Jones is a Louisiana native who first turned heads while on the X Factor at the age of 17 and wanted to break ground for the limited representation of African-Americans in country music. “Runs In Our Blood” removes color from the equation and tells the story of American family and traditional values through his video and his lyrics. Now 24, Jones has been touring and hit the road with massively popular “Magcon” tour alongside YouTube sensation Cameron Dallas.
On the idea for the song, he said, “I went back down south from Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Ever since I lived in Los Angeles, I haven’t been home for good minute. When I was down there, I had the best time with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters and so on. We laughed, we drank, and shared old stories about the past and how we actually grew up. The first week back in Los Angeles, I linked up with my brother from another mother and producer extraordinaire Sean Cook at his studio in Van Nuys for our second time ever working together. Going into the session, I wasn’t even planning on writing a song. I wanted to write an R&B/rap type song for pitch. Sean started playing more of a hip-hop drum loop, and we tried to write to that for a while and I wanted to do something more. Sean then picked up the guitar and started messing around with some ideas and the melody and lyrics of the song just started to flow out me.”
When asked about what he loves most about country music, he said, “Growing up, I was heavy into musical theater. I would love the stories they would tell. That’s one reason why I feel that taking in country music and accepting it wasn’t hard for me to do at all. I really dove into the genre around 14 years old. I like the stories, but I like to tell a story to bring the listener into your world for a second.”
His plans for the future are to release an acoustic EP, to tour and to keep making “great music.” “I just want to remain creative and true to myself throughout life,” he said.
Digital transformation of music
On the impact of technology on his music career, Jones said, “Social Media has played a huge part in my career. I’ve had Instagram since 2012, when I was on X Factor so I think its really cool that people who have been following me since the night my audition aired are still riding with me now. Its been a long journey to get to where I am today and it’s far from over. So everybody who has been rocking with me since day one, or even just heard about me today, buckle up.”
On his use of technology and social media in his daily routine, he said, “If anything, I draw some inspiration for song ideas from technology and social media. So many people online are sharing their stories and experiences and that inspire me sometimes. It is not limited to social media though. Movies and television shows too.”
For his fans, he concluded about the song, “Thanks for listening and sharing. It really means the world to me. This song is very special to me because it’s my first big release and the feedback has been beautiful and very accepting from listeners of country and non-country. The song is about family and the love that flows through our DNA, something that I feel that everyone can relate to.”
“Runs In Our Blood” is available on iTunes, and on Spotify.
For more information on pop-country artist Willie Jones, follow him on Instagram.
