JJ Jones

Sensitive and musical, dynamic and fluid, JJ often seems to be dancing on the drum set. Her constant comment from fans is: “I love to watch you play.” The Americana Gazette says: “JJ mesmerized us that night as she flew deftly across the spectrum of bass, snare and cymbals with impeccable skill. She’s simply one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen, one of the few who uses every percussive surface to maximum advantage.” JJ joined her first band while attending high school at the Seattle Academy of Arts. After graduating college with a neuroscience degree, her long-standing love of acoustic music eventually lead her to play with singer/songwriters and it was then that she started to be known for her signature style.

In 2010, she joined folk-pop band Girlyman and found true love. “When JJ joined the group,” Girlyman told their fans, “Our sound got bigger and closer to what we had all imagined it to be for years.” And in 2015, JJ graduated from Berklee College of Music’s drum performance program. She says, “In over 30 years of playing drums, I had never taken lessons or studied with a teacher. It was a whole piece I’d been missing as a musician, and I wanted to step-up my dedication to the instrument.” In addition to touring and recording, JJ gives private drum lessons via Skype to students all over the country, and volunteers at girls and ladies rock camps across the US, teaching, coaching, and facilitating workshops. She is also the Tech and Gear Review Editor for Tom Tom Magazine, the only magazine in the world dedicated to female drummers. She has written multiple articles on drumming technique, as well as reviews of drum gear and educational tools.