Today, the New York-based artist The Bones of J.R. Jones (a.k.a. Jonathon Linaberry) released a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown” that will appear on the deluxe version of his latest album Slow Lightning. Available February 9, the deluxe album will add the cover and brand new song “Out For Blood” to his first full-length album in more than five years that was released last fall. Tomorrow, J.R. will hit the road on an 4-date east coast run making stops in Massachusetts, Brooklyn and Philadelphia before embarking on a west coast tour that kicks off February 7 at Soda Bar in San Diego, CA. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit his website. Additionally, this Sunday, January 28, The Bones of J.R.’s song “Sing Sing” from his 2012 debut album will be featured on S4E3 of True Detective on HBO.
Listen to “My Hometown” via YouTube.
Listen to Slow Lightning
J.R. Jones explains: “‘My Hometown’ was one of the first songs that spoke to me as a kid. I must have been 6 or so and my dad bought me, Born In The USA. I had a little boom box and played that cassette until it warbled and went off its spools. I will never forget what that music meant to me. The way it made me feel. It's probably a big reason why I do what I do.
Truthfully, the Deluxe record came around because I'm proud of the way ‘Out For Blood’ came out. It might be one of my favorite tracks. It feels understated and still direct to me. Something that just sort of settles into itself. The trouble was I couldn't find a home for it in the sequencing of the record, but I knew I wanted to release it. This felt like the best way for it to receive the focus it deserves, while still being an outlier on the record.”
Released on October 13, 2023, Slow Lightning was met with acclaim from American Songwriter, Holler, Magnet Magazine, Glide Magazine, NYS Music and The Alternate Root, who called it ”a record that doesn’t sound like anything but itself.” The album’s radio single “The Good Life,” which was released alongside a moving official videostarring actress Maggie McDowell, was praised by Atwood Magazine who proclaimed, “‘The Good Life’ radiates with smoldering folk rock passion and perseverance as The Bones of J.R. Jones echoes our endless individual pursuit in song.”
The Bones of J.R. Jones is a New York-based songwriter, storyteller, visual artist and “one man band who can hold an audience rapt, rendering the cacophony of a stage full of musicians utterly unnecessary” (Noisey). His 2021 EP, A Celebration, was praised by American Songwriter, Under The Radar and Atwood Magazine, who called it “an intimate, visceral outpouring of vulnerability, reflection, connection, and wonder.”
Slow Lightning Deluxe tracklist:
1) Animals
2) Slow Lightning
3) The Good Life
4) Blue Skies
5) Preservation
6) The Flood
7) Heaven Help Me
8) I Ain’t Through With You
9) Love Is A Sickness
10) I’ll See You In Hell
11) Salt Sour Sweet
12) Baby Run
13) Out For Blood
14) My Hometown
Tour Dates:
1/24 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
1/25 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
1/26 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby's All Right
1/27 - Amherst, MA - The Drake
2/7 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
2/8 - Venice, CA - The Venice West
2/9 - Templeton, CA - Club Car Bar
2/10 - Mill Valley, CA - Sweetwater Music Hall
2/14 - Reno, NV - Cypress Reno
2/15 - Talent, OR - Talent Club
2/16 - Portland, OR - The Showdown
2/17 - Seattle, WA - Madame Lou's
2/18 - Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo House
