Seven years ago Shaun Paul Jones moved to Chicago from his home by the ocean in North Carolina with the intention of making people laugh through improv comedy at Second City. Having previously played in bands in North Carolina, Jones found musicians in Chicago as well. He began playing in bands and even though the comedy didn’t pan out, the music always stuck with him. But even those bands ended and then Jones found himself back at the beginning.
“In the bands that I’d been in previous to Chaperone, I’d never been the primary songwriter, I was just a secondary guitar player,” says Jones. “I was kind of looking for something to do and realized that the only way that was going to happen was if I wrote my own songs, so I pulled out an acoustic guitar and started listening to Gram Parsons.”
Jones began writing what he calls “countryish” songs and he formed a band around himself to play them. The setup is somewhat standard with guitar, bass and drums, but the element that really make these songs stand out are the strings that have been added to the recordings. They add another layer of “countryish” sadness and homesickness coming through Jones’ storytelling.
Being so far away from North Carolina—where he was raised in a religious home by parents who were both surfers—has given Jones many interesting lyrical possibilities. “I sing a lot about leaving home, going back home, home in general,” says Jones. He goes on to explain that he and Miles Doornbos, the group’s bass player, are currently writing a musical based on a modernization of the story of the prodigal son, using some preexisting Chaperone songs and writing some new ones to fill in the gaps. “It’s funny how easily it all fits together [lyrically]. It’s always been in the back of my head. So, I don’t know if it’s just in there, making itself happen, but we haven’t had to change anything from the old stuff.”
While the musical is still in its early stages, in the meantime, Chaperone is staying busy. The group will release its debut EP, “The Ghost Still Haunts,” later this month and in September, the group will head back into the studio to work on a three-song seven-inch record and then hopefully hit the road on tour later in the year. (Todd Miller)
August 13 at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, (773)489-3160, at 9pm. Free; August 14 at Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont, (773)281-4444, at 9pm. $8-10.
Related Stories
Five Chicago Bands You're Not Listening To (But Should) Local talent gaining a following.
Music 45: Who Keeps Chicago In Tune 2018 Most of the artists profiled here live and work in Chicago, but there are several who have left the city; some in fact who haven’t lived here for years. What they all share is a spiritual connection to this city that tethers them to our collective identity in ways that can’t be severed by time or distance. Call it a…
Chicago Symphony Conundrum: Why Does the Best Get Paid Like the Rest? Imagine if the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan era that won six NBA championships were being paid at levels lower than mediocre teams and you have a sense of why the players of the CSO took a vote on February 13 to “overwhelmingly” authorize a strike on March 10, after nearly a year of fruitless contract negotiations and after…
Back in the Mix: Chicago Mixtape Returns, via Spotify Seven years to the day since the project first started, Chicago Mixtape returned from its hiatus with a new look, a new Spotify-based format, and a new goal: to expand to other cities.
Power Chords: A Conversation with Women in Chicago Music I sat down with three Chicago music-industry veterans—Shawn Campbell, Jill Hopkins and Andrea Troolin—for a freewheeling conversation about being raised on rock ‘n’ roll, navigating the male-dominated music business, what’s different about the Chicago scene (or not) and what it takes to turn a passion for music into a lifelong profession. All while retaining one’s feminist cred.
Discovery: An Aural Road Trip with Chicago Ensemble The pieces in this concert have been selected for their musical excellence and demonstrated compositional craft, not out of any desire to paint a contemporary portrait of the nation; and it's not like the composers are particularly concerned with this either. But it's hard not to be inspired by the sheer range of works and composers in the "Discover America"…
