Andrew Jones

Danny Bernini on Andrew Jones and the Spirit House Recordings The first time I met Andrew, I was drifting off to sleep on the Beach in Nassau, Bahamas, after the all-night festivities of the Junkanoo street carnival, a celebration of Bahamian roots and culture. Andrew walked up and sat down behind me with his acoustic guitar, and started working on a song about Junkanoo. I think Andrew only knew two chords at the time, and while he worked on the lyrics, playing his two chords over and over again, we lay there listening to the sound of the ocean accompanying Andrew's voice and guitar. It was the perfect end to my first Junkanoo, and it's a memory I'll never forget. The song, 'Junkanoo', ended up on the first record we recorded together, and it still only has two chords. In 1989, I brought Andrew into Long View Farm Recording Studio, which was my home away from home at the time, and we started work on that first record. We brought in a great mix of musicians that I had worked with in the Massachusetts area, and as the project progressed, it became a meaningful experience for everyone. We felt the honesty and genuine character of Andrew's lyrics and singing, and all were excited to be a part of the project. We ended up calling ourselves "Spirit House." The thing that makes the Andrew Jones and Spirit House records very special for me is that they have been solely about making music we like. We've never worried about making the records radio-friendly or gearing them towards a commercial market; instead we make production decisions based purely on what makes the song work for us. Hopefully other people will like it too! The records are very truthful in that respect, and as a result they possess a long-lasting appeal. For our third record, "Cat Island Sessions," we felt that to capture the vibe of Andrew's Bahamian roots we had to go to the Bahamas to record. We set up shop on Cat Island, and it was no easy task to get all the musicians and equipment down to the island (those little air-planes!! say no more). But, with the help of Margi Alonso and Andy Pinkham, we made it in one piece. We met many wonderful people on Cat Island, and some of them ended up on the record. We spent our days meeting new people and exploring new places, and at night we'd get together on the beach to play drums and take in the amazing sun-sets. We stayed up all night long, recording with the sound of the ocean in the background. For these sessions Andrew Jones, on vocals, was joined by Matt Cullen and Adam Steinberg on guitar; Danny Bernini on bass guitar; Tom Diehl on percussion; Bahamians Karen and Sherill on backing vocals; jd Keating, Johnnie Christie, and Steve "Tooloose" Holden on backing vocals, percussion, and various instruments; and Andy Pinkham engineering.