Biography
Roots music from North Florida's JJ Grey & Mofro fuses raw rural blues with swampy Southern rock and additional influences, all shaped by a relaxed yet incisive delivery. Grey draws his material straight from personal background and surrounding circumstances, and he crossed the United States and Europe in search of players who typically shift from one record to the next. The first two releases, Blackwater in 2001 and Lochloosa in 2004, carried the Mofro name alone and came out on the Fog City imprint. Once the group signed with Chicago's Alligator, it refined a Southern Gothic style across Country Ghetto in 2007 and Orange Blossom in 2008, now credited to JJ Grey & Mofro. Georgia Warhorse followed in 2010, saturated in funky, greasy, slippery Southern R&B, blues, and rock. This River in 2013 marked the final Alligator outing, after which Ol' Glory appeared on Provogue in 2015. Olustee arrived in February 2024.
Although JJ Grey & Mofro call Jacksonville, Florida, home, close to the area where founding members JJ Grey and Daryl Hance spent their early years, the band actually assembled in London. The Floridians had traveled there to pursue a recording deal that ultimately fell through. During the stay they connected with Australian keyboardist Nathan Shepherd and French bassist Fabrice Quentin, both of whom performed briefly under the Mofro name. Soon afterward the group suffered a near-fatal car accident after a Jacksonville concert at the Marquee Theater. Grey's wife sustained severe injuries, Shepherd required rehabilitation, and he eventually returned to Australia.
Blackwater earned regional critical praise upon its 2001 release, while Lochloosa in 2004 introduced the first in a long series of lineup shifts and featured Grey, Hance, Quentin, keyboardist Mike Shapiro, and drummer Craig Barnette. Although Grey has presented every release since Country Ghetto in 2007 through Ol' Glory in 2015 under the JJ Grey & Mofro banner, he has remained the sole unchanging member, recruiting fresh personnel to match each project's needs. Following a nine-year recording break, the band resurfaced with Olustee in 2024. Grey expanded the core quintet of two guitars, keys, bass, and drums by adding a horn section, backing chorus, reeds, strings, and winds, folding Southern-fried funk and soul into the existing roots blend. The eleven tracks explore Florida's singular landscape along with its intricate natural setting and past, elements with which people continue to grapple.
Although JJ Grey & Mofro call Jacksonville, Florida, home, close to the area where founding members JJ Grey and Daryl Hance spent their early years, the band actually assembled in London. The Floridians had traveled there to pursue a recording deal that ultimately fell through. During the stay they connected with Australian keyboardist Nathan Shepherd and French bassist Fabrice Quentin, both of whom performed briefly under the Mofro name. Soon afterward the group suffered a near-fatal car accident after a Jacksonville concert at the Marquee Theater. Grey's wife sustained severe injuries, Shepherd required rehabilitation, and he eventually returned to Australia.
Blackwater earned regional critical praise upon its 2001 release, while Lochloosa in 2004 introduced the first in a long series of lineup shifts and featured Grey, Hance, Quentin, keyboardist Mike Shapiro, and drummer Craig Barnette. Although Grey has presented every release since Country Ghetto in 2007 through Ol' Glory in 2015 under the JJ Grey & Mofro banner, he has remained the sole unchanging member, recruiting fresh personnel to match each project's needs. Following a nine-year recording break, the band resurfaced with Olustee in 2024. Grey expanded the core quintet of two guitars, keys, bass, and drums by adding a horn section, backing chorus, reeds, strings, and winds, folding Southern-fried funk and soul into the existing roots blend. The eleven tracks explore Florida's singular landscape along with its intricate natural setting and past, elements with which people continue to grapple.
Albums
Singles
