Southern soul rockers JJ Grey & Mofro return to George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville at 8 p.m. Sept. 20 where they’ve “never had a show that wasn’t fun.” That tradition is sure to continue, Grey promises, as the current lineup for his band is the strongest and most talented group of musicians he’s played with in his career.
Not to knock “those that played with me before, they just all lived in different cities … so the only time we got together was the first show,” Grey explains. “With these guys, they lived here in Jacksonville, Fla. They were on it. It was tight. When you don’t have to think about what other people are doing and just focus on what you’re doing, something magical starts to happen.”
Perhaps something magical is happening in Grey’s creative process, as well. Having spent every spare moment of the last two years repairing the damage to his home caused by Hurricane Matthew, Grey is coming up on four years since the release of his eighth studio album “Ol’ Glory” and is ready to get into a new project.
“I have probably the most song ideas I’ve ever had going into a record,” he shares. But more than having the ideas for the tunes, Grey says the place he’s noticed the most growth over his career is how he views the world around him — and that shift in perspective has allowed him to connect more deeply with others through his music.
“The thing that’s changed is I [never used to] care about where I was at. It was always about where I was going. ‘OK, now what?’ So when I finally figured that out, why I do this changed drastically.
“Music is like words,” he adds, thoughtfully. “I don’t really care about music, no more than anybody sitting around cares about every word they say — they don’t. And when you don’t care, that’s when the conversation can really get candid because if you do care too much, then everything you do turns into a speech. It’s not a conversation anymore.”
Tickets are $30-$35. jjgrey.com.
— Jocelyn Murphy