Julia Pinckney Jones Music

I'm pretty lucky. I get to make my living doing the thing that I'm most passionate about: making music. I can finally say that again, and it feels really good. So please don't take what's about to come as any indication that I don't like my job(s), because I do. About 80% of the time, I would even say I love it (and that's a pretty great place to be)! I do have a bit of a pet peeve, however, and it's this quote: Because it's a load of hooey and those of us who work in the entertainment industry know it. Yes, we do what we love. Yes, we are aware that this fact makes us extremely lucky. Doing a job one loves, for a living, is the fantasy of many, many people, who don't get to spend every day working on their passion. But the key word here is, in fact, still working . We work (and work hard!) every day. I, for one, average 50-60 hours a week. I love performing, and I love teaching. But both of those things require a great deal of prep w

This writing project was always my favourite part about going back to school. Honestly, I was kind of a nerd and the whole "going back to school" thing was super-exciting for me. Even now, I get all excited about shopping for paper and pens and pencils, reorganizing my desk and starting "fresh" for the new school year.  But the annual written retrospective on the summer that just passed was extra special. We always pretty much did the same stuff, year after year, but getting to think about it and remember it, fix the best memories in my mind while everything was still fresh - I've always loved it.  I had a pretty awesome summer, really - not as exciting as 2013, when I got married, or as adventurous as 2014, when we roadtripped across two countries (and back again) and certainly not as dramatic as 2015, which started with a wedding, included an international move, and ended with a funeral. No, this summer was just a collection of all the things that I

JPJQ's CD Release Party in Vancouver BC was a big success and a fantastic time! We spent a week in Vancouver, catching up with old friends, rehearsing, recording, (and even taught a few lessons!) and finally playing this amazing show before heading back home to Portland... it was wonderful. The Fox Cabaret were such welcoming hosts, and I couldn't have asked for a better lineup of bands. JPJQ Team Vancouver (+2) was up first, playing selections from the I Want Love album - not enough time to do it all, on a 3 band bill - and it went really well! It was such a joy to be back playing with the people who made the album possible in the first place, and to see so many of our friends out enjoying the show (and on a "school night," even!)  The guys sounded great and the horns were hotter than the stage lights - Thank you all so much! Following JPJQ was the wonderful Jen Lewin Band (of which I was a member, many moons ago - Jen even had me sing along on one

The View from the Schoening's Back Yard To be honest, it isn't quite a year... we headed south on June 29, 2015. But it's been an eventful year, nonetheless, and the last few days of extremely hot, summery weather has made me think about the year in review, and how I feel about our first year in Portland. I don't know what I expected from moving this time... I knew Portland would be less expensive than Vancouver BC (because really, almost nowhere is more expensive than Vancouver BC), and I'd heard that although it is getting tougher to be a working musician in Portland than it once was, it was still a pretty good place to develop a career. And Portland hasn't disappointed on that front. Within a year, Adam and I have: Released an album Had a successful album release party Started our own music school, which is picking up steam Found so much teaching work that we're already at the point of being able to pick and choose which jobs to take (and be

From left: Timothy Van Cleave, Adam Jones, Julia Pinckney Jones, Kevin Karrick, Katie Presley, Stan Bock A Fantastic Night At Vie De Boheme! JPJQ's album "I Want Love" launched in high style at Vie de Boheme Wine Bar in Portland on May 4th... the room is lovely and the band sounded great! I was so thrilled that we had such a warm, receptive audience and everyone had a lovely time. Special thanks to all who attended - after paying the band and the wonderful photographer, we even made a little money! We hope to return to this beautiful venue soon, and introduce it (and ourselves) to even more people! What's Next for JPJQ? As of yesterday, all the copies of the CD destined for our Indiegogo supporters have been packaged, and we just have to get them in the mail! Stay tuned, intrepid fans! On the 23rd of June, JPJQ (Team Vancouver) will be celebrating the Canadian launch of "I Want Love" (as well as promoting two of our dear friends' ongoin

Click the photo to see JPJQ's Facebook Event Page The Big Day is Coming! I'm so excited to be getting ready for JPJQ's big Album Release Party in less than 2 weeks (Holy Kamoley)! We had a fantastic rehearsal this past Monday with Team Portland of the JPJQ, along with our amazing special guests Katie Presley (trumpet) and Stan Bock (trombone). The band is going to sound so hot! Adam has added some extra horn parts (in addition to the ones on the album) and, unsurprisingly, they sound great... and we even have a few surprises in store for our supporters and friends in the audience! We've also booked a photographer to come and document our big debut, but if you're coming, we encourage you to take photos and video and share them with us - it takes a village (or a city) to promote an album, apparently! If you haven't already made plans for Wednesday, May 4th , please come down to Vie de Boheme  to help us launch our album! Admission is only $7, and yo

I can't believe what a big deal it feels like to me that I Want Love  is now available on iTunes and CD Baby ! It shouldn't, I suppose, but it does. And I know Mom would be so incredibly thrilled to see her music up there, too! The CDs are on their way, and will (oh gosh, I sure hope they will) be ready and down in Portland in time for our CD Release Party on May 4th at the gorgeous Vie De Boheme Wine Bar and Restaurant! After so much waiting and planning, it's awesome that I finally have news to share and enough developments every week that it's easy to figure out what to say on "Website Updating Day" (formerly known as Friday)! So next week there'll be a bunch more information about this, but for now, just the teaser....

I'm so happy to announce that "I Want Love" is finally on its way to our Earlybird Downloaders! It's been a long haul and we were a tiny bit late, but it's worth it! Everything is finally in place, and if you are one of the people who got a download as part of your Indiegogo perk, you should be able to get the album now on a "hidden page" on JPJQ's website! Unfortunately, since apparently Wix music doesn't yet offer a download code system, we can only offer the downloads to people who've prepurchased the album at this time. But not to worry!   I Want Love  will be available for purchase on the website within the next couple of weeks, and if you really can't wait, just go to our (still technically operating) Indiegogo page and buy the download. As soon as you do, I'll send you a link to the download page! The CD will be available soon, too- just finalizing a few things before sending it into production - still hoping to actua

The Big Day is almost here!  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! The layouts are almost done for our CDs, the mastering is finished, and even though we're going to be a few days late on our "Earlybird Digital Release" we're soooooooo close to releasing this album!  We've already booked our Portland CD Release party for May 3rd at the gorgeous Vie De Boheme (1530 SE 7th Avenue) and we have plans in the works for a fantastic show in Vancouver in June (with some other amazing musicians) - stay tuned for more information! I'm really proud of this album - it means a lot that we got to record it with our dear friends, and that so many of our loved ones supported our efforts to make it! Thank you all again for your contributions - I hope you're as happy with the final product as we are! Lots of love, and we'll talk soon! Julia

Happy New Year! A lot has happened since my last entry - it turns out that running an Indiegogo campaign is kind of a full-time job! It was great, though - and not just because we made our goal... It put me back in touch with friends I hadn't talked to in over 20 years, and reminded me again of the power of music to move people.  I feel so incredibly lucky to have the people in my life that I have. My band is made up of some of the most generous, talented, supportive human beings a person could imagine. My friends and family have done so much for me in a pretty difficult time, and have stepped up in every possible way to help. My employers are gracious and helpful - even though I haven't been working for them for very long - and my students are by turns adorable, challenging, and inspirational. The album is going to be great. We have all the tracks in the can and now we're just polishing. (Well, and mixing, mastering, manufacturing, distributing, negotiating