At Country Music Week in 2019, Willie Jones quickly became when of the most talked about and most memorable artists across the bill. We have followed Willie closely since getting to sit down with him in Berlin at the their C2C event in 2020 but since brining his unique sound to the UK, Jones had seen two planned returns cancelled and fortunately was able to make his C2C debut this year at the third attempt!
Welcome back to London It’s good to be back
And you finally get to play a show this time! Heck yeah. Back in 2020, we did Berlin and Glasgow but I didn’t get to do London. So it is good to be at the O2.
These London shows have been a long time coming For sure, last year I didn’t get to come. Fortunately, I’m a really optimistic person so I didn’t let that get me down and I was confident then I would be back next year instead and now here I am. It’s really cool to, as I’ve been aware of a couple of the other artists playing here back in Nashville so I’m excited to see them over here too, making the same journey as me.
You did a fan video for Down By The Riverside, and it actually included my daughter on her Body Board. Heck yeah! Tell her I say thank you, that’s so nice to hear
Do you feel that fan influenced videos bring you closer to your fan base? For sure. Doing that video was an opportunity to shine a light on the people that support me and I really appreciated people sending in their pics and videos for us to use to make it. A lot of the photos, people where by the water and outside doing their thing, which helps us all feel the same.
Now you did though release the main video and that looked like a lot of fun. We shot that down in New Orleans. When we were out on the boat there were crocodiles roaming around and we were watching them. When we shot my part in the water I was like, let’s make sure no crocodiles come close to me! I had to know who was on security for that! The video turned out crazy.
It’s been a whirl wind time for you, with the continued success of tracks and now in a position where you can release music while overseas. Yeah, we released one yesterday. When it dropped, I was celebrating in an air b’n’b but no one back home could listen! I’m excited to get to debut it in the UK at C2C, it’s your exclusive.
With back to back monthly releases, is there a release cycle your planning? We’re releasing something next month too, so we are finally getting round to dropping this new music. I’m happy to have music out that people are really rocking with. I’ve had some great feedback and I want to continue to grow my writing. I want to do more collaborations this year and am looking forward to what’s to come this year.
What kind of reaction do you get from people the first time they see you live, as with this delayed return that could be the case for many people in London? It’s different for sure! I’m definitely going to turn the noise up, bring energy and have definitely got some stories to tell. We’ve got some old songs and new songs. It’s the energy man, we get on stage and come alive. Everyone here has their own thing but we mix it up even more! Some people will be like what the hell! I love when I see that though. After they acquainted to the sound and vibe everyone has a good time.
Are you already looking ahead to future trips? Indefinitely know it’s going to happen but we haven’t planned too much. I love the UK fans as I feel like they’re really tapped in as when the fans here listen to the music they actually listen. It’s a different energy. It’s cool.
You may love the UK fans, but without doubt you have your number one fan back home in the form of your mum Heck yeah, she’s the number one supporter. Even as a kid doing choir and community theatre she would be there supporting. My mum, my dad and my sisters have always been really supportive. My mum on the IG is on it and sends anything she sees to all her friends. She’s actually even connected me with artists, where she will comment on artists to say check out my sons work and then they’ll reach out to me saying saying my mum told them about my work! I have a really supportive team from my management, to my label and my family. Shoutout to Nona Lisa Jones
Its so nice to see that humble family side to an artists and the passion their family has for their work. If it weren’t for her and my dad I wouldn’t be here. My dad will pull up with the Willie Jones merch on and I’m just so grateful. There’s been times when they’ve showed up and it’s motivated me to keep going and I really thank them for that. It’s a blessing that they’ve always been so supportive as you do hear stories where peoples families haven’t supported them, even something as small as a good luck text. My mum has #myboy.
C2C: Country to Country will return to the O2 Arena in London and OVO Hydro in Glasgow on 8th to 10th March 2024 where the festival will also head to Belfast at the SSE Arena for the first time. Early Bird tickets were released on Friday March 17th where full ticket information is available on the WEBSITE and socials (INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK)