Music Is My Weapon

Stone Jack Jones was raised in a coal miner’s company house on the banks of Buffalo Creek, WV. Behind the house rose a canopy of green forest; in the front, a red road and a black creek, winding like a shimmering blacksnake. The woods were the first seduction,and whether by foot or by horse, it was there that he roamed. In this solitude he met the Peacock Man, who would transform his notions of reality, reality at the time being Vietnam raging, no prospects of college, and a draft notice in his pocket. He was rejected from the military because of epilepsy and told to go home. His dad, a fourth generation miner, said, "Don’t be a fifth," so the young musician picked up his fiddle and began a life of wandering.

Stone Jack Jones traveled the country playing fiddle and guitar, from the hills of West Virginia to Boston, Atlanta, Fort Worth, Baltimore, and New York City. Traditional Irish, medieval, punk, and country eventually merged into his dark and atmospheric American music.

He ended up in Nashville, TN, and soon met Patty Griffin at the legendary Jack’s Guitar Bar, where they spent many a night honing their songs. Stone Jack Jones went on several tours with Patty early in her career, forming what has proved to be an enduring musical relationship. A chance friendship with producer Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Lou Reed, Sleater-Kinney) began a collaboration that shaped all these different influences and experiences into a distinctive and evocative style. Narcotic Lollipop, Stone Jack Jones' first release, laid the groundwork for his highly praised song style. His second record, bluefolk, is the middle act in a sequence of three planned releases. bluefolk integrates the wide range of his inspirations and features four songs with Patty Griffin, performing with an unusual twist on her vocal approach. It’s moody, complex and mesmerizing, from the MLK tribute "Freedom Reigns," to the subtly veiled antiwar "Bread." Balancing uplifting celebratory dirges and exultant dark songs, Stone Jack Jones unweaves his America

• From a coal mining family in West Virginia
• Homeless for large stretches of his youth
• Avowed to a life of poverty during his teens
• Former carnival and circus worker
• Wife is Hollis Hampton-Jones critically acclaimed author of Vicious Spring and former model
• The song "Vivid" is based on Vicious Spring
• Fronted three piece new wave band Kaos in the early 80's in Atlanta, where a pre-fame Michael Stipe was a fan
• Shared a girlfriend with Michael Stipe. Her claim was "I have two boyfriends neither who will fuck me. One’s queer and one’s strung out"
• Mother is a Olympic Hall of Fame Swimmer
• Friendship and professional relationship with Patty Griffin who he has toured and recorded with
• Patty Griffin has a guest appearance (vocals and guitars) on both records
• bluefolk is the middle piece of a three cycle opus
• Owned a strip club for quite a few years
• A bad drug deal led to a failed murder attempt on him
• Had a near death experience as a teenager from a car crash that left him with epilepsy, disabling him from Vietnam
• Chance friendship with producer Fictitious Records co-founder Roger Moutenot ( Yo La Tengo, Sleater Kinney, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, John Cale, Guster, They Might Be Giants, John Zorn, Elvis Costello, Bill Frisell, Josh Rouse, Roseanne Cash, Gillian Welsh, Beulah, Freedy Johnston, Be Your Own Pet) helped transform Stone Jack Jones’ sound from a more traditional sound to complete freak-out