Country Ghetto (CD - 2007)

Personnel: JJ Grey (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, harmonica, keyboards); Daryl Hance (guitar, slide guitar); Batya MacAdam Somer, David Mediine, Donna Davidson Medine, Batya MacAdam-Somer (violin); Hayley Neher (viola); Jessie Marino (cello); Ian Hendrickson-Smith (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Cochemea Gastelum (tenor saxophone); Adam Scone (organ); George Sluppick (drums); Elena Higginbothan, Harley Higginbotham "Uncle Sonny", Shirley Higginbotham, Linda Lewellyn, Elena Higginbotham, Hazel Miller, Liza Oxnard (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Dan Prothero.

Liner Note Author: JJ Grey.

Recording information: Coupe Studios, Boulder, CO; Coupe Studios, Coulder, CO; Jam Preservez Studio, Valliant, OK; Retrophonics Studio, St. Augustine, FL; Threshold Studios, New York, NY.

Author: JJ Grey.

Photographers: Dan Prothero; C. Taylor Crothers.

Arrangers: JJ Grey; Ian Hendrickson-Smith; Alex Mincek; Cochemea Gastelum.

The Florida singer-songwriter JJ Grey and his band Mofro play a swampy mix of country, rock, and R&B that's not a million miles removed from the vintage Muscle Shoals Southern soul sounds of the late 1960s and early '70s. The band's sound is fat and greasy, augmented by horns and haunted-sounding backing vocals. Songs like the album-opening "War" and the down-and-dirty "Turpentine" have a classic '70s rock feel, but this is no retro rock & roll collection--singing over these thick, sultry rhythms, Grey resembles a contemporary Tony Joe White. minimize