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the earth has music for those who listen

“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.”

JJ Grey recorded his first seven albums with Fog City producer Dan Prothero, each time returning to JJ’s home territory of Jacksonville, stopping by Chowder Ted’s for lunch and proceeding south to Retrophonics Studios in St Augustine, Florida. Here’s a retrospective look at what they’ve made together:

 

Blackwater (2001)

Fog City Records

 
Soon even remote places in Florida will be gone forever, replaced by golf courses and country clubs. Music takes me back to those places. It takes me back to the past where I can live, breathe and remain sane. That’s probably my biggest influence. Either that or we just make up stuff that we think sounds cool.
— JJ Grey
 
Lochloosa

Lochloosa (2004)

Fog City Records

I’ve lived all my life beneath the watchful eye of these towering oaks, long leaf pine, cypress and cabbage palms. These red clay roads blistered out to sand by the intense Florida sun, these tea colored creeks warm and full of fish, these beautiful gardens full of whatever seasonal crop we’ve laid down. These old chicken farmers who helped raise me have given me so much more than a place to hang my hat. They’ve given me a home, they’ve given me roots and honestly that has as much or more to do with who I am musically as any of the songs I’ve listened to growing up.
— JJ Grey
 

Country Ghetto (2007)

Though JJ’s songs are set in his homeland, his stories transcend time and place. Some of JJ’s stories come from his forefathers, passed down through his homeland’s blood, pain and triumph of natural beauty. In the tradition of oral history, JJ filters these stories through his generation’s circumstances and makes them universal.
— Luther Dickinson
 

Orange Blossoms (2008)

 
Mofro has one of the great unhurried rhythm sections in rock. Grey is a singer-songwriter [who]celebrates life’s most fundamental joys with unforced talent and deep feeling.
— New York Times
 

Georgia Warhorse (2010)

 
There’s a big gap between what people listened to in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and what people actually know about now and JJ’s a great conduit to that.
— Derek Trucks
 
 

This River (2013)

 
JJ’s voice feels like the rallying cry of a freedom fighter rising above the din of the age old battle between good and evil. It is the sound of resilient tradition spitting in the eye of heartless, unrooted modern life. This voice sings songs of protest against watching your home lose its identity in the name of progress, against watching America turn into a faceless, blameless strip mall for the sake of convenience and greed.
— Luther Dickinson
 

Ol’ Glory (2015)

 
If you slow your life down by paying attention, you’ll be more creative. You’ll be more everything. Fact is, for the longest time I was a dog chasing my tail and I thought that’s what it took to get things done. In fact, it’s the very thing keeping you from getting anything done. I decided to make this easy.
— JJ Grey

JJ Grey & Mofro on tour