Cocktail of the week
Cherry Limeade:
1 shot of Bacardi Limon
Half Sour Mix
Half Sprite
Splash of lime juice
Splash of grenadine
Garnish with lime and cherry
You know that feeling. You're in the club, getting your dance on. The place is crowded, everyone's hot and sweaty. No matter what season it is, when you're in the club it feels like the middle of summer. There's no better way to quench
your thirst than with a Cherry Limeade. It's the perfect combination of sweet and sour to give you that citrus refreshment made so popular by those long, hot summer days. If you're looking for the best of the best, go to Johnny's Tavern and ask Blair to make it for you. It's his special recipe.
Ashley Michaels
photo courtesy of www.monin.com
Interview:
The Band:
photo courtesy of www.mofro.net
John "J.J." Grey: vocals, guitar,
keyboard, harmonica
Daryl Hance: slide guitar, dobro
George Sluppick: drums
Adam Scone: organ
From the blackwater region of North Florida comes Mofro, a band including two Southern-bred musicians who stir up a lively mix of soul, funk, blues and zydeco music that gets to the heart of simple bayou living and Southern blue-collar culture. J.J. Grey and Daryl Hance grew up and still reside in the small town of Lochloosa, Fla., a rural suburb of Jacksonville. Both were friends before they formed Mofro seven years ago.
Jayplay writer Chris Brown chats with guitarist, harmonica player and
Mofro
keyboardist J.J. Grey about the story behind the band name, alligator encounters and southern cooking.
You describe your music as "front porch soul." Can you tell me what this means exactly? Actually, our producer called it that. It's sort of got soul elements and country elements and it refers to music from the backwoods where we're from.
I worked in a lumber yard for 10 years. It was just a word for pretty much everything, like "What's up Mofro?" and "See that Mofro?" It's grounded in Southern talk and it just sounded cool.
I'm sure you get this a lot, but what's the story behind the name?
What are your influences?
Vocally, Otis Redding, Toots [Thielman, of Toots and the Maytals], Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder. Then, you know like, all the big bands like AC/DC, Skynrd and the Allman Brothers.
Can you tell me a little about your upbringing on a farm in North Florida and how that's influenced your music?
My grandparents had a chicken farm. I
don't know if it's at a conscious level, but it's music that's connected to a place, a culture, a region. Growing up as a kid you get subjected to different things, you try different things. It was just that bluesy, Southern-baked music was the easiest to play. It's kind of like if you grew up in Jamaica, reggae or island music is easiest to play. I believe music is played best when it comes straight out of the dirt you've lived on.
Best meat you can get in the Deep South: turtle or alligator?
Turtle. I'm pretty leary about eating turtle, but it's super rich. Gator meat's cool but it ain't as good as turtle.
What are your goals for the band in 2005?
Try to get another record recorded. Other than that, just plugging away and we're thankful that we can do it. Things just materialize out of nowhere sometimes, so you never know.
Mofro is officially just you and guitarist and buddy Daryl Hance. Do you have any plans to incorporate any other full-time members of the band in the future?
No, it's sort of like Hall and Oates I guess. [Grey laughs.] The other guys playing with us were stoked about it and they're part of Mofro. It's hard to put people in situations musically that they're not used to because they haven't grown up with the music we play or they can't relate to the experiences.
So you go with Southern musicians when you have other people play in the band?
Generally, yeah. George is from Memphis; Adam is from Ohio. We go for regional musicians and that really seems to work with our music.
I see that there's a "cookin'" page on your Web site where different recipes are listed. Do you like to cook? Oh yeah.
What's your favorite meal to cook? Bowl of shrimp, cheese grits and baked beans. When I say shrimp I mean like the big 18-count-to-a-pound sweet-sugary river shrimp or gulf shrimp.
You came to the Wakarusa Music Festival last year. How did this festival stack up to the festivals you played at last year?
It was great. It's not an easy thing to do to put on a festival and I think they nailed it for this festival, especially in its first year.
Ever had a run-in with an alligator? I've seen one gator up close at the boat ramp in Lochlooas but other than that, not really. My buddy had a gator license — you know, to hunt gators — and we took Dave of the Greyhounds with us. We caught a six to seven-footer but we didn't kill it.
Any funny road stories?
Usually road stories are tragedies, like yesterday we woke up and all the car batteries were dead. They do exist but I have to think about it. If I had another 12 hours to think about this one I'm sure I could up with like 50 but I just can't think of any right now.
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Chris Brown
Jayplay 02.17.05