Singing the Southland: JJ Grey & MOFRO

No matter what part of the country you’re from, there’s nobody who can speak about the heart of the land like a Southerner.
JJ Grey comes from a long line of astute Southern observers and storytellers. JJ Grey & MOFRO will make their second appearance at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in a couple of weeks.

Grey is able to capture the quirks and follies of folks, even those who are deluding themselves. The song “That Boy” is less about the male in the title than it is about the woman who is locked into an abusive relationship with him. In only a few short words, Grey is able to reduce her plight to what it is.

It’s a persuasive bit of music that isn’t heard enough today, that reaches across the hurting and reduces it to a common sense observation. I saw him sit on a stool, three years ago at the 10,000 Lakes Festival, and talk to the young men in the audience about not beating on their women.

He was a young man, too, at the time, just 37 then, talking like a worldly cousin to the boys back home. But here in this jam setting, he was addressing a college educated crowd that he knew could still benefit from the power of one of his songs.
Older and road-wiser, Grey, now signed with Alligator Records, will be playing songs he’s developed over the years, including crowd favorites from his CDs, including “Loochloosa” and “Country Ghetto,” his debut album on Alligator Records. He also will gift the audience with new material from his just-released CD, “Orange Blossoms.”

Grey has been touring and recording for almost twenty years. He and Daryl Hance had worked at the same air conditioning company in 1989.

“A couple of years later, I was part of a band that needed a new guitar player,” Grey said. “I asked a lady there if they knew his phone number. We’ve been playing [together] ever since.”

Today, that band has expanded to a six piecer. Adam Stone, the organ player, was there at 10KLF in 2005. “The drummer just started. He’s probably played about eight or nine gigs with us. He’s awesome,” Grey said this past June. “The horn players have been with us since last February, just over a year.”
His new material is still speaking about the land and the people he loves, including stories he heard his grandfather tell about the turpentine camps in Northern Florida where he’s from. He sings about strong women, about hate and violence, and always about home, either in a place remembered or in a person loved.

These lyrics come in a bluesy, rocking, rootsy musical package that will not only have the audience thinking but up dancing as well.

If You Go

What: JJ Grey & MOFRO
Where: Barn Stage, 10,000 Lakes Festival, Detroit Lakes
When: Fri., July 25, 4 p.m.
Info: 1-800-493-3378