Ayron Jones is an American guitarist and singer, based in Seattle, WA. His music blends elements of grunge, rock, hip-hop, soul and other genres.
The first time I heard about Ayron Jones was in a video by well-renowned record producer Rick Beato, back in February 2021, where he reacted to the ten most popular rock songs on Spotify at the time. One of the few that stuck out to me was the Ayron Jones song Mercy. At that time, only a few singles had been released, but now that the full-length debut album is also available, I figured it to be a good time to cover Ayron Jones here!
When you think of Seattle you typically think of Jimi Hendrix or the grunge movement, driven by bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Mudhoney - all of which came from Seattle. Ayron Jones now brings the new rock sound of the industrial, tech-centric city to the masses!
While Jones' playing is inspired by guitar heroes like Hendrix, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughn, he also counts artists and bands as diverse as Dr. Dre, Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Michael Jackson as musical influences. While his music sounds gritty and weighty, I would say it has more soul and blues influences than you would typically find in the grungy Seattle sound of the '90s, especially compared to Nirvana which was more based on punk music. Rather, I find it more reminiscent of King's X or perhaps a heavier version Lenny Kravitz, rather than any of the old Seattle bands.
Moods and Themes
Jones also has influences from rap and hip-hop. Not only stylistically (I legitimately thought he was a gangsta rapper the first time looking him up) - a lot of his songs also have dark and gritty sounding intros that sound kind of like something Dr. Dre or Eminem would do. Think of the palm-muted guitar in the intro to Lose Yourself by Eminem and you'll know what I mean.
I like how Jones ties the genres together, though, as he refrains from throwing rhymes and beats into the mix. The way his hip-hop influences show is instead more in terms of the moods and themes of the music.
His lyrics are also very personal, often addressing the struggles of being a black American, as well as other contemporary issues including climate change, US politics and the pandemic. He says in an interview with American Songwriter: “Even with all the struggles as a black American, I don’t just want to be a person that highlights one struggle over another. I want to be able to highlight unity and the things that bring us together.”
“It was the perspective of the observer, as well as the participant,” he adds about ‘Mercy’. “We saw unprecedented climate change, social unrest, we saw our democracy realize how fragile it was. We saw people being killed and people dying from a virus. I mean it was an interesting time in America and I thought ‘Mercy’ was really capturing all of that, as well as my story of being black in America.”
It's always great to see the genre diversify, bringing more perspectives and influences to the table, as long as the music stays rock. And it definitely does. A lot more so than in the midst of the nu-metal movement, where a lot of bands would pick up rapping to gain more traction in the urban community, with somewhat mixed results, to put it nicely.
Have a Listen To the Album
Check out the album Child of the State - it's a really solid record!
Child of the State
By Ayron JonesGet it on Amazon
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