JJ Grey makes his first visit to Mountain Stage to perform a four-song, stripped-down acoustic set. Born and bred in Florida, Grey's music mixes raw, rural blues with tough, swampy Southern rock. Growing up in a small town 40 miles south of Jacksonville, Grey spent several years wandering the world's beaches as a surf bum before being brought back home by his love of music.
While working a day job fixing air conditioners, Grey met the musicians he would eventually team up with to form his evolving backing band, Mofro. After releasing two albums and opening for the likes of Ben Harper and Jeff Beck, Grey inked a deal with blues stalwarts Alligator Records. JJ Grey and Mofro's most recent Alligator release, Georgia Warhorse (which takes its name from a tenacious species of southern grasshopper), features appearances by slide guitar master Derek Trucks and roots-reggae veteran Toots Hibbert.
This segment originally ran on May 13, 2011.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
