Joshua Scott Jones (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and entertainer. Jones is half of the duo Steel Magnolia and has released four solo albums as an independent musician. He plays guitar, bass, banjo, harmonica, drums, and piano.[1]
Early life
Though born in Houston, Texas he was brought up in Charleston, Illinois by his uncle Wesley Jones, who worked in a local factory and was a preacher on the weekends, and his adoptive mother Christie. Jones started working on a farm at the age of thirteen. Around the same time, his biological father, David Jones, gave him his first guitar. About a year later, Jones gave his first performance of an original song about racism, while attending the Second Baptist Church in Mattoon, IL.[2][3]
After high school, Jones hit the road and became a street musician playing anywhere and everywhere he could for the next several years. He ended up in Los Angeles for a brief period, sleeping on the floor in a studio apartment on Hollywood Blvd[4] while booking small, uncrowded shows at places like the Knitting Factory and the Viper Room.[5]
During the winter of 2006, Jones met longtime girlfriend and fiancé Meghan Linsey. They began collaborating on music as a duo. Jones's solo music was playing regularly on Nashville radio station Lighting 100 before he began making music with Linsey full time.[3][5]
Music career
Over the next two years, Jones and Linsey went to London to record with producer Fraser T. Smith.[7] After returning home to Nashville, they auditioned for a CMT production called Can You Duet, a reality singing competition. Judges Scott Borchetta, Big Kenny Alphin, and Naomi Judd selected the pair as season two winners. In the summer of 2009, they signed a record deal with Big Machine Records.[8]
On January 11, 2011, Steel Magnolia released their self-titled debut album. The album went on to have 3 top 40 songs including the number 4 hit "Keep On Lovin' You" written by Chris Stapleton. Jones co-wrote seven of the twelve tracks the album, including the ballad "Glass Houses", which he wrote solo.[9] Jones co-wrote the third single from the album, "Last Night Again", which peaked at number 24 on the country chart.[10]
Steel Magnolia officially broke up in 2012 after Jones completed a rehabilitation program and the romantic relationship between Jones and Linsey ended.[11]
While in rehab, Jones compiled a twelve-song debut record entitled The Healing, which received critical acclaim[12][13] and nationwide news coverage.[14][15] Jones co-wrote and executively produced the entire album.[16][17] The lead single, "Honk (If You’re Tonky)", was written mainly by Jones's long time and late friend Joshua Alford.[18] "Honk (If You’re Tonky)" aired on Sirius XM's The Highway, while the video was shown in rotation on CMT's Pure.[19]
Since the recording of The Healing, Jones has released three additional studio albums, The Rural Deal,[20]How the Story Goes,[21] and a stripped-down acoustic record called Outlier Circa 1980. How the Story Goes includes the song "Honky Tonk Night". Jones says that he woke up from a dream with the melody and title for the song in his head. The video for "Honky Tonk Night" spent time in rotation on CMT Music.[22][23]
