Blues rocker Dennis Jones returns to Old Town Temecula

In what’s fast becoming a New Year’s Eve tradition at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater, Bea Barnett is bringing back the Dennis Jones Band (DJB) to kick start a Rock N’ Blues New Year.

Those lucky enough to be at the DJB show last December 31 know Dennis Jones can light the fuse on any celebration.

Growing up in Baltimore, he admitted, “I was a rock and roller as a kid” but soon discovered “where these rock and roll licks were coming from. As you dig deeper, you go back to Son House and Robert Johnson and people like that.”

Jones was drawn to guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin as well as “some of the early Fleetwood Mac.” But his tone and demeanor changed dramatically when he spoke of the guitarist that he is most often compared to - Jimi Hendrix.

“When Jimi was alive, not many other players existed to me,” said Jones. “He was just so far ahead of everybody else. I always wanted to develop my own style…just my own thing. What really influenced me from all those people, especially Page and Hendrix, they’re great songwriters.”

Fronting a power trio, and playing an abundance of blues-edged rock and roll, how do you not compare the Dennis Jones Band to other notable three-piece groups like Cream, Stevie Ray’s Double Trouble and especially the Hendrix Experience?

For Dennis Jones it all about music, “Motown, Country… its all Americana to me,” said Jones, with a smile. “I love blues and if I had only one style of music I could listen to, it would truly be the blues. But I’ve been influenced by so many things. I love American Roots music. I love Rockabilly. I love things that touch me inside, not just the visual. They’ve got to deliver something.”

The Dennis Jones Band show starts at 9 p.m. on Dec. 31 at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater and will pause at midnight for a New Year’s champagne toast.

For ticket information, call toll-free (866) 653-8696.