JJ Grey & MOFRO - April 20, 2007
w/ New Monsoon and Backyard Tire Fire
Growing up in the swamplands of northern Florida, down home roots, rock and soul artist JJ Grey became a realist early on. "You fall in love with a pig," he says, "and then one day your granddad knocks it in the head and bleeds it for butchering. You tend to grow up with a certain amount of realism in your life."

JJ Grey and his band MOFRO exude rocking, funky, melodic, front porch realism in every song they play. Grey comes from a long tradition of Southern storytellers, and his songs oftentimes use the loss of his natural surroundings and the marginalization of the Southern culture he grew up in as a metaphor for universal truths. The band delivers his material with brilliant musicianship, resulting in music that is thought provoking, rhythmically dynamic and texturally mesmerizing.

JJ Grey & MOFRO's Alligator debut, COUNTRY GHETTO (produced by Dan Prothero) features 12 original JJ Grey compositions that come right out of the Southern musical and literary tradition. Grey's ear for detail inhabits his songs, whether it is a story passed down to him from his grandmother or the tribulations of a childhood friend. His voice delivers them with an unflinching strength that makes the personal universal and paints a vivid portrait of an exact time or place with words and music. Like his songs, his rich, soulful vocals are forceful and commanding, seemingly old beyond his years. And the music, from smoldering soul ballads to gospel-fried funk to straight ahead rock 'n' roll, brings it all home with danceable grooves and a melodic freshness that will stay with you long after the album ends.

learn more about JJ Grey & MOFRO

San Francisco rockers New Monsoon have been storming across the nation, transforming audiences into dedicated fans with their exhilarating marriage of world rhythms and rock bravado. New Monsoon's vibrant percussion and acoustic and electric instruments come together in an irresistible blend of sophisticated songcraft, inventive musical exploration and down home rock-n-roll.

learn more about New Monsoon

As their moniker suggests, Backyard Tire Fire churns out a barely-controlled conflagration-starting off low and slow, flaring into a flat-out blaze at the whim of a breeze, then drawing back down into a pungent, smoky flame-yet always smoldering with a stubborn intensity that will not be ignored.

learn more about Backyard Tire Fire

Band Information
JJ Grey & MOFRO
JJ Grey - vocals, guitar, harmonica, Fender Rhodes
Daryl Hance - guitar, dobro
George Sluppick - drums
Adam Scone - organ
  with the Hercules Horns:
  Art Edmaiston - sax
  Dennis Marion - trumpet

New Monsoon
Bo Carper - Acoustic Guitar/Banjo/Lap Steel/Vocals
Jeff Miller - Electric Guitar/Mandolin/Vocals
Ron Johnson - Bass
Phil Ferlino - Keyboards/Vocals
Marty Ylitalo - Drums/Didgiridoo

Backyard Tire Fire
Ed Anderson - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, percussion
Matt Anderson - bass, vocals, percussion
Tim Kramp - drums, percussion, vocals