Grey's songwriting influences are widespread. "I listen to people who tell the story," he says, naming Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, R.L. Burnside, Tony Joe White, Jerry Reed, Otis Redding, Dr. John, Sly & The Family Stone, Van Morrison, Bill Withers and Dan Penn. What these writers and performers have in common is a love for simplicity, evoking complex emotions with a minimal number of words. As a performer, Grey is influenced by the sexually charged blues of Howlin' Wolf, the country soul of George Jones and the hard funk of James Brown, as well as local personalities like street preachers and old time radio DJs.

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Within the soul-drenched music of northern Florida's JJ Grey and band, the roots run as deep as the influences are indelible. "War" and "By My Side" sound like Southern-fried Sly and the Family Stone. "Turpentine" recalls the swamp funk of Tony Joe White. Both "A Woman" and "The Sun Is Shining Down" suggest long-lost Otis Redding sessions in Muscle Shoals, while "Mississippi" takes Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" on a trip down to the delta. From the harmonica-laced country blues of the title track to the gospel piano and choir of "On Palestine," Grey's music compensates with conviction for what it lacks in originality. --Don McLeese