Additionally, checkout Rhapsody, Spotify, Amazon, Netflix(just kidding), and all the major download sites over the coming days and weeks. Obviously, we’ll be selling at shows as well. Any other physical locations will be noted on here as added.

“Shows? But you guys don’t have any listed on here”! That’s soon to change as well. Anyone who has kept up has probably noticed we’ve made some changes, and they’ll keep coming over the next few weeks. We have more to add to this website.

One special addition, our merch store will finally feature an array of great new stuff to keep you satiated. New t-shirts, hats, beer koozies, pint glasses (awesome), and we even have some really cool iPhone 4/4S covers. In actuality, the merch store should be up in just a day or two… we hope.

So, anyway, stay patient with us as we launch a new era of momentum, and let’s just sit back and savor the new sounds of the new album. We hope you enjoy it!

Cheers from HPJ!

We know we’ve kept you waiting, wondering what all the silence was really about. Rumors have been spread, posts have been made, and perhaps a beer has even been brewed. All in preparation of one particularly momentous occasion; we’re releasing our third album, aptly titled “Half Pint Jones.”

The official album release is Tuesday, May 15, but we’re celebrating the culmination of so many months of work with an incredible party at Golden Gnome on Saturday, May 12. As the next few weeks go on, we’ll be posting and blogging about the event in its entirety, but wanted to finally end the suspense and let you know a little bit of scoop.

This eponymous album is by far our best work. We love it, and we are so excited to share it with you. Some songs on the album you’ll recognize, and some we’ve worked hard to keep in our woodshed to share with you all at once. Recorded over time at our friend Jake Cinninger’s Boondock Studios, this is an album we couldn’t be more proud of.

A few notes to be aware of. We’ve been in the process of redesigning our website, so please be patient as that continues a bit more in the coming weeks. We have ordered a ton of wicked cool new merch, which will eventually be available on the website’s store page. Bear with us; we promise these changes will make your whole HPJ experience that much better.

We’ve also started migrating over from our Facebook profile page to a musician/band fan page. It was time, and we need your support to get as many of you over there as possible. Eventually we’ll only be sharing info on that page, but we’ll hold off for a bit so everyone can get acclimated to the new Timeline setup. (Who made THAT decision by the way?)

So mark May 15 in your calendar now as the day to buy the album, and May 12 as the day to celebrate the hell out of it with all of us. We’ve been quiet for a while now, but it’s about to get loud.

So let’s give a bit of history then…

Half-Pint Jones, essentially, was born while a gig was already in place, back in 2006. 5 guys, sitting in a, now defunct, Mishawaka, Indiana Brew Pub, tossing around the need to rename the reformed band that lasted only a short 6 months prior. The seed of which was brought up from New Orleans, Louisiana by original saxophone player Chris Olivier. Having been chased out by Hurricane Katrina, and forced to relocate further north, he picked up the phone and started making some calls. Those calls led to the foundation of what is now a band that is over 5 years strong, 3 albums deep, and on the rise.

Shortly after the renaming of the band, the first album ‘Trilogy of Patches and Olaf’ was recorded. Don’t ask anybody in the band to explain that title. You won’t get a clear answer. Or, go ahead and ask, but don’t expect the same answer twice. The album was recorded in a friend’s home studio, and was the culmination of the tightest material the band had to offer from its many live performances. The goal was simple: have fun, take some chances, and don’t worry about time. Some of the standout tracks from that album are “Chi Chis”, “In Your Skin”, “Kite Boy”, and the album titled track that cuts through like a freight train, “Trilogy of Patches and Olaf”.

After recording ‘Trilogy’, and releasing those inspired musical ghosts into the ethereal world of the audio stream, Half-Pint Jones began a long steady schedule of playing live shows and writing new material for the eventual follow-up album. And, as evolution provides, their live shows grew stronger… and the material followed suit. That rue started to thicken, and get its flavor.

Recognizing a need to produce sharper, more well defined, and “radio friendly” tracks for the next album, the band took the challenge with great stride. The unified goal was an exercise in trying to extract the best elements of a composition, with seemingly infinite possibility, into a smaller composite that still held the necessary bookends and sustenance that provided the story it needed to tell.

The resulting effort was aptly named ‘Single File’. A whimsical, sarcastic nod to the suggestion that the album was just that… a file full of singles. From beginning to end, the album showcases a myriad of growth. Not just in the cohesiveness of the band, bred from the backbone of the live shows it plays, but in the songwriting, and the musicianship that each player brought to the recording. There was an immediacy in the recording process that pushed the band to respect the sense of economy. A sense of purpose. A sense that the recording of this album was a mission to prove something. Self induced, mind you.

The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Kingsize Studios in Chicago, and in a staggeringly short amount of time. In fact, for some of the tracking the band slept in the studio. Strewn about the vocal booth, control room, live room… it was an “eat, drink, and sleep the album” environment. Late night card games, inordinate amounts of mexican food… ok, some fun was had. But it paid off. The end result was exactly what the band had set out to accomplish.

The album opens with “Moist Air”. An up-tempo, late 60′s-soul flavored offering that sets a nice funky meter to the albums smooth flowing intent. It keeps pace up to the third track, “Ryn”, a soulful love ballad, that still manages to keep step with the other mixed tempos on the album, but stands on its own. “Mark’s Ballgame”, an instant crowd booty shaker at live shows, follows right after. The album then shifts gears with the softness of “My Name”. “Jam Sandwich for Jonas” takes the band down to New Orleans to visit the flavor they love to experiment with the most, and this song is another that has become a fan favorite for some booty shakin’ at its live shows. “Pain”, while being a more laid back tempo, has a lot of textures running through it, and was a key moment the band utilized in the studio to capitalize on some lush vocal harmonies. Especially during the end refrain, when it seems as if they turned into a small gospel choir, albeit, a very small gospel choir.

