The blues (and more) of JJ Grey
June 25th, 2010 at 11:19 am
JJ Grey
Think you can define what kind of music JJ Grey and Mofro make?
Good luck. JJ Grey has trouble putting a name to it himself.
“I’m not good at playing the music genre game,” he tells me from Ann Arbor, Mich., after playing a concert in that city.
One could start with the basics: It’s blues, it’s soul, it’s funk, it’s got Cajun influences, actually, it’s got a little of everything.
Grey may not be good an putting labels to what he does, but those who saw him play at the Wakarusa Festival earlier this month knows he’s plenty good enough for the stage. Grey plays a mean guitar, a scorching harmonica and a jazzy piano.
He’s caught the ears of critics, and he’s among those playing at this weekend’s Riverfront Blues Festival in Fort Smith. His performance comes at 8:20 p.m. Saturday (June 25) at the festival, which takes place in Harry E. Kelley Park in downtown Fort Smith.
Grey also performs a post-festival gig at 8 p.m. Sunday (June 26) at Neumeier’s Rib Room in Fort Smith. Tickets to that show are $10 in advance or $15 at the gate.
Grey chatted with me about his forthcoming album, “Georgia Warhorse,” due out Aug. 24, his fondness for the outdoors and his influences as a musician, which span from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Toots & The Maytals. That story appears in today’s What’s Up! section, the entertainment publication you can find in the Northwest Arkansas Newspaper publications and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Admission to the Blues Festival is $10 per day. The schedule is as follows:
Today (June 25)
5:30 p.m. — Gates open
6-6:40 p.m. — Copesetic
7-8 p.m. — Wisebird
8:20-9:30 p.m. — Band of Heathens
10-11:45 p.m. — Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Saturday (June 26)
4 p.m. — Gates open
4:15-4:45 p.m. — Copesetic
5-5:45 p.m. — JP Soars & The Red Hots
6-6:45 p.m. — Mark May
7:05-8 p.m. — Honey Island Swamp Band
8:20-9:30 p.m. — JJ Grey & Mofro
10-11:45 p.m. — Delbert McClinton
We’ll see you there.
Bonus video: Friday night blues fest headliner Grace Potter & The Nocturnals take on Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” And, um, they nail it kill it are amazing.
