St. Augustine & His Rovers Dance Band - Onwu Ama Dike

(in post east of lagos from Spinning in Air. Download this at Amazon iTunes)

Hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Matt Jones is no stranger to the music scene. With three studio albums and over 500 live gigs under his belt, this well versed artist is sure to knock the socks off of anyone who gives his poignant stories a listen. When thinking back on his first live performance, Jones recalls being about twelve years old and singing "Polly" by Nirvana. As a newbie to performing, he admits "I wore my most grunge-music-like outfit so that everyone would believe the song. I'm not sure if it worked, but as I recall, I didn't have anything thrown at me." While early influences stemmed from rock, his own music shows roots in pop and folk and his desire to write, record and perform it blossomed after that first show.

Jones released his first album, Better Transitions, in 2005. Transitions consists of ten tracks one of which is "Maybe It Was Me". His reflective soul shines through in this song -- "How can you be different from the girl I knew back then? You talk the same you look the same and you still got that grin. But now it seems a world of change has caused me to believe, if its not you then maybe it was me." As a listener this is truly relatable and Jones himself admits that many times, as a young musician, stories come directly from personal experience -- "it's difficult to detach yourself from your art when you're not fully developed". Wondering if this particular emotion comes from something Jones experienced in his own life causes the listener to want to connect to him on a personal level such as in a live show atmosphere.

For two years after the release of Transitions, Jones toured and wrote to perfect his 2007 release of the EP The Segue. His ability to produce both a stripped down yet fuller sound is immediately evident in the song "Austin". With breaks in the piano, allowing his lyrical vulnerability to shine through, ("It's been a while since I said goodbye. And even longer since I had to try to let someone go I wished could stay."), Jones once again opens his listener to raw sentiment. His metaphorical examples are rich in visual emotionality; through them the listener feels the pain Jones pours into this powerful ballad. Jones may not have meant for the title of this album to be literal towards the third but it certainly bridges the gap on the journey to his most recent release.

When asked which of the three his favorite album is, Jones states "I'm always a victim of the new, so my favorite album or song is always the one that I'm working on. I just released my album Passerby in January of 2008, and ended up being very happy with it because it's not a repeat of former works". The three songs from this album on Jones' MySpace page include the title track, "Passerby", "What I Wanted to Say" and "Something New". There are interesting musical additions on this album such as what sounds like ocean waves on the title track and more prominence placed on acoustic guitar. These songs have a particular appeal, in more of a pop vein than the other two albums, and it would not be a surprise to hear any of them becoming a big radio hit.

The music behind his lyrics tells just as strong a story as the lyrics alone, and Jones would have it no other way. Although extremely catchy, none of his lyrics are predictable in the rhyming; the progressions from verse, chorus and bridge are strongly influenced by musical transitions. He states "I would almost always like to have some idea of what the music sounds like before putting lyrics to a song because it certainly helps you determine how words fit rhythmically and melodically within the piece." All three of his relatable albums can be purchased on iTunes or through his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/therealmattjones

To view all my available work please visithttp://www.chuckastonedesigns.com