We ritually sing "When I Die" on the road to Monday night bowling. I have yet to meet a person who does not love this song. Please buy this album, for all the times you need a laugh, a lift, or a slab of musical pie.
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Southpaw Jones' songs are at once political, personal, serious, lucid, and muddled.  His CD One in the Door,
One in the Grave is simple, beautiful, and truthful.  Recorded on a friend's porch over a few nights and mornings,
the only sounds that grace the record other than Jones' guitar, voice, and harmonica are the scraping of
crickets, passing cars, dogs, and other incidental additions that happened to sneak onto the tape.  The
importance of the cricket can't be underestimated.  That sound, combined with the hushed strumming of the
five-string guitar and Jones' half-whispered vocals, create a collection of songs so intimate that, by the third
track, you feel like you're sitting on that porch listening to Jones try his songs out on you. 

    The actual texts of the songs are straight-forward and barely adorned with imagery or metaphor.  Instead,
Jones goes straight for the story, for the message, for the emotion.  Whether he's discussing the state of
contemporary culture, anxiety over his future, or the trade of a free piece of pie for confession, Jones stays
honest and personal. 

by Clay Steakley
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Dick's Picks:  Music Reviews by Rockin' Daddy-o Dick Patnaude 
7 cyl. (on the V-8 cylinder scale) 

Jones stopped in 'Cruces for about an hour last summer on his way west from Nashville - long enough to
leave me with his first disc, "The Southpaw Jones Starter Kit," and said he'd be back.  True to his word, he
returned a few weeks ago to play a 3-hour gig at Spirit Winds Cafe and promote his latest 'quirk folk' offerings. 
This new disc is remarkable (self-evident, eh? This review would constitute 'remarks.') - this critter was
recorded on a 4-track rig on someone's front porch in rural Tennessee.  Listen for the passing cars, dogs
barking, screen door opening, etc.  The material is somewhat darker than that on his first disc, but if it's kinda sad, it's fantastically so.  The lonely songs are really lonely, and the lost/unrequited love songs will tear your heart out. 

Power tracks include: "Freshly-Picked Flower," "Slab of Pie," and "Living off Interest." 

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Southpaw Jones will surprise you with how light-heartedly he takes controversial / serious subject matter and makes it Fun for your consumption. 

So, for whom this music may consume, I whole-heartedly recommend picking up a copy (or three) of any music
by Southpaw Jones. 
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