Ayron Jones, 19 June 2024

Seattle singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ayron Jones plays a fiery amalgam of Jimi Hendrix-inspired guitar wizardry, heavy grunge grooves, and a hard blues-rock feel with occasional detours into hip-hop and soul. Emerging in early 2010 fronting the power trio Ayron Jones and the Way, his first outing was produced by Sir Mix-A-Lot. He was later signed as a solo artist by Big Machine Group in 2020 and debuted with his first label-issued single, "Take Me Away." A second single, "Mercy," arrived in 2021 and offered his take on American unrest.

Born and bred in Seattle, Jones suffered a difficult youth, entering the foster system at the age of four while his parents both struggled with drug addictions. He eventually found solace in music, where he took out his abandonment issues on the guitar. Taking influence from the Emerald City's vibrant music scene and its past legends like Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, he developed his own distinctive sound that blended a variety of different styles under the umbrella of rock & roll. He initially put together a blues-rock trio called Ayron Jones and the Way and built up a following on the club circuit. Veteran rapper and producer Sir Mix-A-Lot caught wind of the band and offered to produce their 2013 debut, Dream. Over the next few years, they hit the festival circuit and played some big shows with acts that ranged from B.B. King to Living Colour and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

After featuring on a 2016 album by supergroup Levee Walkers, Jones began a solo career with the independent 2017 effort Audio Paint Job, a more varied release that showed his range of influences as both a musician and a songwriter. By early 2020, he'd inked a deal with the heavy-hitting Big Machine label and released his first widely promoted single, "Take Me Away," a powerful and hard-rocking anthem born out of his childhood traumas. A year later, Jones issued a follow-up in the hard-driving unrest anthem "Mercy."