-home groove and honky-tonk familiarity in timeless themes of drinkin', ramblin' and loves lost. He composes and records his music on a BR-532 digital 4-track with an sm57 microphone in his dilapidated Victorian apartment on 24th St. and Mission. You can listen to it here.
Chris has a deep love and respect for the classic songwriting styles of Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and Townes Van Zandt, and doesn't ignore the modern artists like Ryan Adams, Jeff Tweedy and Elliot Smith. He effortlessly writes in the styles of classic country, insatiable pop, bloody rock n'roll and progressive experimentalism without boundaries. It's all just music to him.
He performs solo and with his band, Chris Jones and the High Life, which consists of Bill Cramer and Chris Guthridge from Ride the Blinds. You may also see him moonlighting on bass with Charles Gonzalez and the Stereo Glitter. Spend a little time in his world, and you might get the sense that a new generation of people are uniting in the same city that brought you the Grateful Dead, Jack Kerouac, the Jefferson Airplane, and Ken Kesey, to name a few. Except now there will be new names and faces and everything will go down in a completely different way.
By illiciting the old and conjuring the new, Chris is able to satisfy both body and soul. He will stay with you through good times and bad, and move along when the feeling's gone. And you always know he'll be back again. That's if you'll have him, of course.
Check out more at: www.chrisjones.info
www.myspace.com/chrisjonesmusic
Links
