Latest sensation from Seattle, prodigy guitarist Ayron Jones will be in concert Monday February 12 at Rockstore, in Montpellier. On record, his fusion of blues, soul and grunge is seriously disappointing, but on stage it should be even worse!
Another child prodigy from Seattle! Since Jimi Hendrix, the port city in the northwest of the United States has established itself as one of the most fertile sources of American music, an alternative, avant-garde and protest trend. If grunge still remains its great artistic moment today with groups like Pearl Jam, Soundgardern, Alice In Chains, Mudhoney, Tad and of course Nirvana, the “emerald city” has continued to see the birth of stunning talents. Among them, the rapper Macklemore, the folk group Fleet Foxes, the songwriter Damien Jurado and, we finally get there, the singer and guitarist Ayron Jones.
Bottle-fed with the sound of Seattle
If the latter obviously has a gift, life does not give him any gifts: his father is a gangster and a pimp who abandons him at birth and his mother, addicted to drugs, disappears when he is 4 years old. He was adopted by an aunt, a believer, who raised him in an environment of gospel and soul. He found his salvation there: music. He learned the piano, the drums and the guitar, especially the guitar, as an autodidact, as well as the violin in a more academic way (although it seemed without much result, other than giving him a foundation in music theory and composition).
In his twenties, he began performing in Seattle bars and four years later found the right formula, in an electric power trio marked by the influence of Jimi Hendrix Experience, obviously, but also of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble . Spotted by the rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot, he published two albums under the name Ayron Jones and the Way in the 2010s. The second, Audio Paint Job, in 2017, benefited from the production presence of Jack Endino, sound engineer considered the “godfather of grunge”, and Barret Martin, another cult figure for having been the drummer of the Screaming Trees.
A beautiful, poignant voice
However, it was only the following decade (yes, the current one) that everything really came together for him with his signing to the Big Machine label, backed by a major. More resources, better exposure, his album Child of the state, in 2021, had the effect of a small bomb. His playing on the Fender Stratocaster certainly evokes the masters of Seattle: Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) and Kim Thayil (Soundgarden).
But Ayron Jones does not overdo it, always putting his dazzling virtuosity at the service of his compositions. This is its first originality: if the soul and blues roots are obvious, the writing is current, with melodic accents of metal-pop, noisy bursts of grunge and deep fusion grooves. And there is his voice: Ayron Jones escapes the curse, somewhat overplayed, according to which guitar heroes make poor vocalists (Hendrix, to name him but is there another, was a remarkable singer) . In this case, our friend has a beautiful tone of voice, slightly raspy, which holds its high notes and tears when necessary with emotion.
From now on everything smiles on Ayron Jones who tours all the way to Europe, performs at Hellfest, performs at Taratata, opens for Deep Purple at the Nîmes arenas (yes, June 29, 2022!) and supreme consecration, toy several times in the first part of the Rolling Stones!
Last June, his 4th album, Chronicles oh the Kid, was released, in which he further affirms his desire to take on the biggest audience. The production is muscular but careful, the writing a little more formatted but effective, the arrangements even more current, bordering on urban, but at the center remain and remain the poignant voice and the coruscating guitar of Ayron Jones. Remember this name. Save your evening.
And concert Monday February 12, from 7:30 p.m., at Rockstore, Montpellier. Part One: Amongst Liars. €25 / €22. 04 67 06 80 00.
2024-02-05 20:04:51
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