Laurence Jones (musician)

Last updated

Laurence Jones
Born (1992-02-13) 13 February 1992 (age 31)
Liverpool, England
Genres Blues rock [1]
Occupation(s)Guitarist, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active2010–present
Labels Ruf Records, Top Stop Music, Marshall Records
Website Official website

Laurence Jones (born 13 February 1992) [2] is an English blues rock guitarist, and singer-songwriter. He has released four solo albums to date and is signed to Ruf Records. Jones has won four British Blues Awards, including 'Young Artist of the Year' for three consecutive years. [3]

Contents

Biography

Jones was born just outside Liverpool, England, and relocated with his family at the age of eight to Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. [3] He learned classical guitar from the age of seven, although he became inspired towards the blues by listening to his father's collection of vinyl records. His particular favourite was The Groundhogs, Split , which was released in March 1971. [2] He acquired a Gibson Les Paul, practised for two hours each day, [1] and by his mid-teens fronted his own cover band, Free Beer, which employed a female singer. [2] He formed his own blues trio at the age of seventeen, and enrolled at University of Birmingham, but his final exams came around, Jones chose to go on tour with Johnny Winter and Walter Trout. [2] In 2012, Jones signed a recording contract with Promise Records and they released his debut album, Thunder in the Sky. In the same year Jones was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. [1] All bar one of the songs on Thunder in the Sky were written by Jones, except for his cover of "The Thrill Is Gone". He toured promoting the album and ultimately provided support for the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Wishbone Ash and another of his boyhood heroes, Tony McPhee of The Groundhogs. [2]

In 2014, Jones signed with Ruf Records, and they released his second album, Temptation. [1] It was recorded in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. The album included contributions from Mike Zito on guitar and production work, plus the drummer Yonrico Scott and bassist Charlie Wooton (all three members of the Southern Brotherhood). Guest appearances included Johnny Sansone, Aynsley Lister and Walter Trout. [2] The critical praise saw him pick up the 'Young Artist of the Year' title at the 2014 British Blues Awards. [1] That summer, Jones toured as part of the Blues Caravan tour performing in ten European countries. [2] Part of the tour was recorded and led to the release of Blues Caravan 2014, jointly credited to Laurence Jones, Albert Castiglia and Christina Skjolberg. [4]

What's It Gonna Be (2015) was Jones next album released by Ruf Records. [1] The songs were written about his touring experiences and travelling around the world. [5] A British tour with King King followed. [2] Among other venues, Jones appeared at New York City's Carnegie Hall. [5] By 2016, Jones had secured four British Blues Awards, including 'Young Artist of the Year' for three consecutive years. [3]

Take Me High (2016) was produced by Mike Vernon. [1] It was launched at the Townsend Hall in Shipston-on-Stour, and preceded a tour across the UK plus an appearance at the Nidaros Blues Festival in Trondheim, Norway. In 2017, Jones supported Vintage Trouble on their UK tour, and later the same year toured with Kenny Wayne Shepherd in the UK and around mainland Europe. [3]

Accolades and awards

YearOrganizationAccoladeArtist/workRankingSource
2017Pop MagazineBest Albums of 2017The Truth15 [6]

Discography

YearTitleRecord label
2012Thunder in the SkyPromise Records
2014Temptation Ruf Records
2014Blues Caravan 2014 (Live)
with Christina Skjolberg & Albert Castiglia
Ruf Records
2015What's It Gonna BeRuf Records
2016Take Me HighRuf Records
2017The Truth Top Stop Music
2019Laurence Jones BandTop Stop Music
2022Destination Unknown Marshall Records
2023Bad Luck & the BluesMarshall Records

[4] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Healey</span> Canadian singer, guitarist and songwriter (1966–2008)

Norman Jeffrey Healey was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Angel Eyes" and reached the Top 10 in Canada with the songs "I Think I Love You Too Much" and "How Long Can a Man Be Strong".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Allison</span> American blues guitarist

Luther Allison was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested in music as a child and during the late 1940s he toured in a family gospel group called The Southern Travellers. He moved with his family to Chicago in 1951 and attended Farragut High School where he was classmates with Muddy Waters' son. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he dropped out of school and began hanging around outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. Allison played with the bands of Howlin' Wolf and Freddie King, taking over King's band when King toured nationally. He worked with Jimmy Dawkins, Magic Sam and Otis Rush, and also backed James Cotton. Chicago Reader has called him "the Jimi Hendrix of blues guitar".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruf Records</span> German record label

