We were lucky to catch up with Zachary Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zachary, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Well, I started singing around the age of 2, according to my mom. She has pictures of me standing on the dining room table with a mic in my hand singing to Bon Jovi. I was alway singing! I have lost count of the number of times I got in trouble in school and on the bus for singing. I never really sang a specific song, I just made a song out of what I was doing in class. In pre-k and kindergarten you have “stations” of things that you do at each table, so that’s what I would sing about… got sent out into the hallway, made up a song about that and then was sent to the office because I just got louder. My singing just really progressed as I got older. I didn’t sing in front of an “audience” until my 10th birthday when I did some karaoke at a restaurant. I loved how the crowd cheered and was really really hooked from then on. I would learn new songs each week in order to do them at karaoke. Shoot, I still do karaoke even though I sing with my band to a crowd every weekend.

Zachary, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

You know, you always hear about how everybody who sings wants to be famous. Sure, the money that fame brings would be great in some ways. But, I’m not everybody. I’m me. I want to be able to get on a stage, no matter how big or small and just sing. Seeing people in the crowd enjoy what I’m doing is what puts me on a cloud. If there is anything that I want people to know about me and my band, it’s that you are going to have a dang good time and you are going to go and tell your friends and your family about it. With me, you will get a music show to remember and there will definitely be some comedy in there as well. My mom says it’s a two for one!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think it’s probably the same story that all musician’s have. Being told you will never make it. Personally, I think it depends on your perspective of making it. I’m ok starting out small and growing, because if you don’t, then how are you going to learn your craft to be better at it? There are so many people out there that have told me I wouldn’t or couldn’t do what I’m doing, One, because I have a right hand birth defect that for some it would prevent them from doing a lot of things. Did I have to adapt? absolutely! But I have some amazing people in my corner who push me and help me overcome some of the issues that I faced trying to make my dream a reality.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best thing that “society” can do is to show up and support the local artists at the venues. Whether it’s a restaurant, bar or concert venue, show up and support. All the big names started out where I am, playing the little dive bars for tips and a tab. But so many people forget that when someone becomes famous. Local artists put in so much time and effort to be heard on a stage, from reaching out for bookings, travel, promotion on social media and so much more, because we don’t have the staff to do it for us. I’m pretty lucky in the fact that my mom has done more of my booking than I have and I’m really grateful for that, because I’m just a singer/songwriter. I’m getting better at booking because my mom does work a full time job so it helps that both of us do it now. Another thing that people can do is buy the merch!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thezachjonesmusic.net
• Instagram: thezachjonesmusic
• Facebook: thezachjonesmusic
• Youtube: @thezachjonesmusic
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Lisa Jones