3X3: Chris Jones on Salad Shooters, Green Olives, and Working Pens

Artist: Chris Jones
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Latest Album: Made to Move
Personal Nicknames: Jonesey, Doops (childhood), Mr. Gwiforbidees (also childhood, and I swear I didn’t make that up)

 

Last week at #wideopenbluegrass in #raleigh #cjnightdrivers @jonweisberger @mountainhomemusic

A post shared by Chris Jones/The Night Drivers (@cjnightdrivers) on Oct 7, 2016 at 12:35am PDT

If you could go back (or forward) to live in any decade, when would you choose and why? 

Which decade had Duran Duran and the Salad Shooter? Seriously, though, I’d have to say the 1940s. Just the opportunity to be alive for the start of bluegrass music and bebop would be amazing, plus I just like the look of things from that period, from cars to clothes to telephones.

Who would be your dream co-writer and why? 

I have to say that, in the last few years, I’ve already gotten to write with my dream co-writer, and that is Tom T. Hall. Long before we were friends, I was in awe of his perspective, and his ability to boil the complex down into a simple and poetic phrase. I guess that means I can quit now and pursue my alternate dream of becoming an ice cream man.

If a song started playing every time you entered the room, what would you want it to be? 

“Along Came Jones” by the Coasters (even though they never say what Jones does once he gets there).

 

Major highlight of CA/AZ tour: pie! So good seeing @sarahsam46 The Pie Lady of Oracle this weekend at the Agri-country BG festival in Casa Grande, AZ #pie #cjnightdrivers #arizonabluegrass @jonweisberger

A post shared by Chris Jones/The Night Drivers (@cjnightdrivers) on Jan 31, 2017 at 9:08am PST

What is the one thing you can’t survive without on tour? 

A working pen. I like to write stuff by hand, and I feel naked without one. For the spur of the moment song idea, and for writing set lists, I’ve got to have one.

What are you most afraid of? 

Fear itself, to borrow from FDR. As individuals and as a society, we spend a lot of energy being afraid of the wrong things, and it tends to paralyze us and keep us from really living and loving. Now the high diving board is another story.

Who is your favorite superhero?

I’d have to go with the Green Hornet. He’s a snappy dresser, plus he’s got a bodyguard with martial arts skills and a cool car that will start with the push of a button. (I’ll admit that was more exciting back before a lot of mid-sized rental cars could do that, too.)

 

At the Old Feed Store, photo by John Longmire #cjnightdrivers #bluegrasslife #carbondalemusic #madetomove

A post shared by Chris Jones/The Night Drivers (@cjnightdrivers) on Mar 27, 2017 at 10:37am PDT

Pickles or olives?
Olives, garlic-stuffed, but not right before greeting fans at the merch table.

Which primary color is the best — blue, yellow, or red? 

Blue

Summer or Winter? 

Winter all the way. I own at least four pairs of long johns and a pair of cross-country skis I’ve had since I was 14.