Houston Jones April 11, 2010

Houston Jones is a California based high octane Americana quintet. Formed in 2001, the band performs a mostly original repertoire that ranges from bluegrass and folk to blues and gospel. The band features Glenn Houston (lead guitar), Travis Jones (lead vocal, acoustic guitar), and Henry Salvia (keyboard, accordion), Chris Kee (standup bass, cello, acoustic guitar), and Peter Tucker (drums).

Travis Jones, lead singer and rhythm guitarist, began performing as a child accompanying his mother on gospel tours in the South. He honed his soulful delivery in his years as a child preacher in holiness churches around his native Shreveport, only to throw down his bible when he saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

Chris Kee, who plays bass, cello, and guitar, has a degree in ethnomusicology from Yale, focusing on the music of Pentecostal churches. Balancing his bookishness with Americana street cred, Kee is a regular conscript with Peter Rowan’s Free Mexican Air Force, a long time cohort of Telecaster wizard Jim Campilongo, and has performed as a hired gun with Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller, including a recent appearance at the Kate Wolf festival with Buddy Miller, Emmy Lou Harris, Shawn Colvin, and Patty Griffin.

Glenn Houston (lead guitars) was the original guitarist for and founding member of the Waybacks. Houston, who plays left handed and upside down, was voted 2009 Best Guitarist by the Northern California Bluegrass Society.

Percussionist Peter Tucker, who (along with Kee) was in the original rhythm section of the Waybacks, has deep roots in the Americana world, having performed and recorded with a virtual coffee table book history of American musicians, including, as a partial list, Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, the Beau Brummels, Warren Zevon and Skunk Baxter.

And keyboardist Henry Salvia, a veteran of Detroit’s club scene, has toured internationally with the fabled Johnny Nocturne Band, and performed with Bo Diddley, Rickie Lee Jones and Big Jay McNeeley, to mention a few.

Official Website: http://houstonjones.com