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The Bones of J.R. Jones at The Firefly Lounge

When Jonathon Robert Linaberry needs a break from city life, he goes Upstate, near the Catskills, to renovate a little farmhouse he purchased a couple of years back. As he pours himself into his work, J.R. doesnt think about texts, email, or even his music, which he performs solo under the moniker The Bones Of J.R. Jones. His only focus is the house.

Thats been an amazing emotional outlet for me, he says of his periodic retreats. To kind of sustain myself after coming from the road and getting back into the grind of the city, to have this, for lack of a better term, Shangri-La.
In a sense, recording and touring as The Bones Of J.R. Jones is its own form of isolation. But you wouldnt immediately think so: As a one-man band, J.R.s project, which fuses a moody blend of soul, blues, roots, and Americana, sounds enormous both on record and live in concert. Thats because J.R. playsand has grown accustomed to playingevery instrument by himself.

Hes happy to report, though, that hes a lot less solitary on his third full-length album, Ones To Keep Close. In addition to workshopping the 11-track album with producer and good friend Rob Niederpruem at Hyperballad Music in Brooklyn, J.R. also called on soul-psych luminary Nicole Atkins, who guests on the albums jangly lead single, Burden.

I played a show with [Nicole] in Philadelphia a few months back, and we totally hit it off, says J.R. of how they met. It was the first time I ever got to see her live. Shes amazing live, and I guess she liked what I was doing, so we kept in touch. I approached her with this idea of doing a duet, and she agreed!

Its fitting then, that Burden, a quick-footed tune about the emotional isolation that comes with touring as a one-man band, would be performed by two people.

Burden comes from a spot of catharsis, says J.R. I tour a lot by myself, and its tough doing it by yourself, being alone all of the time. The whole idea of Burden was having that person to share that with. Kind of like misery loves company. Having someone be there. To be your rock. No judgement, just Im here for you.

J.R. even gathered more bodies in the studio itself, hiring musicians with whom to record and bounce ideas off of. On the gritty I See You, J.R. worked with his session percussionist to pick up the pace from a slower, swampier drawl to an 180 BPM swagger.

It was one of those moments where someone gives you a fresh perspective on something, recalls J.R. I was working with a drummer named Ian Chang, and he and Rob had this moment where they were like, what can we do with this? How can we make this as meaty and rocky as possible? And I See You was birthed out of that. I love the song. Its one of my favorite tracks on the record. Its so in your face, compared to some of the other stuff I do.

Another favorite of J.R.s is the minor-key garage-blues romp Know My Name, which the singer points to as harkening back to his personal tastes the most. I listen to a lot of soul, a lot of old blues, he explains. Obviously theres a lot of garage-rock influence. The old soul, like,
Sam Cooke and Bill Withers. Lee Fields. Even Charles Bradley. Theres still for me, the roots, which is, R.L. Burnside. I try to incorporate all of that.

Finally, Ones To Keep Close wouldnt feel complete without the redemption-themed Sinner Song, a softly strummed, slow burn that eventually reaches a quiet crescendo with scratchy strings and J.R.s murmuring hum. I somehow feel like the softer, more low-key songs on the record always end up being my personal favorites, he says. Maybe because its a track that Im the most intimately or personally invested in.
Even as insulating as solo musicianship can be, J.R. finds comfort in reflecting on how much The Bones Of J.R. Jones has grown in the last year. The project is like that house in the Catskillsconstantly evolving. In addition to recording with Niederpruem and a backing band, this album marked the first time J.R. felt able to adequately flesh out his ideas in the studio without feeling rushed.

Every time Id gone into the studio prior to [this record], itd be like, Okay, we have five days... this is what its costing for five days... lets just bang out whatever nuggets of ideas we had, and thats the albumgood or bad, no cohesiveness, no common thread, J.R. says. This was the first time I was able to be a little more thoughtful and slow it down a touch and write songs for that moment and bring them into the studio and develop them.

The result is a crisp, expertly produced collection of stomp-along songs that evoke a vivid spectrum of feeling: pain, fear, excitement, joy, longing, regret.

I had this perspective of what I wanted this album to be, which is a studio moment, he continues. Knowing myself well enough, I had the perspective of the prior two albums, and how they felt a little mish-mashed. And so having the studio as a goal to work these songs toward was the main impetus... Im totally proud of the album and what we produced.

-- bio by Rachel Brodsky