97.3 KBCO Presents The Bones of J.R Jones

Growing up, Jonathon Linaberry was obsessed with the radio. “I remember sitting there at night, glued to the boombox, cassette player ready to record whenever my favorite songs came on,” he recalls. “There was something so thrilling about it, something romantic that I think we’ve lost now that everything’s available at our fingertips. I wanted to find a way to get back to that place, to recapture those feelings of excitement and anticipation and possibility.” Linaberry does precisely that on Radio Waves, his sixth studio album as The Bones Of J.R. Jones.

Recorded in Toronto with producer Robbie Lackritz (Feist, Bahamas), the collection is moody and hypnotic, steeped in the sonic landscape of the ’80s and ’90s as it excavates the past with equal parts nostalgia and curiosity. The arrangements are utterly entrancing here, built on the tension between acoustic instruments and retro synthesizers, and Linaberry’s performances are raw and visceral, at times aching in their vulnerability. Put it all together and you’ve got a poignant exploration of memory and longing delivered by a relentless searcher, a revelatory work of personal reflection steeped in the endless beauty, pain, and chaos of youth. “I’ve never really resonated with the idea of ‘the good old days,’” Linaberry reflects. “Your understanding of the past and your relationship with it change as you get older, and I’ve always been more interested in the evolution of those feelings than in wearing any kind of rose-colored glasses.”

You may also like the following events from Velvet Elk Lounge:

• This month, 23rd July, 09:00 pm, Bands on the Bricks After Party with Vinyls by John Prine in Boulder
• Next month, 7th August, 08:00 pm, Chicken Wire Empire at Velvet Elk Lounge in Boulder