Since his debut album in 2001, JJ Grey has steadily built a following one live performance at a time. The Jacksonville, Fla., musician has since brought his unique mix of Southern rock, blues and funk across the country, and even the world, performing as far away as Europe and Japan.

It all started from a love of ‘70s impressionist Rick Little.

“As a kid I loved Rick Little,” Grey says. “I’d go around the house impersonating different people singing and when I got older I kept singing. I’d sing Top 40 music in bars, still impersonating whosever song it was, and eventually out of all that I just started doing my own thing little by little … it just kinda happened.”

Grey released his first original album, “Blackwater,” in 2001 and followed that with “Lochloosa” in 2004. But it wasn’t until a few years later that these albums rose in popularity. In 2007 Grey signed with music label Alligator who re-released both albums, but this time the albums were released under the band name Mofro. Mofro, the name Grey used to describe his music and sound while still working his day job at a lumberyard, has since become a well-known name in the music scene.

Rolling Stone named “Lochloosa” one of the 10 best releases of the year and Amazon.com called “Blackwater” one of the best albums of the decade.

Grey calls his rise in popularity a slow, steady progression and gives his label credit for much of that rise.

“When Alligator came on they introduced it to a whole new area of people and they’ve done a lot,” Grey says.

Grey’s first release with Alligator, “Country Ghetto,” brought Grey more of a fanbase, doubling both his album sales and concert attendance. Grey’s 2008 album, “Orange Blossom,” kept the momentum going. Grey’s music has appeared on television shows including “House,” “Friday Night Lights,” “The Deadliest Catch” and more. In 2009, Grey wrote the score for the documentary “The Good Soldier.”
But, for Grey, none of that stood in comparison to hearing a medley of his songs being performed by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in 2004.

“Success, or whatever you want to call it, that’s all great but it’s not something you kinda seek out,” Grey says. “Standing on the side of the stage and hearing the orchestra play a medley of my songs, I almost went numb. That was wild for me.”
In August, Grey released a new album titled “Georgia Warhorse.” The album is named after the resilient Southern lubber grasshopper.

“Yellow and black, and tough like an old-school Tonka toy,” says Grey. “They seem so at ease with the world. Nothing seems to rile them. They’re in no hurry, but they have a kind of resilience because they just keep coming back, and I’ve always felt there was a lesson in there for me to learn.”

Two of Grey’s favorite musicians, Toots Hibbert and Derek Trucks, performed on the album.

Hibbert performs on the song “The Sweetest Thing,” while Trucks plays slide guitar on the tune “Lullaby.”

“Toots is my favorite singer ever,” Grey says.

The two hit it off when Grey sat in on harmonica during one of Hibbert’s performances at a music festival.

Grey says he’s known Trucks for a long time.

“I’ve always been threatening to call him up and get him on a record and this time I finally did it. He’s awesome too … he’s probably one of my favorite musicians ever. It’s special what he does.”

JJ Grey & Mofro perform around 130 shows a year. Past tours have taken them to Australia, Japan, Europe, Canada and throughout the U.S. Mofro has performed at popular festivals that range from Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits to Wakarusa and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Grey usually performs with a full band, which at the moment includes Anthony Cole on drums, Art Edmaiston on saxophone, Anthony Farrell on organ, Dennis Marion on trumpet, Todd Smallie on bass and Andrew Trube on guitar.

Grey says the band has changed a lot throughout the years.

“Touring ain’t easy,” Grey says. “Especially if you’re married or have kids.”

Grey himself is married with two kids and says so much time on the road can be hard.

“I don’t think human beings were designed to wake up in a different place every day,” Grey says. “You’ve just got to do things, simple things, to make things homely for you. You just take it one day at a time and get home when you can.”

The “Georgia Warhorse” tour will spread across the U.S. including California, New York and Texas. Grey will perform two shows with Widespread Panic in Asheville, N.C., and the tour will come through Auburn next Wednesday, Feb. 2.

On the current tour, Grey says he performs songs from the new album, but still performs songs from previous albums. He says that “Brighter Days,” “Lochloosa” and “Ho Cake” are some fan favorites.
Grey has performed in Auburn more than a dozen times in the last 10 years and says he looks forward to returning.

“It’s always been fun. Last time it was really fun and really rowdy,” he says. “I saw Toomer’s Corner down there the other night on TV when Auburn won – I was so happy about that; I’m an SEC freak. I saw everybody paper the tree and stuff and I was like ‘yeah, we’re going to be there soon.’ I kinda got excited about it. I’m looking forward to it.”

Grey says that he has surpassed any goals he set for himself and his music and now just takes things one day at a time. For now, he’s happy with his success and what his music has brought to his life.
“Things are going well,” he says. “It’s a good place to be.”