A song about road songs after I had spent several years playing on the road. The road gets into your soul and no matter what life circumstances, when you hear  a train whistle in the distance or see a truck pulling out from a cafe, the road wants to take you with it.

Road Ready mp3

Road Songs

This song is from the album Road Ready, recorded in Memphis at Ardent Recording Studios with Jody Stephens on drums and Adam Hill on guitar.  A host of other friends also made major contributions !!!  Big thanks to John Fry and the folks at Ardent !! Please Google Popdose.com Robert Ross Jimmy Stephens Jr for a review of the CD. Copyright for all songs and photos Jimmy Stephens Jr. All rights reserved.

Road Ready

She's Got It All

Some other friends who made major contributions to the album were Jody Stephens, Adam Hill, Richard Cushing harp, Rick Steff keyboards, Vicki Loveland and Berneta Miles on harmonies and back ground vocals.  All songs written by Jimmy Stephens Jr.  Copyright for all songs and photos Jimmy Stephens Jr. All rights reserved.

Tell Me

The album Road Ready was coproduced by Jimmy Stephens Jr and Adam Hill.  John Hampton did a remix of She's Got It All.  Mark Crawley also played some rocking piano. For the strings, very fortunate to have Jonathan Kirksey playing cello and Jessie Munson playing violin.  This was a fun album to record from what we have heard and tells the story of some guys who hit the road !!! Copyright for all songs and photos Jimmy Stephens Jr. All rights reserved.

Good Love

One of 13 songs recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with brother Jody Stephens, Rick Steff, and Adam Hill.  This particular tune features Rick Steff on Hammond organ and Berneta Miles on background vocals.  All rights reserved.  Copyright for all songs and photos Jimmy Stephens Jr.

I've Been Searchin'

Caroline is one of 13 tracks from the album Road Ready by Jimmy Stephens Jr, an indie artist from Memphis.  The album was recorded at Ardent Studios with Jody Stephens, Adam Hill, and a host of close friends.  This song features Jessie Munson on violin and Jonathan Kirkscey on cello. Road Ready is available through iTunes, Amazon, and the usual digital outlets. Copyright for all songs and photos Jimmy Stephens Jr.  All rights reserved.

Caroline

Recorded in Memphis with Jody Stephens, Adam Hill, and a host of friends at Ardent Studios in Memphis. 

Highway 64 Blues

11 Highway 64 Blues

After a very successful year, and with Jimmy in Memphis during his favorite time of year, Jimmy decided to write a Christmas song to celebrate being in Memphis at this most wonderful time of the year.  Again, Jimmy and some friends got together and had a blast in the studio knowing that Christmas was just around the corner and Santa is on his way "my daddy said so" !!  As with the first album "Road Ready", Jimmy, writer and vox along with playing bass and piano on this one, was in the studio with brother Jody Stephens on drums and harmony, Adam Hill on lead/rhythm guitars, sleigh bells, harmony, and engineer, Rick Steff on accordion, melodica, and glockenspiel, Preston McEwen on wind chimes, and Santa's helpers: Bree, Emma, Reagan, and Ashlyn doing various vocal gymnastics !!!  :) For Jimmy, it was lead vocals, piano, and bass.

While the single will be available through Soundcloud, iTunes, Amazon, and other outlets as an individual song, a Jewel case EP will also be released containing 3 stocking stuffers from the first album. This will be available at shows or through a PM at facebook.com/jimmy.stephens.jr.musician.
This was a very fun song to play given it is Christmas and we want to wish all of our fans and friends a very happy holiday season and a wonderful Christmas time.  Your support is greatly appreciated !!  Thanks again.  Peace on earth to all.  <3  Jimmy and The Bcrd.

I Wish It Was Christmas

http://popdose.com/album-review-jimmy-stephens-jr-the-blues-city-road-dogs-road-ready/  

ALBUM REVIEW: Jimmy Stephens Jr. & The Blues City Road Dogs, “Road Ready” by Robert Ross
 
For whatever reason, intuition told me even before I heard a note of this album, that this was going to be something special.  Not because I have a predisposition for anything Big Star-aligned or because it’s by a Memphis-based band or because it was recorded at Ardent.  No – I knew it was going to be good because of the idea behind it:  this is a concept album about a band who hits the road in early spring, but now finds the time flying by them in the late autumn, on winter’s cusp.  The songs are the band’s setlist and the lyrics are about their experiences; hence the title Road Ready.  Already, I embraced the set-up.  But then I listened.  AND I WAS RIGHT.

This album of all-original material, written by Jimmy Stephens, Jr. (who handles lead vocals/bass and rhythm guitar), long-time mainstay of the Memphis music scene, is executed with fire, skill, a sense of abandon and passion along with Adam Hill on guitar and Jody Stephens (Jimmy’s brother) on drums; all three sing on-the-one harmonies.  Jimmy’s lead vocals are warm and fluid – gentle on the softer songs (such as the gorgeous ballad with strings, “Caroline”) and pure rock and roll on the rest.  The guitar work of Adam Hill is twangy, crisp and just right for every  track – the familiar tone of a 12-string Rickenbacker is everywhere and welcomed like the beloved friend it is. Jody Stephens’ powerhouse drumming is, as always, tasteful and fits each song’s needs.  And the production – in this instance, handled by Jimmy Stephens Jr. and Adam Hill – is as good as it gets.  You can hear and feel the dynamics of the rhythm section; the vocals are clean and guitars are given the right touch.

For the tracks, just to give a glimpse to this 13-song collection:  “Friday Night” is a class-A singalong, anthemic number (and joining the harmonies is the incredible Vicki Loveland [of Loveland Duren fame]); “Good Love” is a top-notch instant pop classic in the most perfect radio-friendly way with great background vocals and chugs along with a feeling of joy; “Tell Me”, with its McCartneyesque bass figures, is one of the album’s standouts – catchy, taut and meaty.  As stated earlier, “Caroline” is a beautiful ballad with haunting cello and violin;  “Highway 64 Blues” is a wonderful throwback to good old road songs and yet does not sound dated in the least.

13 songs – of pure delight and melody.  That’s the most important element of this album.  Jimmy Stephens delivers 13 songs that have all the elements right – melodies, structure, catchiness – songs that will stay in your head, which says it all.  Balls-out, no bullshit, no frills rock and roll but with smarts and heart.  This is IT.  It’s my favorite new album – already made its way onto my iPod.  Seek this album out as soon as you possibly can.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


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