Mofro band biography outlines
JJ Grey & Mofro
Olustee
Alligator Records
Funky Ass Thought Provoking Southern Rock With a Side-Order Of S.O.U.L
I first heard multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter, JJ Grey and his band, Mofro back in 2010. Via their album, Georgia Warhorse and enjoyed it, hence I was keen to hear what the boys were doing today, especially as he’s back recording on Alligator Records.
JJ Grey’s been making records since 2001 (Blackwater) and Olustee is the North Florida-born act’s tenth record, remarkably enough his first in nine years though.
An amazing talent, Grey’s songs have appeared in films, documentaries, and on plenty of television too; including House of Cards, Criminal minds, Bones, House, Flashpoint, and many others.
He’s also an excellent visual artist, having designed and drawn the covers of all his albums (his latest shows a proud looking rooster).
Grey and his band, Mofro have played many festivals including Austin City Limits, Byron Bay Blues Festival (Australia). Montreal Jazz Festival (Canada) and Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival bringing some of America’s mythical South to the table, garnished in Memphis soul, rock etc, and intelligent appraisal of the world as us humans living in it, and the majority of his songs are keepers.
The Sea eases the listener gently into the record, With Lochloosa, JJ Grey and Daryl Hance have expounded on a number of themes they first presented in Blackwater. Collectively known as MOFRO, with the aid of a drummer, bassist and, on occasion, a percussionist, the group has become a national act that proudly retains its regional posture and perspective. Here Grey speaks about the power of place, fireflies, forest fires and monochromatic blight. He also reveals why he’s not an active member of the MOFRO listserve. DB- I can remember you’ve said that quite a bit of your first album was written in England looking back at your life growing up in the United States. How about the songs on Lochloosa, where were they composed? JG- Well, some of Blackwater was written in England and some was written here. The ones written in England were all written in my son’s bedroom which was a little loft up in the attic of my in-laws house in north London. We had a little recording studio we set up there for me and Daryl [Hance] where we’d record everything. He’d spend a couple days up there working on a riff and then I’d go up there and arrange it and maybe put a bridge or a chorus to it and turn it into a song. Or I’d just go up there and write out a whole song. Some of was composed at the same place and the same time. The song “Lochloosa” itself used to be this long intro to the song “Florida” but I liked slowing it down and singing to it so I changed it around and made it as it is. “Dirtfloorcracker” was actually written at the same time we wrote a lot of the stuff that became Blackwater while we were in London. Daryl came in there with music for the chorus and I made up the music for the verses and the bridges and put lyrics to it. But a lot of Lochloosa was written here. I wrote the song “Everybody’s” just as we were pulling into Detroit in the RV. It came out of nowhere all at once. Sometimes it happens that way. For whatever re photo: Everett Zuraw *** “I call it chasing the rabbit,” JJ Grey says of the creative process that yielded Olustee, the ninth album of original music from his band Mofro. Grey, who wrote all the material on the record, as per usual, and served as producer for the first time, elaborates, “You’ve got to see the rabbit before you can chase it. Sometimes that requires you to walk around a little while and look for the rabbit to chase.” Olustee is JJ Grey & Mofro’s follow-up to 2015’s Ol’ Glory, but Grey’s rabbit reference is not intended to account for the time span between those records. Instead, he is characterizing his relationship with the muse. “I started this record seven years ago,” he notes, “but I haven’t been working on it for seven years. If you added it all up, I probably haven’t spent much more time on it than any of my other records. It just comes when it comes.” “There’s never been a game plan for me; it’s just felt like something I needed to do,” Grey offers, as he expounds on the essence of his musical output. The singer/guitarist then introduces another metaphor from the animal kingdom, which is a steady source of inspiration to him, as Grey is an avid outdoorsman and longtime advocate for the preservation of the environment around his North Florida home. “It’s like a salmon that swims out to sea and swims back,” he observes. “If you could ask a salmon why they were doing that, they might say, ‘I don’t know. I’ve just got to go in that direction. I’ve got to go that way.’ It’s always felt like that for me with music. It’s fun, but I never thought about it being fun. It’s a great experience, but I never thought about that either. I just had to do it and here I am. That really hasn’t changed either.” Grey reflects on the days prior to the release of Mofro’s superb, soulful 2001 debut, Blackwater, as he remarks, “The only thing that’s changed at all is that I don’t have a day job anymore. I still approach things the same way. Mus JJ Grey & Mofro (up to 2007 billed just as Mofro) is an American soul/funk/R&B/blues/southern rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, composed of JJ Grey (vocals, electric piano, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, harmonica), Andrew Trube (electric guitar and slide guitar), Anthony Farrell (Hammond Organ), Anthony Cole (drums) and the "Hercules Horns" Dennis Marion (trumpet), Art Edmaiston (tenor saxophone) and Todd Smallie (bass guitar). The band made its recording debut in 2001 with Blackwater, following up in 2004 with Lochloosa (both released under the name Mofro; both albums reissued by Alligator). In 2007 the band, with it's current name, released Country Ghetto, followed by the 2008 album Orange Blossoms. With the release of 2010’s Georgia Warhorse, the band stepped further into the mainstream view with the AAA radio breakout single The Sweetest Thing. In 2011 the full fury of the band’s live show was captured on the live CD/DVD Brighter Days. April 2013 brings the release of the band's sixth studio album, This River. Named for the St. John’s River, a centering point for Grey's childhood near Jacksonville, Florida, b]This River flows from freewheeling celebrations (Florabama) to dark inner journeys (Somebody Else), from late night, beer-soaked testimonials (Your Lady, She’s Shady) to heartfelt ballads of the almost-forgotten (The Ballad Of Larry Webb), and ends with the title track and a singularly devastating vocal performance. With Dan Prothero at the helm as producer, JJ and the band once again returned to Retrophonics Studio in nearby St. Augustine, Florida and muscled out some of JJ’s strongest material to date. The band has played countless festivals, including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Wakarusa, Austin City Limits Festival, Byron Bay Blues Festival (Australia), Montreal Jazz Festival and Fuji Rock (Japan). Over the course of his career, Grey has shared stages with the likes
‘some of the quietest and most beautiful moments of my life were in and at sea,
the sea has always had a calming effect on my otherwise overactive mind’ acknowledges the avid surfer).
Top Of The World is set to a strong rhythm as Grey speaks of the state of play around us these days as he seemingly and spontaneously plucking lyrics out of the air.
Party Time ensues a funky soul leaning female harmony vocal performance with some scintillating saxophone accompanying him.
On A Breeze opens with a calm soothing feel with Grey orchestrating things, and in total control, making this a song steeped in grace.
Grey then speaks of trying to escape, and getti