From his early days playing cover music behind chicken wire at a west side Jacksonville juke joint, to playing sold-out shows at some of the largest venues and music festivals in the world, renowned singer, songwriter and artist JJ Grey has always delivered his soul-honest truths.
Now, Grey will celebrate the release of his highly anticipated new Alligator Records album, Olustee, with a live JJ Grey & Mofro performance at The Signal in Chattanooga on Sunday, April 28.
On Olustee (Grey's first self-produced album and his first release in nine years), the North Florida-born and bred Grey sings his personal stories with universal themes of redemption, rebirth, hard luck, and inner peace. With his music, Grey also celebrates good times with lifelong friends, oftentimes mixing the carnal with the cerebral in the very same song.
Fueled by his vividly detailed, timeless originals spun from his own life and experiences in the Northern Florida swampland, Grey’s gritty baritone drips with honest passion and testifies with a preacher’s foot-pounding fervor.
According to Grey, “The best songs I’ve ever written, I never wrote. They wrote themselves. The best show I ever played, played itself and had little to do with me or talent. To me, those things come from the power of an honest moment, and I guess I’m trying to live in that power and not force life to cough up what I want.”
With Olustee, JJ Grey has once again pushed the boundaries of his own creative musical, lyrical and vocal talents, delivering an album that is destined to become a stone-cold classic. Many of the songs are steeped in the mythical Southern stories of his ancestral Florida home and filled with people from JJ’s life. The songs overflow with the sights and sounds of the region as told through the eyes of a poet and sung with pure, unvarnished soul.
The album’s eleven songs range from the introspective opener The Sea to the raucous, celebratory first radio single, Wonderland, to an escape from an out-of-control wildfire in the title track, to the inward-looking closer, Deeper Than Belief. Singing of his own personal triumphs and struggles, his hopes and desires, his friends and family, Grey’s message is simple and strong: respect the natural world and always try to live in the moment. And never forget the importance of having a good time.
- Sunday, April 28, 2024
- The Signal (21 Choo Choo Ave., Chattanooga, TN)
- Showtime: 7:30pm
- Ticket price: $49.83-$222.80
- Website: www.thesignaltn.com