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Hailing from Seattle, via New Mexico, Virginia, but currently Pennsylvania, singer/songwriter Colin Jones is not so rapidly turning heads as his debut EP, Most I Could Muster, creeps it's way across the country. "For those who like their singer/songwriters to sport considerably less shiny veneers than melancholy joy-mongers like John Mayer, Seattle native/Virginia resident Colin Jones fits the ragged bill. On his debut EP, Most I Could Muster, Jones does the Dylan-on-acoustic-with-harmonica-rack solo trip with dusty aplomb, his songs quiet folk-art evocations of modern life gone wrong ("Middleclass White Man," "Shame On Me," "Corona & Roses"), his voice a tremulous and meandering approximation of Neil Young's less stringent demos in the service of his nakedly confessional material ("I stood outside your house like a psychopathic hedonist / Not sure of anything anymore" from "Corona & Roses"). Sparse and unadorned, morose yet smirky, Jones plays like Lou Reed if he had grown up more Appalachian than New York and Most I Could Muster is a thin but potent sample of Jones's potential for a full length." -Amplifier Magazine
"Out of five songs of wandering-troubadour folk (just vocal, acoustic, and what-the-hey harmonica), the plaintive-voiced Jones puts his unguarded heart on display on two, "Corona & Roses" and "I Might Miss You" (the latter’s lament that he has to read the Sunday Times alone now, instead of sharing it, is the little detail that makes such breakup songs effective), coming off as a new-ish Neil Young whenever the harmonica blows its sad intonation. But the three other social protest songs, led by a acerbic rebuke of the rights-smashing Patriot Act called "Cart Before the Horse" ("We’ll feed ‘em propaganda/Patriotism and security, a blinding tandem"), lead him further back in time, to Woody Guthrie and, past that, to the impoverished rural south found on the old Folkways recordings. Because he does it with unhappy tongue-in-cheek succinctness, like on "Middleclass White Man" ("looking for a minivan"), which is Ray Davies-esque in its send-up of social blinders, he’s actually both quite effective and affecting, a good storyteller rather than a tiresome ranter.” –Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover "Jones is a folk-styled singer-songwriter, and this release showcases five of his original songs. The release is a one-man production with finger-picked acoustic guitar, harmonica, and an unusual style of storytelling...He is quite adept at the harmonica, and he knows how to combine it with his guitar in a way worthy of the singer-songwriter genre. I'd say the music and mood of the release would appeal to any fans of Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker for a comparison, but the lyrical content is certainly a bit different...The winding path of a singer-songwriter nowadays can be filled with wrong turns, but for now, it seems like Colin Jones has a good idea of how to use his compass...Most I Could Muster is an intriguing release." -LeftOffTheDial.com "This breath of fresh air in the American music industry whistles its way to you from Seattle via New Mexico and currently Virginia, leaving in its wake a trail of exasperated expressions. The irreverent Colin Jones, unlike many bands caught up in this Kerrang culture, mainly chooses to carry out his commentary on society with poignancy, wit coupled with acoustic guitar and a harmonica, as opposed to discordant guitars and in your face vocals... could even make George W Bush himself stumble... Matt Hales-meets-Damien Rice vocals... Each track contains insight and harmony that makes Jones music soothing and at the same time insightful." -ContactMusic.com "At times this young Seattle singer/songwriter's music hearkens back to Bob Dylan or Neil Young, most obvious on tracks like "Shame on Me" and "Cart Before the Horse." ... The songs are really good, and it's a good clean recording for something so stripped down... writing skills like this certainly make him an artist to keep an eye on." -SouthOfMainstream.com
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