Live music continues to find its way to Cadillac. This week Georgia native Demun Jones will be performing at The Venue on Wednesday, June 26.
Being from a small town in Jones County, only occupying roughly 4 square miles of rural Georgian land, his experience and values didn’t quite fit his music taste.
“Mostly I listen to rap music, hip-hop was what me and my friends would ride around listening to and ultimately that’s the kind of music that inspired me to create music,” Jones says. “Rap music was something I felt like I could do.”
Jones says his music is most often called “country rap.”
“I don’t have much to write about other than what I see and what I know,” says Jones. “And what I know is living in Georgia, working really hard, having a good family and loving my community.”
Jones says that his songs are mostly about his experiences and observations in his small southern town. He likes to think his listeners have never been to Georgia or seen the life that’s lived there.
“I try to paint a picture of what it’s like to be there and to educate them, there’s so much to talk about if you just pay attention to what you see, hear and experience,” Jones says.
From what Jones has seen, his music is enjoyed by all kinds of people. He says people enjoy it because they like how it sounds, relate to the lyrics and connect with the stories, or they want to experience the topics through Jones’s storytelling.
“I don’t just listen to music that’s from people that grew up the way I did, so I feel like me being from where I’m from and living the way I lived and grew up,” says Jones. “I feel it’s my responsibility to put that story out there, that’s my ingredient to the recipe of music, you know?”
Jones says when he first started creating music, he didn’t have much to say and was just a “dumb kid trying to say a bunch of words that sound cool.”
“Once I lived a little bit and experienced some things, it became possible for me to kind of tell my own story,” says Jones. “When nobody was paying attention, I spent a lot of time trying to write and find myself and my voice that was authentic to what my life was.”
The name “Demun” was originally given to him by a friend because of his “energetic and intense” personality. After growing up and still living in Jones County, he added “Jones” to his stage name, too.
“I spelled it that way because I’m a Christian. The e and u in Demun align with the e and u in Jesus,” Jones says. “So, even though I’m not making gospel music I wanted it to be symbolic and it’s not just Demun, its Demun Jones and I think that turns it into a person instead of some monster.”
Jones says that a local church wanted him to perform at a fundraiser and the pastor sat him down for a talk beforehand.
“It was pretty simple, took only about two minutes before ‘Its all-good, let’s do it,’” Jones says. “I’ve been there (Jones County) so long, everybody knows me so they’ve long since gotten over it. It’s almost like demon’s not even a bad word.”
