Draft:Johnny Ray Jones

Johnny Ray Jones (born May 29, 1962) is an American Electric Blues, Soul and Americana singer and songwriter. He has released two albums to date. His latest album, Way Down South, was released on July 30, 2021

Biography
Johnny was born in Los Angeles, CA, and sang at the age of seven at his local church. He attended Aviation High School as a teenager.

In the early 1980's while working as a doorman at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, CA, he starting singing with various bands at the club, and soon after, at various blues clubs in the area.

His first significant gig was at the Taurus Tavern in Venice, CA with Coco Montoya and James Armstrong on guitars. Most of his singing was at Phillip Walker's After Hours Blues Club in the mid to late 1980's.

Circa 1980 he formed a band named MOONDOGG with blues musicians Stephen Hodges on drums and Zach Zunis on guitar.

He also appeared with J. J. "Bad Boy" Jones and the Bad Boys as a guest singer and roadie in the early 1980's, and joined Sam "Bluzman" Taylor's band as a singer/driver/roadie in exchange for voice lessons.

His first weekly paying residency for over a year was at the Blues Unlimited club booked by his godmother Tina Mayfield (widow of Percy Mayfield) and Mattie Fields (Sister of Big Mama Thornton), owners of the club.

Johnny Ray has been a guest singer for Big Joe Turner and Lee Allen at The Music Machine in West LA, and with the Red Devils at the King King Club in LA, and sang with Melvyn Deacon Jones at weekly Sunday blues shows at the Starboard Attitude in Redondo Beach, CA.

His first album, Feet Back in the Door, was released in 2017, produced by Tony Braunagel, Johnny Lee Schell, and Johnny Ray Jones on MOONDOGG Records. Guest performances by: Mike Finnigan, Coco Montoya, James "Hutch" Hutchinson, Joe Sublett, Darrell Leonard, Texicali Horns, Lee Thornburg, and Paulie Cerra.

His second album, Way Down South, was released in 2021 on MOONDOGG Records, with Tony Braunagel on drums, Johnny Lee Schell on guitar, Mike Finnigan on Piano, James "Hutch" Hutchinson on Bass, Joe Sublett on Tenor Sax, Mark Pender on Trumpet and Ritchie "La Bamba" Rosenberg on Trombone. Coco Montoya also contributed some guitar.

Albums
https://johnnyrayjones.com/music