To be a good entertainer, you better be able to put people at ease, and the only way you can do that is to be yourself. In some ways, that means you don't know what you're going to do or say next. You don't know exactly where something is going to lead. You just sort of put one foot in front of the other and see where you land.

CP: Discussions of your first album suggested that your sound was a combination of swamp rock and country blues. Your latest album, "Orange Blossoms" sounds more like it's moved even more into being a purely soulful record. Was that intentional?

JG: Nah, it was the nature of the tunes. When I put together all the songs at home and demoed them, they sounded like they do on the record, except not as good because I didn't pull out some of the big guns to play on it. The arrangements and all that stuff I work out at home, and they worked out that way.

I would say that, to me, honestly, "Orange Blossoms" is how I wanted "Blackwater" to sound. "Blackwater" and "Orange Blossoms," in that way, are like sister albums. I felt like what I didn't get done on "Blackwater" I was able to get done on "Orange Blossoms." Both records have lighthearted moments that are up and funky and grooving and both have darker, sadder moments. Both records are supposed to sound like if you were to take Stevie Wonder, Tony Joe White and Lynyrd Skynyrd and mix them up but threw in half Stevie Wonder and a quarter each of the other two, that would be "Orange Blossoms." "Country Ghetto" was a larger portion of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tony Joe White and much smaller portion of Stevie Wonder. That's sort of how I look at it. That's how I wanted "Blackwater" to sound. With "Orange Blossoms," I didn't try to make it sound like anything, I just let it be like it is. "Blackwater" took a lot more effort. Funnily enough, people look at it as my rawest album, and it's the most-produced.

CP: Considering some of the comments you've made about how fans might really like some music you wrote that was catchy but didn't have much soul or that you weren't happy about how it turned out. It sounds like you don't have an inherently positive relationship with everything you produce.

JG: It can happen. I find that the more thought I put into a tune, the more chance of it feeling dated. I'm not ashamed of "Blackwater" or anything I've done, but every band or artist or writer has some skeletons in the closet like, "Oh my god, I was young and stupid then." We all did when we were young coming up in music. I don't mean that you're ashamed of it, but it's not relevant.

I feel reasonably sure that if I was Bono of U2 or something and looked back on all the years with "Unforgettable Fire" or "War" or "Boy" or the big one, "Joshua Tree," those records, especially "Joshua Tree," are timeless and you never feel ashamed of them. So much other music from the 80s is fun, but you like it because you're young and dumb. U2's albums defy all that. In my opinion, .

CP: Are you working on your next album yet?

JG: Oh yeah. I'm always piddling along. I have no idea when I'll put out a record, but I hope to have one out next year. Somebody said, "You can't hurry love. You just have to wait." It's the same way with music. You have to let it come out when it comes out. The one thing I would put a little thought into in the early stages for a brief moment is to visualize how the record will sound. Given the direction I want to take with the next record, I think it's probably going to be a little more raw. To me, "Orange Blossoms" was raw. It may not be raw sounding or as primitive sounding as some of the others, but to me, there's nothing as raw as a lot of the Muscle Shoals sound or the Stax Records stuff. They had string and horns all over their stuff, but it was nasty. I'll probably try and dip into that a big because I love how it sounds. It makes it sound wonderful.

IF YOU GO

--What: NIghtfall concert featuring JJ Grey and Mofro.

--When: Tonight. Blues Hammer opens at 7; JJ Grey headlines at 8.

--Where: Miller Plaza, corner of M.L. King Boulevard, Market and Cherry streets.

--Admission: Free.

--Phone: 265-0771.

--Venue Web site: www.downtownchattanooga.org.

--Related links at fyi.timesfreepress.com.

DISCOGRAPHY

2001: "Blackwater"

2004: "Lochloosa"

2007: "Country Ghetto"

2008: "Orange Blossoms"

LINEUP

JJ Grey -- vocals/keys/guitar/harmonica

Daryl Hance -- electric/slide guitar

Adam Scone -- organ

Anthony Cole -- drums

WHAT'S NEXT

JJ Grey is working on a follow-up to his 2008 release, "Orange Blossoms," which he hopes to have out next year. The next album should even more raw than "Blossoms" and will tap into the meaty, dirty Muscle Shoals/Stax Records sound, he said.

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