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| Written by John Taylor | |||
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The highlights of Ottawa's JW-Jones' career would be the envy of many a life-long musician; he's shared stages with the likes of Kim Wilson, hung out with Anson Funderburgh, traded licks with Rusty Zinn . . . JW, however, has done it all while still in his early 20s! The age issue is inescapable. In an era where greater value is all too often placed on youth and appearance rather than talent, blues remains one of the few musical forms that gives greater currency to age and experience. JW, however, feels it works in the band's favour. "Sure," says Jones, "there are always going to be people out there who say, 'Those kids are white, they're from Canada, what do they know about blues?' But I know in my heart that we know what we're doing. We're playing real blues, and that's what matters most to me, that we're doing the right thing, trying to carry blues to the next generation. I think younger blues artists should be encouraged, because they're the ones who are going to be keeping it alive!" JW's discovery of the blues proved to be a life-altering event. "It was seeing B.B. King perform in '95," he recalls. "That really converted me to strictly listening to blues and getting into the older stuff." He quickly began work on his own musical education. "I started listening to guys like T-Bone Walker and the harp guys like Little Walter. That really got me going, and then a whole new light shone on me when I heard about guys like Kim Wilson and the contemporary guys like Rod Piazza, Rick Estrin, and Little Charlie & The Nightcats."  That accounts for JW's blues
education. But what about music itself? "Well, my dad is a folk guitar player and singer," says Jones, "and he had a guitar in my hands pretty early. I believe I had an acoustic guitar by the time I was five. At first I just looked at it as a piece of wood with some metal attached," he laughs. "I didn't really get into playing it at all until around '95 or '96. There were a lot of artistic people on my dad's side of the family." When it comes to other influences, JW names the usual subjects - B. B. King, Albert Collins, and T-Bone Walker ("Everyone always says those guys," he shrugs) - but adds a number of contemporary artists to the influence pool. "Junior Watson, Little Charlie Baty, Rick Holmstrom - there are so many newer guitar players who are really doing different things - and that's inspired me in my own guitar playing and more recently, in terms of the way the band sounds. I also get a lot from horn players like Charlie Parker and Lester Young. I'm influenced in a lot of different ways, even by harmonica players." Although their music is often described as having a "west-coast sound," JW feels his band has much more to offer. "Our fist album was a little more west-coast than the second," he explains. "In general, we cover a lot more bases than that. When people think of 'west-coast', they're usually thinking Chicago blues-meets-jazzier-stuff-and-swing, something along those lines, with the harmonica and guitar featured prominently. I think we're more of a traditional blues band. We do Chicago blues and Texas blues, a little bit of everything, really." And he'd prefer the band not be pigeonholed or categorized too much, at least not yet. "When we first started out, it was fine to be associated with that west-coast thing because that's what we were interested in at the time," explains Jones. "But the more we play, the more we become interested in developing our own style. I want us to carve out our own sound, so when people hear us, they'll say, 'Oh, that's the JW Blues Band.' It's a hard thing to do, but we're just going to keep working on it." The core lineup of the JW-Jones Blues band started coming together when JW met "Southside" Steve Marriner in 1998. "He was playing in a competition (the annual Ottawa Blues Harp Blow-Off), which he ended up winning," recalls Jones. "We hit it off right away. We had the same influences, and things just clicked." "Everyone always hears about young guitar players, but when a young harmonica player comes around, you don't hear about that, especially in Canada. Steve was only about 15 when I met him. And the thing is, he's not just a gifted teenaged harp player. I'd say he's hands down the best harmonica player in Canada!" JW himself won the guitar version of the same contest - the annual 'Guitar Riff-Off' - in 1999. It proved a pivotal event in his musical development. "That event is pretty special in Ottawa," says Jones. "A lot of guitar players come out for it. Winning that told me I had to push forward and start doing something. Part of the prize package was some studio time, which I ended up using towards our first album. It was definitely a great thing for me."
