So many bands in Nashville combine rock with country and folk, and they call it Americana – a term used so freely that it carries little weight. However, Jacob Jones may have achieved it with Bound for Glory, his sophomore album which sounds as traveled as he is.
If the name of Jones’ album Bound for Glory rings a bell, that’s because it was fittingly stolen from Woody Guthrie’s autobiography of the same name. Jones has been playing the songs from this album in bars and venues all over the country, but on April 15th, it was officially released with a showcase at The Basement.
North Carolina’s American Aquarium was on the bill along with Go Long Mule, Chicago’s version of Kopecky Family Band. Some of the crowd from Electric Western Records (Jones’ label, which he started with fellow musician Reno Bo) made it out to the show as well as a few local musicians and one especially entertaining, beer-clutching showgoer who interpreted portions of Jones’ set through dance.
Jones looked the part of a traveling song-and-dance man. Donning a white outfit and matching hat, the getup would have seemed theatric if Jones hadn’t delivered such a genuine sound. It’s the type of music one would hear on a Friday night, coming from the tiny corner stage of a booze-soaked roadside venue – right before the bar fight.
Bound for Glory is simple yet poetic; its lyrics illuminate the ordinary and the commonplace in stories of love and travel. Besides some of the best tunes from the album ("The Blues Ain’t Got Nothing on You," "Broadway Queen," "Bonnie and Clyde"), a few new ones worked into the set like, "Slave to the Grave" and "Cold Winds," as well as a cover of "The Ballad of John and Yoko."
It’s no surprise that Jones writes about travel; he has uprooted several times, living in such different locations as New York, Indiana and Georgia. With mandolins, fiddle and upright bass, Bound for Glory carries a little bit of the places Jones has visited, and creates a musical map of his own world. – Jessica Pace