Catesby Jones was born on May 16th, 1950 in Versailles, Kentucky. The oldest of three children, his unusual name can be traced to the sister of Mark Catesby, the famous English naturalist and bird painter who published a book on the flora and fauna of colonial America a century before John Audubon. Other famous relatives include Thomas ap Catesby Jones the commander of the Pacific fleet, who almost started a war with Mexico in 1842 and Catesby ap Roger Jones, who commanded the Merrimac the day it fought the Monitor in the Civil War. Modern day Catesbys include the founder of the Peace Frogs clothing line. Although this Catesby has yet to cut such a wide swath in history, he is hard at work to broaden his influence in the world of music.
At the ripe age of five, General Electric moved this southern family to Cleveland, Ohio where they settled in the beautiful bedroom community of Shaker Heights. Catesby’s first musical memories are of his father’s infamous dance parties where the HiFi blasted Dixieland Jazz, Big Band Swing and classical music through an eighteen inch JB Lansing speaker. In the early 60’s a cheap Zimgar Guitar under the Christmas tree transformed a questionable future forever. Never a serious student, Catesby embraced his new love and quickly amassed a repertoire of Ventures, Beach Boys, Beatles and Motown songs which he performed with a neighborhood band at garage parties. This led to several bands in high school playing the incredible tunes of the late 60’s at frat parties and high school dances.
Miraculously graduating in 1969 despite so many teenage distractions, Catesby was even more remarkably accepted at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Thus began a solo career playing acoustic favorites in coffeehouses and dabbling with original instrumental pieces. Upon graduation in 1973, with a BA in elementary education, Catesby was free at last to pursue his life’s passion, lyrical songwriting. A brief stint in New Orleans as a street musician led to a job as a bar back at Le Directoire and a steady gig in a club on corner of Toulouse and Bourbon Streets in the French Quarter.
Returning to Kentucky, he joined forces with Kathy Black, a soulful local singer and formed a duo performing a mix of standards and originals to ever increasing crowds at The Fig Tree. Married in the summer of 1974, this determined couple moved to Boston where they signed on as weekly entertainers at the Idler Backroom in Cambridge. Kathy and Catesby also opened a couple of shows at Club Passim listening room and played for Boston Summerthing, a city sponsored musical program in the inner city. They were the caretakers at the historical site of “Brook Farm,” a Transcendental commune in the 1840’s and several friends from Lexington came up to continue this tradition.
An audition in Greenwich Village landed an extended engagement on the legendary New York College Coffeehouse Circuit Tour performing all over New York, the Mid West and the South Atlantic States. Unfortunately, this union did not stand the test of time but the experience cemented Catesby’s self image as an original entertainer and songwriter at a crucial time in his career. Returning to Cleveland, Mr. Jones became a fixture in the coffeehouse / bar scene performing an ever widening array of original compositions. He recorded his first collection of songs at Cleveland Recording with Ken Hamann and honored three invitations to play the Coffee Break Concert Series on WMMS radio with Mat the Cat.
An invitation to visit a friend in The Virgin Islands led to a couple of years in St. Thomas / St. John and summers on Martha’s Vineyard playing hotels and bars like the Hot Tin Roof and a small club where the Mamas and Papas supposedly got their start. Catesby recorded his second collection of songs at George Martin’s Air Studios in Montserrat and climbed the volcano which would one day consume this island paradise. Living in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and playing the songwriter showcase clubs in the Village capped off an incredible journey of heart and mind.
During this prolific period of creativity, the family moved to his mother’s childhood town Wilmington, North Carolina where he checked in for some home cooking and broken heart repair. Rebuilding Johnnie Mercer’s Pier by day and channeling his emotions into his songs by night, he began to dabble in what would become his country music period. Moving to Kingsville, Texas to make some hard money in the oil fields as a wire line operator, Catesby quickly picked up the local music and became the front man in Low Country, Kenny Pennington’s house band at the Port O Call honky-tonk. Playing some originals and all the covers of the urban cowboy craze led to his next recording session in Corpus Christi. These demo tapes earned a winning slot at the Kerrville Folk Festival songwriting contest where he opened the festival the following spring. Moving to Austin opened the door to the songwriter clubs and rubbing elbows with future stars where he signed on as sideman to Arkansas’s traveling songwriter Crow Johnson.
Catesby’s next step landed him in Brownsville Tennessee, the Memphis music scene and a steady Monday night gig at The Rum Boogie Café on Beale Street where he met his future wife Mimi Maury. Armed with a batch of new songs, the drive to be a professional songwriter, and Mimi’s desire to get a masters degree from Vanderbilt, they moved to Nashville. His first success was a single song contract with Larry Roger’s Partners / Vogue Music. Grand Ole Opry star Del Reeves recorded “Baby On Board,” but by the time they were ready to release the single, that catch phrase fad had passed and the project was dropped. With the help of Kurt Denny at BMI, Catesby signed an exclusive writer’s contract with a small independent publisher quickly scoring his first cut, “She Don’t Love Here Anymore” with Josh Logan. This was followed by the multi-platinum hit, “Country Club” with Travis Tritt. Signing with Little Big Town/MCA resulted in the title cut, “Read My Licks” with Chet Atkins. During this amazing historic time in country music, Catesby wrote or co-wrote over three hundred songs and was a regular entertainer at the Bluebird Café and Douglas Corner. His demo tapes were recorded using young hopefuls who have since become household names in the country music industry.