The choice to rerecord “Bachelor” was for a very simple reason. Prior to the recording of the album, the band had played so many live shows, that some of the arrangements had changed from ‘Trilogy’. In particular, “Bachelor” was a song that was always being tinkered with, and when the new album rolled around, it was just the simple fact that a better version was out there and needed to be recorded. So, why not? Who writes the rules? Why not record it again? Maybe it’ll be on every album…

The album ends with one last gesture. After all this tucking in of the kids and making sure all the singles were safe and sound, the album rounds out with “Indulgence”. Yep, there’s no irony. It’s 9:43 of letting out all of the steam. A place for every member of the band to stretch out and rub the elbows full of bacon grease. Time to get down and dirty, and turn off the clock. The parents left for the night, the band intercepted the babysitters phone call and gave her the wrong address, and its time for the shenanigans to begin.

The album was very well received, and garners a lot of support and consistent local radio play. What followed was a continued heavy rotation of live shows and an ever steady building of the fan base. In that time, the band has shared the stage with Umphrey’s McGee and The Young Dubliners, played countless festivals and clubs, and spent time writing material for what would eventually become the album known simply as ‘Half-Pint Jones’.

While the band decided to take some time to record and release the third album, many ideas were tossed around. The idea of recording an ep was discussed. Then the loftier idea of 3 ep’s, in succession, was an idea that may still see the light of day, but ultimately didn’t seem right for what everybody was feeling. That feeling was a yearning to record an album that was an amalgamation of the first two offerings. An embodiment of what the band truly represents: the ability to present music in both short, and long form. Half-Pint Jones recognizes the changing climate in the music business, and is willing to gamble on the fact that the only thing its fans are interested in, is quality output.

To realize this goal they needed the right studio, and that’s exactly what they had in Jake Cininnger’s Boondock Studio. Being a close friend of the band, Jake opened his studio for them to use at their discretion any time he was on the road and, thusly, not using it for his own master recordings. This laid back, relaxed, environment set the roots for the best sessions the band has ever experienced together. While having this open ended schedule, the band took full advantage of experimenting with as many arrangements as possible, and those moments are felt very tastefully throughout the album.

The tranquil looping drone that opens the albums’ first track drives right into the catchy mantra of the chorus “I’ll Arrive”, before settling into its groove. Continuing on, the album gets its meter in place with the catchy “This Time Around”, before rolling into track number five, “Falling Apart”. The track, while part departure for the band, is actually keeping quite in step with the evolutionary nature of their writing process. In fact, the song hadn’t been played prior to the studio sessions, and to the guys it feels just about as organic and pure as anything they’ve ever recorded. That song very much captures the atmosphere of the studio. From there, the album steps to a smooth croon in “I Don’t Mind”, then to the bluesy homage of “Urban Swamp”, and right back into the pocket of New Orleans funk with “Lagniappe”. Finally, the album tips its hat to the socio-political arena with “Yes We Can”, before departing sweetly with the delicate, and stripped back, acoustic finale that is “Walk Away”.

And as it turns out, “Bachelor” is not on the third album.

After taking some time to record this eponymous album, and after a non-stop schedule of live shows for the past 5 years, the band decided to take a bit of a siesta and rest to mount up for the upcoming summer, promotion and release of
‘Half Pint Jones.’ In the process, longtime saxophonist Christopher Olivier had made the decision to step away from the band to focus his energy on his family. For Chris, the decision was easy… family first. He and the band parted on the best of terms, and they wish him well. Chris’ departure meant recruiting a new horn player; not an easy task, but the right man for the job was found in a young gun named Sam Que, from Elkhart, Indiana. Sam’s energy is a welcome addition to the band, and is just another signal in the evolution of the history of Half-Pint Jones.

This time around, Half-Pint Jones, once again a five-piece, is ready and able, in the here and now. This time around, their minds are clear, their consciences are strong. Evolution.

You know that expression, “the more things change the more they stay the same”? Well, it’s not always true, sometimes things change and they end up not being the same at all. Sometimes they change and stay kind of the same. What are we talking about here? Allow us to explain…

After 5 years of spending so much quality time together, and embarking on an unknown number of great adventures, our talented, and brotherly, saxophone player has left the building… so to speak.

As many of you may know, back in October, Chris’ oldest son Jonas had a very trying stay in the hospital (and rest assured a successful one) that involved a serious issue with his heart. Not unlike his father, Jonas has the determination and will to conquer, and we here in Half-Pint Jones couldn’t be more proud of the little guy.

During that period, Chris made the decision that his focus and priorities need to fall solely in the direction of his family. We know it was a difficult decision concerning the band, but an easy one concerning his family.

Chris has always had nothing but love and commitment to this home away from home that is HPJ, but we all fully support his decision, and wish him nothing but the best for the future. His piece to our 5-piece puzzle, and contribution to the sound of our band, will be missed.

As for the remaining 4 pieces… well, we look forward to what the future holds for us as well, and plan to keep on keepin’ on. We’ll have some more big announcements coming soon, and have no doubt it’ll be interesting.

Cheers to all!
-Half-Pint Jones