JJ Grey talks to Patrick Muller about his new album Ol’ Glory, the “Southern mafia” and performing at Bluesfest.
It’s been six years since JJ Grey and his band Mofro have been to Australia, and Grey couldn’t be keener to return. An avid surfer, he’s looking forward to dropping in some waves between sets at the Basement and Byron Bay Bluesfest. “I have a buddy who’s from there, and he still has family there, so we use some of the boards they have at their house,” says Grey.
An honest moment
It’s not all surfing though. Like many artist on the Bluesfest bill, Grey is also playing a show at a smaller Sydney venue, The Basement. When asked about the contrast between the two settings, he responds, “I love them both. I love to try and keep a festival gig intimate and I love to try and make a show like the one at the Basement to feel as festive as possible.” Having an interesting philosophy on performance, Grey goes on to say, “It doesn’t matter how many people are there, just that you share an honest moment with them. If you try to plan out every detail, it’s gonna suck.”
The glory of living
JJ Grey and Mofro’s latest album, Ol’ Glory, holds personal meaning for the man himself. “The name comes from my grandmother’s funeral.” Grey explains there was a spontaneous event that wormed it’s way into importance for his latest effort. “My aunt and uncle were singing I’ll Fly Away and one of my uncles just jumped up and hollered it. It’s a kind of reverent phrase people say at funerals.” He continues by defining his own interpretation of the phrase and why it holds such importance to the LP. “For me, it was more about signifying the glory of living. Of feeling it all, doing it all, being it all.”
Writing itself
Of the creation of Ol’ Glory, Grey had much to say. “All the songs I’ve done write themselves.” He quickly retracts this statement, realising he is mistaken. “I take that back, some of them I’ve painstakingly tried to write and they sucked so they didn’t make it onto the record,” he laughs. This is an interesting moment of self deprecation that highlights Grey’s characteristic humility and charm. “Most of the stuff that is on the record is just stuff that kind of writes itself.” He also sings the praises of his fellow musicians in Mofro and speaks of the pressure that their amazing performances put on him and how they pushed him to deliver, while continuing the charisma. “They all bought who they are to it and they just crushed. I felt I was sort of my ball to drop at that point. I need to make sure I sing great, or as good as I can.”
The Southern mafia
Ol’ Glory also features a host of guest musicians, including Luther Dickinson, of the North Mississippi All Stars and Derek Trucks of, among other things, The Trucks Tedeschi Band. Speaking of Trucks in particular, Grey – who hails from Jacksonville, Florida – describes the hierarchy of Southern music. “They the upper echelon of what I like to call the southern mafia. The Allman Brothers are on the top, then you’ve got Derek and Susan (Tedeschi) right there close to that.” Of both Trucks and Dickinson, Grey greatly respects their technique. “Derek sings on his guitar and Luther sings on sings guitar. They graduated from playing the guitar a long time ago, to me they just sound like a singer singing.”