"Defribillatin was kind of a rush job. I think we did okay for a debut album. We got really good reviews, which surprised me in a way. But the new one is just so much better. Again, it's all original, but we spent so much more time on it. And we have guys like Kim Wilson and Gene Taylor on it. You can't go wrong with that!" Two full discs of original material by one's early 20s would be a stretch for most, but JW claims his songs all come from real life. "Songwriting definitely has to come from life experience. People say that all the time, but without that, songs just wouldn't have any emotion, any kind of heart to them. All the songs I write have a bit of truth to them, and sometimes a touch of humour. It kind of comes naturally. It always takes a little work to get a song just right, but it's fun performing your own songs. You can do any twists or turns you want to. You don't have to copy someone else." And securing the services of Kim Wilson to sing one of your own songs has to be considered something of a coup. "I met Kim in July (2001) at a festival in London, Ontario," recalls Jones. "I went with my brother, and we got backstage, got to know him a little bit. Then I saw him again in August in Syracuse and he asked me to sit in with the T-Birds. Once I sat in with them, we got to talking more and more on the phone. We got to know each other pretty well, and he saw the direction our band was going in and what we were trying to do. And since he's a big supporter of guys who are trying to keep the traditional, the real blues happening, he thought it would be a good idea to come and help us out with the second album." JW had clearly proven himself during that pivotal moment on stage with his idols. It wasn't easy. "I was standing at the side of the stage," says Jones, "and I said to (Kim), 'What song are we doing?' He just looks at me and says 'E!' I went up there and I didn't know what the heck we were going to be doing," laughs Jones. Thankfully, the song turned out to be one he was familiar with. He obviously acquitted himself well enough to gain Mr. Wilson's approval. And, he adds, "I'll never forget the thrill when Kim introduced me!" But even if they've got the chops, the feel, and the soul to do it all right, the band's youth does affect its future prospects. "Nathan (bassist Nathan Morris) has really become an important part of the band. As a matter of fact he's probably improved more than any of us," laughs Jones. "But he has a day job with the government, so he's not going to be doing music full-time. I think Bill (drummer Bill Brennan, newest member of the band) would jump at the chance to tour if the opportunity arose, but right now we don't really have that opportunity. And as for Steve, he still has a few more years of school to get through. We're just going to have to wait for him!" Given those constraints, it comes as no surprise that JW - the band's only full-time musician at this point - should explore other options. And one of the avenues he's been experimenting with is a horn-based band, partly in response to Steve's occasional unavailability.  "The fact is that Steve simply can't make
every gig," says Jones, "and I really don't want to work with another harmonica
player, unless it's Kim Wilson or someone like Rick Estrin. And it's another
style I've wanted to try for the longest time now, since I've been listening to
people like B. B. King who don't have harmonica players. So for the gigs Steve
can't do, I'm just going to go with a sax player." He's been working the wrinkles out for a while now with Tuesday-night gigs featuring two tenors, preparing for an upcoming tour of Western Canada. And he promises the next recording - with work scheduled to commence in autumn, 2003 - will feature a full-blown horn section. But JW admits it took some adjusting. "Playing with a harmonica player," says Jones, "you have to do certain lines behind them. There are certain rhythm things you absolutely have to do to capture that traditional sound. Playing with horns, though, opens it up to more jazz chording." The change has even altered JW's listening habits, and these days he's likely to be found studying the likes of Roy Milton, Charlie Parker, and Smiley Lewis. Asked whom he admires on the Canadian scene, JW's first thought is of a man who's provided encouragement throughout his career. "Big Daddy G is a good friend of the whole band," says Jones. "And David Rotundo's band is really good. There's Downchild, of course, and Tony D. There's a new band in Ottawa called Fine Fat Daddy. They have Frank Scanga (another Ottawa Harp-Blow-Off winner!) on harmonica and vocals, and Roxanne Potvin on guitar and vocals. She sings a track on 'Bogart's Bounce.' They're a good band, too, doing the traditional stuff." JW claims he has little time for activities outside music. "Although, I love to watch the Ottawa Senators," he laughs. "But mostly I just like to hang out with friends, work on my music, especially the vocals. Singing seems to come much harder to both Steve and I than the instrumental aspect of things. Blues is pretty much my life!" And what of the Internet and its place in the musical firmament? "I think the Internet has had a lot to do with how quickly we've gotten out there," muses Jones. "I've met a lot of musicians over the Internet who've really helped me out, and our web page gets a lot of hits. As for 'digital piracy,' I believe music is for sharing. We actually had a couple of songs on Napster, and I hope if people hear those they'll be interested in buying the disc to hear more. So it hasn't really hurt us at all. For the most part it's the people who are selling millions of albums anyway who seem to have the most problem with it." It seems there's little likely to hold JW back. He's got it all, the desire, the ability, and a surprisingly assured sense of what he wants, all tempered by a certain amount of patience - he knows it's a marathon, not a sprint. In an ideal world he'll be around to help mentor another generation, one that looks up to JW as a tried and road-tested veteran with stories to tell, lessons to pass on. Maybe when he hits the ripe old age of, say, 34 or 35 . . . © Copyright 2003 Feature by John Taylor |
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