Stacy Jones spreading her love of blues with latest album
Published 1:30 am Thursday, November 2, 2017
“Love is Everywhere,” and so is Stacy Jones.
One of the region’s most popular blues singers, her band’s new album “Love is Everywhere” is garnering attention in Grammy circles this week in the categories of best contemporary blues album and best roots song.
It’s also up for best self-produced CD at the International Blues Challenge, set for January in Memphis, Tennessee, and has been praised by numerous national critics.
Her genre is blues, for sure, but one also could describe her work as blues rock or roots rock with a bit of country. Earlier this week, the local Roots Music Report (rootsmusicreport.com) listed the Stacy Jones Band’s “I Fell in Love” as its top song title in the state.
During any given week, one likely can find Jones, 36, of Edmonds, singing in bars, at festivals and other venues in Snohomish County and beyond.
Haven’t heard Jones before? Think Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Koko Taylor, Etta James and Big Mama Thornton.
“That’s who I listen to and who I want to sound like,” Jones said. “My voice can sound large and harsh, but that’s Koko and Big Mama, too.”
Not Janis Joplin? “Nope. As much as I like Janis, she was only 27 when she died. She didn’t have time to fully find herself.”
Jones also plays piano, guitar and harmonica. She is a previous winner of numerous awards, including the Washington Blues Society’s best female vocalist and best songwriter.
“Love is Everywhere” is her fourth studio recording and her seventh album. The album was recorded and mixed by Floyd Reitsma, who also produced albums for Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam, at Studio Litho in Seattle.
Jones grew up in Shoreline, the daughter of Tom and Gladys Jones and sister of Jon-Paul, who now does graphic art for her band. At age 4, she started playing piano. Stacy grabbed a guitar at age 7, and by 8 she was singing Hank Williams tunes with her dad, the bass player in a rockabilly band. Stacy was 14 when her piano teacher, Beth Wulff, began taking her to blues jam sessions around Seattle.
“We started with classical training,” Jones said. “But Beth realized I had an ear for improvisation.”
Jones picked up the harmonica when she was 16 (“it was easier to carry around than a piano”), and at 17 started performing at blues gatherings and shows.
At Shorecrest High School, where she graduated in 2000, she was president of the choir, performed in plays and did a lot of community service. After Jones graduated from the University of Washington with a drama degree, she used her set-design skills and went to work as a draftsman.
At night she played with the Highway 99 AllStars and performed at Bumbershoot with that band. During the same period, Jones and Wulff formed Stacy Jones & the Wolf Tunes.
“Around 2008, with the economic downturn, I got laid off — again — from my drafting job,” Jones said. “People in the music business say don’t quit your day job, but my day job kept quitting me. I thought, ‘I am just gonna do my music.’ ”
The formation of the current Stacy Jones Band followed soon after.
“We’ve had to be our own machine,” Jones said. “The process of getting our music out there has changed so much in the past nine years. You gotta be on social media and YouTube. And you have to join the Grammy academy.”
Skip ahead to “Love is Everywhere.”
“I’ve become more honest about my songwriting,” Jones said. “At this point, it just spews out of me. Bob Dylan is my all-time favorite songwriter. His protest songs contain such truth for today. I still like love songs, but where are the songs about what is happening in our world? The new album has to do with people feeling loved and not fearful.”
Current Washington Blues Society vice president Rick Bowen is the drummer in the Stacy Jones Band.
“I am proud and privileged to have had Stacy call me her drummer since 2008. She’s a great band leader and a great friend,” Bowen said. “We’ve had some great adventures, including blazing trails across the country and Europe with our music. We’ve closed down a few juke joints, jammed with our heroes and caught the sunrise on the Seine.
“ ‘Love Is Everywhere’ is some of the best music she’s written and the best playing I’ve ever done in the studio. The album is out there doing some good work for us, and I hope the world digs it as much as we do.”
Guitarist Jeff Menteer is one of the best, too, Jones said.
“We’re almost a jam band on stage,” she said. “We improvise and then sync up. It’s a rare thing and a great feeling.”
Stacy’s father, Tom Jones, is the band’s bassist. At 68, he continues to be her favorite musician. “We could sit together for hours and just listen to music,” she said.
Also on the new album are guitarist Sean Denton, Mike Marining on sax and living harmonica legend Lee Oskar.
“Oh my goodness, Lee is incredible and a good friend,” Jones said. “He was such a good choice when we needed a big name on the album. He never hesitated. I am so glad I asked.”
The 60th annual Grammy awards are a long shot, Jones admits. “But you never know.”
Stacy Jones Band
Listen and buy: www.amazon.com/Love-Everywhere-Stacy-Jones, iTunes, CD Baby
More information: stacyjonesband.com
Hear them live: 8 p.m. Nov. 4, Capp’s Club in Kenmore; fundraiser for U.S. Virgin Islands, noon Nov. 5, Creasey Log Homes in Monroe; Washington Blues Society’s Snohomish Blues Invasion, Nov. 19, five venues in Snohomish; 7 p.m. Dec. 15, Village Inn Taphouse, Marysville. Also, the annual Jones Family Christmas Benefit Concert for Toys for Tots in Snohomish County is in the works.