Ruf Records is a German independent record label, which was founded in 1994 by Luther Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the blues label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in Lindewerra, Germany. As of 2008, Ruf had produced 120 releases, sold over one million albums, received two Grammy nominations and ten Blues Music Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Groundhogs</span> British blues and rock band

The Groundhogs were an English blues and rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s, and continued sporadically into the 21st century. Tony McPhee was the sole constant member of the group, which had gone through many personnel changes, but usually recorded and performed as a power trio. The band was active from 1963 until retiring in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aynsley Lister</span> British blues-rock guitarist/singer and songwriter

Aynsley Lister is a British blues-rock guitarist/singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Trout</span> Musical artist

Walter Trout is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Neville</span> American percussionist and singer

Cyril Garrett Neville is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans-based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band upon the dissolution of the Meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JW-Jones</span> Musical artist

JW-Jones is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He is a Juno Award nominee (2015), Billboard magazine Top 10 Selling artist, and winner of the International Blues Challenge for "Best Self-Produced CD Award" for his release 'High Temperature' in 2017 and Best Guitarist in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oli Brown</span> Musical artist

Oli Brown is a British blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has released three studio albums and one live album.

Ian James Parker is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist in the genre of blues music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanne Shaw Taylor</span> English blues rock singer and guitarist (born 1985)

Joanne Shaw Taylor is an English singer and guitarist. She was discovered by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics at the age of 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Zito</span> Musical artist

Mike Zito is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erja Lyytinen</span> Musical artist

Erja Lyytinen is a Finnish vocalist, guitarist and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dani Wilde</span> British singer-songwriter and guitarist

Dani Wilde is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who fuses roots genres including blues, country, gospel, soul and Americana into popular song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Fish</span> American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter

Samantha Fish is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Kansas City, Missouri. While often cited as a blues artist, Fish's albums and live shows feature multiple genres, including rock, country, funk, bluegrass and ballads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa Collier</span> American saxophonist and singer

Vanessa N. Collier is an American blues, funk, and soul saxophonist, singer and songwriter. She has been nominated for seven Blues Music Awards and won one of them in 2019 and another in 2020.

The British Blues Awards were inaugurated in 2010. The prize was awarded in various categories, such as 'Male vocals', 'Female vocals', 'Guitarist', 'Bass player' and 'Keyboard player', 'Blues band', 'Young artist', 'Blues album', 'Blues festival' and 'Lifetime achievement'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Chavez</span> American songwriter

Laura Catherine Chavez is an American blues, soul, and rhythm and blues guitarist, songwriter and record producer. She has worked with many other musicians, including Deborah Coleman, Candye Kane, Dani Wilde, The Mannish Boys, Mike Ledbetter, Monster Mike Welch, Vanessa Collier, Casey Hensley and Whitney Shay. Her playing style is based in the Texas and Chicago blues traditions, both classic and modern genres.

Layla Zoe is a Canadian blues and blues rock singer-songwriter. Since 2006 she has released a number of albums, both studio and live recordings, and has performed across North America and most of Western Europe. Zoe has been influenced by Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Muddy Waters and Janis Joplin. Her vocal style has been likened to Joplin by various journalists and commentators. Although hailing from British Columbia, Canada, she has resided in various parts of Europe in recent years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliana Cargnelutti</span> Musical artist

Eliana Cargnelutti is an Italian blues rock singer, guitarist and songwriter. Cargnelutti has collaborated with various blues musicians including Scott Henderson, Ana Popovìc and Enrico Crivellaro. She has released four albums since 2013.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Liam Martin. "Laurence Jones | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Laurence Jones". Allaboutbluesmusic.com. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Chris G Roberts. "Interview with Blues Award Winner Laurence Jones – Music & Arts with WiderViewPhoto". Artsmusic.widerviewphoto.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Laurence Jones Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Laurence Jones – Keeping It Alive". Guitarinteractivemagazine.com. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  6. "Best Albums of 2017". Pop Magazine. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  7. "Laurence Jones | Album Discography". AllMusic. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.