Austin Leonard Jones ⫸ ⫸ ⫸ ⫸
A native Texan, Austin Leonard Jones is a prolific songwriter who now resides in Ojai, CA. Austin sings insightful, and at times humorous, songs about life, death and finding the perfect coffee shop that doesn’t stare at you while they make a pour over.
Austin Leonard Jones' music is represented for
sync licensing by Rollo Grady.
LINKS:
RELEASES
The Wonder Years of Austin Leonard Jones Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
Perpetual Doom is proud to present The Wonder Years of Austin Leonard Jones Vols. 1 & 2. This career-spanning retrospective consists of songs recorded between 2010-2018, offering new listeners and old fans alike into the prolific world of songwriter Austin Leonard Jones. From bedroom pop whispers to clamoring lo-fi rockers, these 30 remastered tracks chart the rambling evolution of a thoroughly singular musical voice.
These wonder years were spent in old barns and dance halls in Texas, where Jones and collaborator Will Patterson (Sleep Good) captured a creative profusion of sounds, styles, yarns, and tall tales. Although rooted in the tradition of the country-folk raconteur, Jones’ songs spiral outward in all directions—from the hushed romanticism of opener “Burning Canoe,” with its stately arrangement balancing hope and regret, to the beach bum glories of “Heavens Beach” and “You Who.” Each track is carefully arranged, a glimpse into a distinct musical world. Jones and Patterson bring out banjo, mandolin, accordion, xylophone, and a remarkable range of instruments to give each song a unique texture: where a song like “Valley Pines” rings bright and clear, “Hippie Knife Fight” is swallowed in lo-fi haze and barreling percussion.
Traversing this musical terrain, Jones takes on numerous guises: sometimes he’s the hopeful lover, the down-and-out drifter, the suburban husband, “the bastard of these beaches.” His characters wander from the warm California coast down to Juarez and around the Horn of Africa, seeking escape in love, drink, and the wilderness. Whatever hat he is wearing, or whoever’s voice he is speaking with, Jones narrates the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, of striving to be some place better. “Gonna pack all of my things and move to dream street,” he sings on the final track, “and I’m gonna stay until my dying day.” Consider it an invitation: these could be your wonder years, too.
Press:
Release Date: Cassette and Digital on July 30, 2021
Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp
Dead Calm
Perpetual Doom proudly presents the new album from Austin Leonard Jones: Dead Calm. On this collection of nine new tracks, the Texas-based troubadour channels his eclectic talent into a melancholy country groove. Full of signature tumbleweed melodies and his deadpan wit, it is an essential addition to Jones’ unique and varied catalog.
Like any good country record, Dead Calm starts with a joke and ends in tears. “A werewolf walks into a bar,” Jones sings on opener “Cape Fear,” where vampires pour drinks and no one seems to escape. The town might be full of the undead, but it could be anywhere—after all, as Jones says, “It’s hard on the living in Cape Fear.” The slide guitar and faint bright keys set the tone for an album that mixes domestic sorrow with a touch of kitsch, like Conway Twitty at a seasonal Halloween outlet. “I’m the sole survivor of the all-night show,” he sings on “Back in the Black Lagoon,” “and it cost a thousand tears for every episode.” Somewhere between a funeral and a costume party, Dead Calm bursts with classic songwriting sure to get you on the dance floor and crying.
All these ghost towns, desert bars, and haunted capes emerge from the small town outside Austin where Jones wrote and recorded the album. Alongside producer Jesse Woods, he crafted a sound based on the traditional country palette of acoustic and slide guitar, organ and gentle drums. Songs like “Night Parrots” and “Demon Sands” take stock of life’s disappointments as Jones’ maudlin voice and Jesse Siebenberg’s pedal steel twist tighter around each other. “The Australia Song” puts autobiographical storytelling first, while “Exotics” laughs at our tendency to seek satisfaction in far-off places and things. It all comes together on “Its Treachery,” where Jones confronts the intimate betrayals of “a whole life not working out as planned.”
Sound familiar? Austin Leonard Jones invites you to join the club.
Press:
Release Date: Cassette and Digital on July 29, 2022
Vinyl out Winter 2022
Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp
Surrender At Permanent Records Roadhouse
"Everything has to do more things now. You have to work at least two jobs. A coffee shop has to sell beer or kombucha too. Permanent Records is a record store and a road house. They invited us to play weekly for the month of march. An Australian, four Texans, a guy from Cincinnati and a nurse. We screamed and we shouted, but eventually we surrendered. This is the armistice." - Austin Leonard Jones
Release Date: Cassette and Digital on August 26, 2022
Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp
At The Polo Club
"Recorded in Hollywood. This is very much the “new in town” album. Reference points include Buck Sings Eagles, Henry Flynt, and the tragic life of John Denver" - Austin Leonard Jones
Produced by Neil Wogensen
Press:
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As heard on KEXP, WFMU, XRAY FM, Radio Free Americana, and more
Release Date: Digital on December 18, 2023
Cassette on March 22, 2024
Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp
At Folsom Prison
Live July 15th 2023 Joshua Tree, CA
Release Date: Digital on January 9, 2024
Cassette on March 22, 2024
Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp
Famous Times
Austin Leonard Jones was born in New Zealand in 1982, a place that humans didn't settle until the 13th century. Before that it was just chattering birds and rain on leaves. Since he played his first show on Halloween, 2010, in San Antonio, TX, those are sounds he's heard often, driving at dawn from Spokane to Billings or during a magic hour thunderstorm from Athens to Savannah. Across 12 albums, some lo-fi, some a little slick like a new matte paint job, Austin has circled the desolate core of songwriting--its irrevocable distance in seeing clearly what should be hazy nostalgia, and the sadness that follows, with remarkable wit and cheer. His latest album, Famous Times, is amongst his finest--cut with a lapidary yet easy precision like truck stop turquoise that simultaneously symbolizes bleakness and elevates above it.
Press:
Release Date: Digital and Cassette on November 26, 2024
Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp
VIDEOS
