North Florida musician with loyal Boston fanbase to make return to area. Find out where

JJ Grey has always had a loyal fanbase in Boston, owing perhaps to time he spent in the city decades ago, or perhaps simply to the fact music fans are plentiful and his funky swamp-rock’n’soul is some of the most intoxicating contemporary music anywhere.

But this Friday, when JJ Grey and his band Mofro return to the House of Blues in Boston, fans will also have a brand-new album to savor, Grey’s first new one in nine years. “Olustee” was just released at the end of February on the nation’s premier blues label, Alligator Records, and contains some of the most striking and indelible songs of his career, seemingly certain to win Grey and Mofro legions of new fans.

The House of Blues is located at 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with Judith Hill opening.  Tickets priced at $39.50-$59.50 are available through crossroadspresents.com, and for more information call the House of Blues box office at 888-693-2583.

Grey’s music has always reflected his North Florida roots, extolling the natural beauty of that region, decrying the way progress and unscrupulous developers can ruin it, and embodying a sort of workingman’s sense of conservation and preserving the land. Grey’s songs can also celebrate personal issues, whether a romance that endures, or the sheer joy of a night out with like-minded people. And beginning with his third album, 2007’s breakthrough "Country Ghetto," Grey’s songwriting has always delivered an inclusive attitude, based on the simple premise that folks he knows are too busy trying to make a living to waste time fighting and hating on each other.

Grey's blue-collar roots

Grey came by his blue-collar sensibilities honestly, as he and guitarist Daryl Hance were servicing air conditioners when they began Mofro back around 1990. By the time their first album, “Black Water,” appeared on a tiny label in 2001, Grey was working in a lumberyard. But they kept at it, honing their chops in roadhouses all over the southeast. Signed to Alligator for "Country Ghetto," the band was vaulted into the national consciousness and became a regular at festivals, where their blend of rock, funk, soul and jamming prowess appealed to a wide spectrum of fans.

After three more fine albums for Alligator, Grey & Mofro released “Ol’ Glory” on Provogue Records in 2015, but it didn’t garner much publicity. Hance had left Mofro in 2010 to pursue a solo career, but Grey continued to explore new facets of the band’s sound, using horns effectively and bouncing between guitar, piano and harmonica himself, even as his rough-hewn but evocative vocals kept improving. And essentially Grey and Mofro continued to create that perfect combination of music that moved your hips and heart.

The new album, produced by Grey himself for the first time, adheres to that format, but expands the arrangements to craft some truly stunning moments. “The Sea” for instance is a marvelously soothing reverie based on acoustic guitar and Grey’s vocals, in his highest register and falsetto, as the singer muses about “the pulse of life,” and “oceans out there somewhere calling me.”  It is a nice reminder of how calming and refreshing a few moments by the sea can be.

The title cut is a more hard-edged rock-funk tune, decrying a time when “the whole state was on fire," with potent electric guitar and harmonica forming its core. Grey utilized numerous musicians in the studio, and “Wonderland” sounds like a big-band rocker, as he seeks satisfaction. In a similar vein, “Free High” contrasts the guitars and horn section for a toe-tapping anthem to finding your own joy. And “Rooster” uses those horns to craft a sonic image of a strutting rooster, with angular guitar lines adding some funky accents.

Anderson cover is arresting

But perhaps one of the most arresting numbers is the album’s only cover, a wonderful charge through John Anderson’s country-rock classic, “Seminole Wind.” There are lines in the song that could rightfully be seen as encompassing Grey’s outlook, such as “progress came and took its toll,” or the recurring chorus with “the ghost of (1800’s Seminole chief) Osceola cry.” But from the exquisite piano start to the swelling choruses with that horn section, to the gloriously ascending climax, Grey and Mofro invest the old tune with passion and soul. Anderson’s original version from 1992 was pretty darned good, but this rendition enhances it and gives it a real 2024 punch, and a serious dose of that patented JJ Grey grit.

Grey and Mofro have stayed busy between albums with regular touring, and our last time hearing them was at South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, where they shared a cool doubleheader tour with Blues Traveler in August 2021. Grey has many ties to the Boston area, and during time he spent here he became close friends with South Boston musician and filmmaker Spookie Daly, who led the funk band Spookie Daly Pride when he was performing on the local club circuit. And "Olustee" is the eighth album for Grey and Mofro (the band name simply being a word Grey appropriated to describe their music), so their setlist will no doubt include many of his established fan favorites, as well as a sample of the tantalizing new music. Grey himself has always designed the cover art for his albums, and the multi-colored rooster on the cover of "Olustee" is another unique one.

Doggett's Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young book lauded

I’m not always totally up to date with my reading but wanted to take a minute to salute and recommend British music writer Peter Doggett’s excellent 2019 book, “Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young,” published by Atria Books. It is a fascinating account, focused tightly on the years up to about 1975, which were CSN&Y’s most popular time, of course. From the ego problems between Stephen Stills and Neil Young that led to the dissolution of Buffalo Springfield, to the legendary way that Crosby, Stills and Nash first discovered their unique harmonies while just jamming at Mama Cass Elliot’s house, this history has loads of detail – and includes conflicting views when the principals can’t agree on their faded memories.

The romantic ties of the four are also an interesting facet, such as Joni Mitchell being involved initially with David Crosby, who produced some of her first records, to Graham Nash falling head over heels for her not long after, to Stills harboring a long-time crush on Judy Collins long before he ever met her (yes, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” was about her). Doggett also does a masterful job of describing how Young’s ambivalent approach to CSN&Y ultimately threw the monkey wrench into their frequent plans of reuniting. As his own solo career soared, Young had less and less patience for the squabbles of his cohorts, while Stills threw himself for a time into his own solo project, the band Manassas, with former bandmate Chris Hillman. But if Manassas had some brilliant moments, inconsistency and the rampant drug use that plagued CSN&Y also doomed its run.

Doggett’s book is well researched and includes many different sources, so you’re hearing the story from various perspectives, and he allows for versions of certain tales that seem to be at odds, letting the reader decide which one sounds most plausible. He also writes in a brisk, fast-paced style, so for music fans it is a real page-turner. You get some insight into why the late Crosby was dropped by his close friend Nash in later years, and how as they aged, the four rock stars came to some – albeit grudging – respect and agreement with each other. And of course, this book makes you want to scramble and find those old albums and listen once again to that classic sound.

Disco Dream steps in for ailing Beard

Fans may have noted that The C Note in Hull had blues guitar ace Chris Beard scheduled for this Saturday night, originally.  Beard, based in Rochester, New York, has recently had knee surgery, and it turned out he isn't quite ready to be prowling the stage with his quartet, so late last week he had to postpone his appearance at the Nantasket Beach club. But C Note booker Barbara Rhind came up with a neat replacement, and now the club across the street from the ocean will feature the first local performance by an octet that brings you back to the dance-happy days of the '70s, Disco Dream.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: JJ Grey and Mofro return to the House of Blues in Boston on Friday