“Every time I hear it, it’s still kind of surreal,” he admits to Roughstock.com. “It’s a dream come true. You can go bar hopping down on Broadway, and there’s some amazingly talented people down there who just haven’t gotten a shot yet.”
The native of Wakulla, Florida is excited and thankful to be getting his shot at stardom right now, as his debut single, “Ferris Wheel,” has just been released to radio and iTunes. When asked about the song, Jones smiled and said “It’s very nostalgic. For me it is. The first time I heard it, it took me to a different place. It’s like a three minute vacation from reality. I grew up in a little town south of Tallahassee, Florida, and going to the fair was the big thing we all looked forward to each November. I heard the song, and when something triggers a memory where you smell the smells and hear the sounds. Hearing the song for the first time---it was like that for me,” he says, adding that the lyrics took him back to those days at the fair. “I pictured myself staring up at a Ferris Wheel, or getting sick after riding the Gravitron. I was a big corn dog fan, and still am. It’s just fun, and it’s an innocent, fun, young, picturesque summer love song. I didn’t write the song. Josh Kelley, Kyle Jacobs, and Rachel Thibodeaux did, and they are some great songwriters. The first time I sang it, I knew I had to have it.”
Jones was asked about the artists that influenced him the most, and he admits there were many. “Growing up, there were so many of them. I love music that has a message in it,” he says. “I’ve always been a big fan of Vince Gill, Diamond Rio, Shenandoah, George Strait, Garth Brooks. I remember when Kenny Chesney first came out. I took my little brother to the fair for his eighth birthday. I was sixteen, and we went to see Kenny. He was just making his second album. I’ve always been a fan of his.”
Another musical act that influenced Jones---though outside of the Country genre is the Rock band U2, who he admits to waking up with each morning. “I really like their music. Again, it’s music with a message. That’s the kind of music that I’ve always gravitated towards. I got on this big U2 kick a few years ago, and I downloaded all their stuff, and put it on my iPod, and stuck it on my alarm clock. It’s a good way to start the day. Plus, I’ve got live versions of the songs, and sometimes I’m hard to wake up, so I set it on one of the live versions….’Desire,’ ‘Vertigo,’ or ‘Elevation.’ My favorite U2 song would be ‘Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
For a few moments, the subject turns away from music, as it can do with someone from the Sunshine State. With two prolific College Football teams around the area, where do his loyalties lie? Keep in mind, Jones is from around Tallahassee.
“Do you have to ask?” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “Definitely Florida State. I went there for a little while. I did Tallahassee Community College for a little while. Then I went to Florida State, went a semester, took the summer off, ended up in a talent expo at Dallas, and that inspired me to say to heck with it. I packed it up, and moved to Nashville.”
Though he didn’t stay at FSU that long, the legendary coach who was there for many years is someone that Jones----as well as many who follow the world of sports---looks up to. “Bobby Bowden had been to the Methodist Church that I used to go to. He came there to speak. He’s truly a nice man, sincere and genuine.”
While just hitting the airwaves right now, “Ferris Wheel” has been available for downloads on iTunes since March. Jones is grateful for the opportunities that viral marketing have given him, and wonders what it would have been like if acts such as Loretta Lynn---who travelled the country with her husband “Mooney” in 1960 while promoting her first single, had such resources available. “I’ve often wondered what it would have been like twenty or thirty years ago for those artists if they had Facebook or Twitter or iTunes. It would have changed the scope of things. I love it. I’ve had a song on iTunes before, and I remember that I couldn’t wait to see my song on there. It was an amazing feeling.”
Still, Jones says that there’s nothing like having the physical product in hand. “I’m one of those people that if I really like something, I want to buy it. I want to have it. I want to put it in my hand, open it, and read it. I want to put it on the shelf, or put it in my car. I love the digital stuff, but I also like having the options. For me, as a fan…I hope CD’s and albums never go away.”
Jones says that Country is such a personal style of music, that fans really gravitate toward the actual experience of being a part of the artists’ story. “That’s the thing about Country Music. It’s such an intimate genre. And, each song that I write has its’ own kind of meaning. I want people to connect to them the same way that I connect with them. Every record I bought growing made me feel not only like a fan, but that I was a part of their career. I wanted that artist to succeed, so I bought their album.”
With “Ferris Wheel” just officially released, Jones plans on hitting radio…..as well as an obvious choice of venue to promote the single. “We’re going to be all over the road this summer, and we’re playing mostly fairs this summer. It’ll be a great way to get the song out there to the world.”
For more information about Jason, log on to www.JasonJonesMusic.com!
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