Catesby and Mimi moved to Wilmington in the early 90’s to help his aging parents and raise their children Eliza and Mac by the sea. Songwriting took a back seat to restoring their 1930’s bungalow and a serious hand injury further quieted his muse. A decade later that spirit was awakened and an incredibly productive period resulted in Catesby’s first personal commercial release. “Right Hand Man” is the product of Jeff Reid’s encouragement as producer, Brian Durham’s engineering skills and J K Loftin’s herculean effort as mix master at The Cape Fear Studio. The musicians on this project reflect the depth of talent in the region and the writing is some of Catesby’s best to date. This CD received Beat Magazine’s WAMMY award for best local recording 2005 and he was also voted best solo act.
A second CD, “Sink or Swim” was released in late 2005. Comprised of solo guitar / vocal demos, this recording caters to fans of a simpler format and more realistically represents his live performances around town.
Catesby’s third CD, “Dr. Jykell and Mr. Jones” is a rocker. Masterfully produced by guitarist Steve Horrell, this 2006 eleven song release reflects a love for electric guitars and hard hitting drums. A year in the making, this remarkable labor of love continues to amaze and confound his folk based fans to the delight of its creators.
Cat’s 2007 project, “Sampler” found him back in Jeff Reid’s studio whittling a collection of forty guitar/vocal demos down to twenty songs. Dedicated to his late father, the material is some of Catesby’s most personal, presented as a blend of fully produced, sparsely embellished and solo cuts. As a writer, he feels free to draw from several different styles of music from rock to folk, country to soulful R&B and from ballads to some unmistakable blend.
You would think that the need to bear one’s soul through songwriting would be satiated at this point but this was not the case in late 07, early 08. Spurred on by the discovery of cancer in his dear friend Steve Horrell, the “Now” project would reinforce our need to celebrate the miracle of living in the present tense. This is a band recording with the exception of the last cut, a ballad about the brave face we wear when dealing with issues of life and death.
Tucked in among the new songs was the reissue of Catesby’s first studio recording in Ohio. “The Cleveland Recording Sessions 1977” is a time capsule from his youth and a family treasure. Re mastered by Jeff Reid from old reel to reel tapes and cassettes, this CD demonstrates the songwriting diversity that would become the writer’s trade mark.
“The First Girl That I Ever Loved” is a beautiful collection of songs about love in all its many incarnations. Dedicated to his late mother, this 08-09 CD can break your heart, make you laugh and take you back to memories of your own experiences with that elusive creature called love. The songs are primarily presented as guitar vocals with bass, with a small sprinkling of piano and Steve’s last electric guitar parts on two cuts.
Catesby’s 2012 release, “Three Chords And Ninety Proof” is a fourteen song CD primarily comprised of short but sweet, three or four chord songs that might be considered old school country. A couple of the tunes are downright funny with an end result that promises to attract fans of a simpler format. Several of the tracks were recorded live as an ensemble with bluegrass type instruments in an attempt to recreate the spontaneity of a concert performance.
2013 was devoted to assembling nine, multi disc, archival CDs chronicling all the songs written between 1973 and 2002. Compartmentalized according to time and geography these collections are an audible road map of a life well spent despite several missteps and detours.
Give this writer a few years off and his songs accumulate like autumn leaves begging to be swept into a curbside pile for collection. Therefore in 2015-6, “Until Gravity Wins” slowly began to take shape with Catesby playing guitar, bass and drums before a host of talented players and singers filled in the open spaces. Jeff Reid truly captured the essence of these songs, which jump from rock to bluegrass to country and sentimental dance tunes. This collection concludes with a powerful song about the loss of someone dear, which coincidentally was keyboard player, Terry Nash’s last recording.
“These Roads Of No Return” is Mr. Jones’ first recording with the remarkably talented Jamie Hoover. They met at a songwriter’s event in Southport, recognized each other’s strengths and became true friends. Inevitably this 2019-20 collaboration of Catesby’s songwriting and Jamie’s multi-instrumental and production skills unfolded to the delight of both parties. Given free reign to interpret the tunes as his muse directed, Jamie single handedly layered these guitar/vocals into a sonic masterpiece. One of his best efforts, this recording begs for the sequel that will surely happen in the not so distant future.
A long overdue Christmas record is being planned for the rest of 2020 with Jeff Reid back behind the glass. Comprised of original songs accumulated over the past three decades, this project will be a great stocking stuffer for family and friends. The journey continues and as long as new songs keep flowing there will be new recordings to share with people who appreciate what this prolific writer has to offer the world.