Search - Jp Jones :: Thugs and Lovers

JP Jones? "Thugs and Lovers" "Thugs and Lovers" is the 11th independent CD release from Newport, RI singer-songwriter JP Jones. Jones? 30-plus year career dates back to a self-titled 1973 LP release on CBS? Columbia/Windfall label. Including a couple of early 80?s indie single releases on vinyl, there are now over 150 original JP Jones compositions recorded and memorialized on disc. "Thugs and Lovers" is his best work to date. Written and self-recorded mostly in early Spring 2004, the songs on "Thugs and Lovers" are documents of solo acoustic performances created while the songs were still in their infancy - - or just as they were being written. What?s offered here, enhanced by the transparent production, is an opportunity for the listener to get as close as possible to the creative process and to the songs themselves. Jones? own liner notes catalog production details. Performance and composition dates are documented. Most importantly, a full set of lyrics is included. These songs work as poetry. Stylistically, "Thugs and Lovers" is rooted in the blues, but doesn?t shy away from folk and rock influences. The fact that JP pulls it all off without a band is testament to his power as a player and performer and also to the power of each individual song to communicate a unique and interesting emotional landscape. No feelings are spared here, and no ground is taboo. If the human experience includes anger, bitterness, sadness, joy, humor, determination and love, so do the songs on "Thugs and Lovers." There?s a thematic through-line as well and a biographical story that unfolds song-by-song as the disc progresses. With 11 CDs in his rear view mirror, Jones is justifiably known as "Rhode Island?s most prolific indie recording artist." Fans who attend shows, however, know there?s another 150 Jones songs yet to be recorded. For nineteen years after his Columbia/Windfall debut Jones wrote without releasing much of anything. Now, as he moves forward through his recording career, Jones keeps sprinkling this older work in. Folks who pay close attention will notice a couple of compositions from the mid-1970s among the tracks on "Thugs and Lovers." Here they sound as new and relevant as ever.