Name: Kat Jones

Birthplace: Fresno, CA

Currently residing: Portland, OR

Musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence: I was interning at a recording studio because I thought I would never be able to be a musician as at the time I had no musical skill but somewhere that skill appeared out of seemingly nowhere and I was signed to Velvet Blue Music within 2 years of that time so you can imagine what a shock that was and when we released a few records and I had moved to Nashville to be closer to my then boyfriend and my life drastically changed due to some unforeseen circumstances which were apocryphal in nature I had to take a little time off but it didn’t stick because I moved back to the west coast (Portland, OR) to make music and release my next album, I Am Warm Young Blood in the late summer, which is all about this apocryphal season.

Website

1. Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands from the past and present?

Oh my, this is going to be a little hard for me as I am sure it is for most people.
I have been really getting into Ike and Tina Turner lately.
David Bowie and The Smiths are a HUGE influences.
I could easily site Johnny Cash and Nick Cave as being personal role models.  And Cash By Johnny Cash is one of my top 5 books of all time.
Radiohead, Unbelievable Truth, Jeff Buckley, and Over The Rhine all had huge early influences on my voice.  They’re probably all still hidden in there somewhere.
Leonard Cohen’s Book of Love makes me cry every time I read it.
Verdi’s Requiem is one of my favorites.

2. Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

Paranoid Android by Radiohead gives me chills of ecstasy every single time I listen to it and OK Computer is one of the reasons I make music at all.
I arrived to this record a little late in the game but The Good Son by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is one of my favorite albums of all time.

3. How would you describe your perfect day?

My perfect day would start out with me sitting outside with some food and great coffee, a couple books, and a pen and paper.  I love to write for hours first thing in the morning so a day that starts this way is always incredible.  It would be followed by seeing close friends and talking about art and maybe taking a long drive by myself to some place I have never been.

4. What would your friends say they appreciate the most about you?

I cheated and asked my friends because I thought my answer would be the shallow one and they all just made my day.  So here’s what a couple of them said:

Your sense of humor, encouragement, love for celebrating people, love for deep conversations over warm beverages, and overall classiness, your honesty, your moral integrity while dropping more f bombs than die hard 1, 2, & 3 put together, the instant feeling of openness and family (the good kind) whenever you are around.

I love my friends.  They’re awesome.

5. What is your most valued material possession?

My dog Daisy.  She means so much to me and we have been through soooooooooo much together.  And she is an AMAZING touring dog.  She is so gentle and loves people.  And when I bring her into a show, she steals it every time.  I stopped bringing her to shows 🙂

6. Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

I used to work at a restaurant in East Nashville, TN called The Family Wash.  My former boss James Rubin knows EVERYONE EVER and is in a band called The Magnificent Others.  They’re a supergroup essentially.  I am cutting and pasting their line-up for you to read right… Now!

James Rubin = Lyrics, Vocals, Guitar

Reeves Gabrels [David Bowie, Paul Rodgers, The Cure] = Guitar, Backing Vocals

Marco Giovino [Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, Norah Jones] = Drums & Things That Rattle

Frank Swart [Patty Griffin, Norah Jones, Buddy Miller] = Upright & Electric Basses

Patty Griffin = Backing Vocals

It’s the last one that got me.
Patty came in to the restaurant one night after she recorded vocals for them and it’s the only time I have ever asked James to introduce me to someone.  She was really really nice and I felt a bit awkward so I asked Patty if I could clear the plate off her table for her after telling her I loved her art and that she was a huge inspiration to me.

7. If you could blink your eyes and be in a favourite place right now, where would that place be?

Scotland.
Or a unicorn hatchery.
Yes, unicorns are made in hatcheries.

8. Is there something you would like to do more of in the future?

I would like to play more music. I would like to unpack my things from the storage unit and put my art up on a wall somewhere. I would like to drink tea with friends and tell funny and inappropriate jokes.

9. Where would you like to find yourself in ten years?

On a green hillside overlooking a city somewhere.  Portland would do just fine.  So would Edinburgh.  I will always be making art and art is portable.