The Otis Jones Project

You know that feeling you get when you’re listening to a great song for the first time, one that has a ridiculously catchy guitar riff, buttery fat bass, and drums so solid you could build a house on them? You’re listening, having a good time, really digging it; every lick and hook is a pleasant surprise. The notes just keep building until they reach an exhilarating crescendo when, suddenly, there is a slight pause. Everything stops for a second, as if to let you catch your breath, and your mind feels like it might be floating just a little. It’s like that first hill on a roller coaster, that little break before the big drop. You hear a slight hint of feedback building in the background, almost a whisper, the kind of noise that wakes you from a dream. Suddenly, everything comes crashing back down to earth with the crash of the drums and the screech of an electric guitar as a tingle passes through your entire body, and the hair on the back of your neck stands up. The Otis Jones Project specializes in creating that feeling.The Otis Jones Project is an indie rock trio from Nacogdoches, Texas formed by Josh McGee(guitar/vocals), Wil Willoughby(drums), and Jim Hogle(bass) in late 2007. McGee and Willoughby met while working together as hired studio musicians for a Country/Rock project and became good friends. It was there that the two decided to create their own group with a more rock influenced, groovy electric blues sound, in the tradition of the legendary bands of the late 1960's and early 1970's, but with a new, more modern flavor added to the mix; “I think of our sound as being somewhere between Jimi Hendrix, Santana, and The Strokes,” says Josh McGee. Jim Hogle, a long time friend and former band mate of Willoughby’s, was invited to play bass on the new project and, after only a few jam sessions, there were no questions about whether or not the three should pursue a serious project together. Their debut recording, “The Screamin’ and Cryin’ EP”, was released May 6, 2008 on the band's independent label, BLAST Records, and has since been receiving radio play and very positive press reviews in Texas and Louisiana. Currently, the band is enjoying an ever growing fan base and increasing support from their peers in the industry, thanks in large part to their high energy live shows, and their easy-going, down to earth personalities. Josh McGee says of the band, "We created this project out of the need to express ourselves. We play what we feel and we want to share it with our audience. To us nothing compares to playing live; The crowd and the band feed off of each other and when everyone at a show gets so wrapped up in the music that, for a little while, nothing else matters outside of that room, that’s something special. When everyone in the place has the hair on the back of their neck stand up and they get that good tingly feeling all over, we’ve done our job.”