The gritty, genre-blending artist wrote the track alongside Marty Frederickson and Scott Stevens with the haunting lyrics, “Got me on my knees / too much smoke, can’t breathe,” which he means quite literally. It was late in 2020 when he co-penned the song and by that point, during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, the whole world appeared to be on fire.
“I just felt like the line epitomised where we were in America,” Jones says. “It was like taking a telescope and giving people a perspective of America from an outsider. It was a rough story about what was really going on here in this country—and particularly for me, as a Black man.” Jones also hopes the track can bring people together and show the resilience of Americans, that through all the struggle and lives lost - we are still here fighting to make things better as he calls out in the song “Lord won’t you have some mercy.”
Jones launched onto the national stage last year with his powerful debut single ‘Take Me Away’ which reached Top 5 at Rock Radio and showed it’s staying power as it still sits inside the Billboard Mainstream Rock Top 10. With a tumultuous childhood marred by parental addiction and abandonment, the weight of Jones’ past became the inspiration for ‘Take Me Away’. The song was praised for its honesty and as a “soaring rock anthem” (Seattle Times) by outlets such as American Songwriter, Spokesman-Review and Loudwire, among others.
While gaining a following as an independent artist Jones has become part of the fabric of his hometown of Seattle, opening for Guns ’N’ Roses at the Gorge, B.B. King and as a guest performer at the recent Alice In Chains Founders Award celebration for MoPOP. His ascent also broke barriers in the rock music world, and he explains, "being black in the rock industry, I was forging a path into establishments and onto tours that had not previously embraced an artist like me. But the one thing that always changed minds and spoke for itself was the music.”
Ayron’s reach now extends well beyond Seattle, playing alongside such acts as Run DMC, Public Enemy, Rahkim, Jeff Beck, Theory of a Deadman, Robin Trower, and Spearhead. For more information visit https://ayronjonesmusic.com/.
