Stacy Jones

Liquid Spirit

Too few female musicians play the harmonica and when we had the chance to feature one we jumped at the chance. With her new album out and entitled Whiskey Wine & Water, our man sought a chat with the U S musician and songstress about the collection, awards and everything else..at second attempt the line to Seattle was clear enough to press Record

JLTT: Hi Stacy, it’s morning for you there and it’s just getting cold and dark here

SJ: Gosh you’re so English..

Is there a Seattle accent?

(Laughs) Well..I think there’s a lack of accent, really – by the time gets all the way up here it’s all gone and people are culturally pushed together maybe?

I’ve been listening to your latest album and maybe we should concentrate on Whiskey Wine & Water…it kicks off with Can’t Do Nothin’ Right with the great acoustic guitar then the electric sound bursts in. Your slide player, he sounds a bit similar to the late Jesse Ed Davis from Taj Mahal’s band

The song’s about drinking, you know once you get to that certain stage with certain people..it’s easy to fall out..little niggles can become a big deal

The record overall strikes me as having a happy vibe, quite upbeat..with more things going right than going wrong

(Rueful laugh) Well at the time yes, but just a few weeks before the CD release I broke up with a boyfriend..so maybe right now I’m more concerned with handling things if they go wrong! There’s the track Keep On Keeping On on there of course, which is pretty reflective of things for me right now..

‘You and Me Tonight’, it’s very romantic upbeat skipping tempo – reminded me of early Bonnie Raitt ..but the notes mention The Band and Atlantic City, however

It’s strange, I had been listening to that song every day and weirdly that’s the song of my own that ended up coming out of it, the music’s not similar..it’s more on the lyric

Everyone I know and play with loves The Band and I don’t get it. They sound like they just left one funeral to go to the next. Who’s playing the fiddle on that?

John Parry, he lives here in the Washington area now, we’re just lucky to have him play with us

This song ‘Dreams’ is a nice one..your dad wrote the tune?

Yeah! Many many years ago that is and much later I came up with the lyrics you hear. It was kinda funny, I woke up and the words were just there in my head, so now after forty years that tune has lyrics and that’s great ! Nothing you could ever plan out, Pete, but…

And with that Americana arrangement it sounds very fresh to me

I’m really happy with that one, it just came together so well for us

‘Hole In My Soul’ has a very insistent vocal and every now and then there is a hint of Janis Joplin in your singing. This is like J J Cale at high speed

I wrote that one a few years ago and I’d been thinking about it and yes it does have some inspiration from him there. I was sitting writing a song all by myself and drinking alone and that came through. J J Cale IS very inspiring, to me

The guitar solo is cool, this sort of number is great to introduce your group over, end of a set

Hmm, I’ve been doing that middle of set but come to think of it the end might be a good pace to list it, yeah that could be fun! I have to give this some thought now

The title track, it seems you have a family full of characters?

That is very very true..and the words are true to my family members it must be said. The family are also very close together, still. My brother is a great graphic designer so works on the album jackets plus he takes care of the website for us. We’re a happy family that likes to drink sometimes, that’s all.

This cut shows the rhythm section off best to my way of thinking.The high register harp is you?

Yeah I am playing the harp and I also use a guitar open- tuned to E here and there

‘Four Days More’, very contemplative song, almost like a narrative and I like the descending chords in the bridge

I had kind of been messing around with the chords, it was a soundcheck thing with the band, really. It is about things going bad and then meeting someone new after that, but it centres on the guitar solo as main feature, I’d say. The words are more a complementary thing, here.

‘To Be Loved’ has the piano intro, very gentle. Don’t be offended, but almost a Norah Jones moment?

(Brightly) Yeah! It has the sweetness thing and there’s nothing too complicated over the top of everything, everybody played sort of simply. It just came out with that naked feel you are picking up on.

Now ‘Mother’ has a fine dirty slide sound, does your mother ever come along to your shows?

Oh yes! And I play that one for her, you bet. I think this is where I got my voice from, my Mom and Dad just love music and it was always playing.

‘Keep On’, great harp on that and steady tempo – is it a live favourite?

It is indeed a popular number in the set with people and the message of that one does hit home, I have to say. It’s a straight-up good ol’ rockin’ tune for performing.

‘Lost Lovers Waltz’…the fiddle’s back and is it an assemblage of bits of songs as seems to be hinted?

Yeah I came up with that in Hawaii and wrote it playing the ukulele! Then added more words a while later, so yes it took a few years to get finished

‘San Antonio’ – now this is about moving part of the family South?

That’s right, moving a brother down to San Antonio, so based on a true story

Sometimes you remind me of Roseanne Cash, a truth-teller if ever there was

I do hear a lot of people talking about her writing on that level, the real-life thing she captures

‘Waiting’ is the closing track and you’re using a softer voice here…our late singer here Dusty Springfield could work this sort of tempo so very well. Nicely handled

Thank you. I am very pleased with the way that one came out. I almost scrapped it, but the more I listened to it, the more I liked what it puts over.

So, clever lass – what’s my favourite song on your record?

Hmm you play harmonica too , so Keep On Keepin On

Incorrect. It’s ‘Four Days More’. I think that is one helluva song and if I had a hat I would tip it to you. It’s the redemptive tinge to the lyric

Thank you, with the guitar part I just said ‘ Keep it !’ and all it just came together

Do you find your closest friends are male rather than female?

(Ponders) Well…musically definitely male. Socially, probably a mix. I have some very close female friends with whom you can just talk freely about life and ups and downs. They don’t play instruments though they might come to a show, so that takes me somewhere different. But from playing you make a lot of friends, you know how it is?

From footage you’re comfortable being one of the band but you don’t seem arrogant or attention-seeking. You’re up for some Awards in your area?

Yeah! And what I guess I’m hoping for there is Songwriter-related, to be honest, but the band’s up for Best Band and obviously that would be so good for everyone. We have been working so hard this year that any recognition would mean a lot

The new album is a bunch of songs played to the best of your ability rather than going for instrumental peaks, I venture?

That’s exactly it, Pete. I had three different guitar players on it, with songs fitting what they can do and it’s all to produce a set of songs with different moods.

Pete Sargeant