JJ Grey by Ryan West
When people bring up “Florida Man,” they’re usually talking about scraggly dudes perpetrating insane crimes or other harebrained schemes that end in calamity and a mug shot. (Thank you, Florida Sunshine Law.) But here at PureHoney our ideal Florida Man is a cat like JJ Grey, the born-and-bred Jacksonvillean who’s brought attention of the good kind to the Sunshine State with his gritty swamp-rock music.
Back in the ’90s, Grey was working for an air conditioning company while playing in various Jacksonville bands. The one that sent him on his way was Mofro, whose slangy name captured the group’s essence: a down-home blend of funk, soul, blues and Southern rock.
Through lineup changes, multiple albums and a name adjustment putting Grey on the masthead, JJ Grey & Mofro are now an eight-piece with horns and back-up singers, and a well-earned reputation for must-see live shows. Grey — at the helm on vocals, guitars, keyboards and harmonica — sings like a shot of Van Morrison with a chaser of Dr. John and has the raconteur’s touch, entertaining audiences with his songs’ origin stories.
Their latest full-length, 2024’s Olustee, is the first Grey/Mofro album in nine years and a heartfelt homage to Grey’s home state. His love for Florida especially shines through in his recording of “Seminole Wind,” a lament for the shrinking Florida Everglades written and first released in 1992 by country singer (and fellow Floridian) John Anderson.
Named for one of the state’s most storied Native American tribes, the Olustee version opens with a piano solo by Grey and unfolds with a litany of Seminole references, from Okeechobee to Micanopy to Osceola, in a musical tale of a paradise lost: “Progress came and took its toll / And in the name of flood control / They made they plans to drain the land / Now the ‘glades is going dry.” The title track evokes the 1998 Florida wildfires that consumed 500,000 acres during four hellish months. But even when he’s not singing expressly about Florida, Grey is representing for a place he knows well.
JJ Grey & Mofro with special guests Juke play 8pm Friday, December 6 at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale. jjgrey.com ~ Olivia Feldman
