Stimulator Jones

Though Roanoke, Virginia holds little reputation as an epicenter for R&B or hip-hop, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Sam Lunsford, recording as Stimulator Jones, has revealed the depth of soul present across the Old Dominion. Beyond his work on sample-driven productions, Lunsford has explored made-from-scratch compositions with the same inventive range typically found among crate-digging beatmakers, blending early jazz-funk, psychedelia, dub reggae, and new jack swing across releases on Stones Throw and Mutual Intentions. Following his full-length introduction via the 2018 album Exotic Worlds and Masterful Treasures, which highlighted his tender vocals and sensitive songwriting, Stimulator Jones has delivered the contrasting instrumental projects Mano and Low Budget Environments Striving for Perfection, both from 2021, along with Round Spiritual Ring in 2022, his third vocal-centered Stones Throw effort.

Born Samuel Jones Lunsford in Roanoke during 1985 into a musically inclined household, he grew up with a mother who played piano and possessed perfect pitch, a father who taught himself clarinet, saxophone, and guitar, and a brother skilled on guitar, drums, and vocals. Constant access to instruments surrounded him from childhood, leading him to begin on drums before self-teaching bass and guitar. A wide range of sounds, spanning jazz, alternative rock, and hip-hop, filled his environment, and after performing with the local ska-punk outfit Dr. Teeth & the Elektrik Mayhem, he collaborated with additional groups such as the Red Skulls, 63 Crayons, the Funk Cousins, San & Rhi, and the Young Sinclairs.

Lunsford later gravitated toward music fusing the organic textures of funk and soul with hip-hop and electronic frameworks, prompting the launch of his Stimulator Jones endeavor. Its initial outing came as the 2014 cassette Scuffed Suede Music, a set of home recordings constructed around samples. Progressing with the project, he reduced reliance on samples in favor of his own instrumental abilities, a shift evident on the 2016 and 2017 albums Mano and Silver Age. Stones Throw announced his signing in October 2017, after which he promptly issued the smooth, sexy funk single “Need Your Body,” followed in January 2018 by “Choosey Lover” during work on his debut album. Exotic Worlds and Masterful Treasures, performed entirely by Lunsford, appeared three months later and was succeeded by the EP Exotic Outtakes.

Though activity seemed quieter in subsequent years, Lunsford remained productive. He resurfaced in 2020 on the Oslo-based Mutual Intentions imprint with singles that preceded the January 2021 instrumental collection La Mano, rooted chiefly in R&B and jazz-funk yet venturing into dub reggae and a dreamy take on Aaron Hall’s new jack swing classic “Don’t Be Afraid.” Six months afterward, he released his second Stones Throw LP, the more hip-hop-focused Low Budget Environments Striving for Perfection. Returning to vocal material, he issued Round Spiritual Ring in July 2022, a sanguine Stones Throw album centered on mental health whose title stemmed from his childhood mishearing of the chorus to Prince and the Revolution’s “Raspberry Beret.”