Post by Forum Lord on Mar 12, 2014 12:52:49 GMT -5
Quality artists seem to be rare these days or I should say quality musicians are quite rare these days when much of the entertainment/music business is more into show and pomp and sex rather than focusing on quality music. But I can honestly say that this is not the case for a new and upcoming young guitar player from the United Kingdom named Laurence Jones.
I keep up to date on a European music blog called zinhof where I am regularly treated to new and old artists and music I would have never otherwise ever have even heard of if not for Zinhof! So thanks zinhof! Laurence Jones is truly a diamond among debris! This post features an article about his latest album- his second album- but thanks to zinhof you can now have both albums for listening to and right from the top of his first album this kid smokes! A smoking hot young player with a big sound and you can tell he is heavily influenced by the past masters of guitar like Hendrix, Clapton, and Stevie Ray!
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LAURENCE JONES - Thunder In The Sky (2012) & Temptation (2014)
Laurence Jones and his Band play a blend of Blues and Rock with a groovy and catchy modern edge. Laurence is being talked as of one of the New up and coming UK Blues Guitarists. Laurence started playing the classical guitar at the age of 8 and has gone on to achieve grade 8 distinction. In 2006 he started to play the electric guitar and was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Tony Mcphee, B.B King, Gary More and Albert Collins. Classic Rock magazine quoted Laurence as "Blues Rocks youngest Talent" and was featured on the "Blues Fury C.D along with Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Popa Chubby and many more. Laurence has a massive future ahead of him and is being talked as "one of the U.K's up and coming guitarists". Now gigging full time up and down the country, Laurence has recorded his debut album "Thunder in The Sky".
Released in February 2014, Temptation is Laurence’s first album for Ruf Records, and the climax of a thrill-ride early career that has barely paused for breath. True, other artists might have more miles on the clock, but the twenty-something bandleader has made the years count, having already released a critically acclaimed debut in 2012’s Thunder In The Sky (5/5 from Get Ready To Rock magazine), opened for heavyweights including Walter Trout and Buddy Whittington and won comparisons with Robin Trower from BBC Radio 2. No wonder that label boss Thomas Ruf chased his signature: “All Ruf artists have something exceptional about them, and Laurence will soon be right up there.”
Laurence Jones Temptation
The cover tells a story: a young man holding an old and battered Strat and as he looks down at the guitar he seems to be saying “This is the chord that will tame you”. Tame it he has – this is one of the most impressive major label debuts I’ve heard in years.
He has had a certain buzz around him for the last year or so and the people who know have talked about him in the same breath as Oli Brown or Aynsley Lister. He is a fine guitarist but also a good songwriter and he seems to have more confidence about him that is proper for a young man. Maybe though it is also the company he has been keeping – half of The Royal Southern Brotherhood are playing on the album and guys like Mike Zito and Yonrico Scott and Charlie Wooton don’t lend their talents to the average duffer down the pub. Jones supported the RSB on their recent UK tour and it looks as though they have heard enough to play a full role on the album.
The electric though is all Jones – Zito plays acoustic and piano here – and he riffs and rolls like a demon. There is a soulful touch to his hard Blues and he sings well enough to do his words justice too.
The songs cover a wide range of styles and he manages to show that he has a handle on all of them – the funky title track is terrific while ‘Move On’ has the sound of a slightly rockier ‘Cocaine’. Inevitably there is a slower and more moody Blues – ‘Fall From The Sky’ – but it avoids the predictable traps and develops into a massive number without overplaying the mood.
It is one of those albums that sound better with repeated playing – you begin to hear the little bits of interplay between Jones and Wooton or Zito’s influence and then there is Johnny Ransome’s harp on ‘Soul Swamp River’ – just peerless.
No question about it, this guy is The Shit. Get on board now.
Laurence Jones website:
www.laurencejonesmusic.com/
Zinhof music blog for anyone wishing to acquire both albums:
zinhof.blog.hr/