All Photos taken in Nashville by Alan Mercer
Known for being the daughter of country legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Georgette Jones started singing with one or both parents when she was three. She recorded her first single with her father, ‘Daddy Come Home’ and performed on HBO when she was ten years old. She also worked as a backup singer on tour with her mother.
She's also recorded a duet with Mark McGuinn that was included on his "One Man's Crazy" CD and has appeared on national television, including "Crook and Chase" and RFD TV. Georgette is a songwriter and member of SESAC and the CMA. Music has been a life-long passion for Georgette and she achieved a special personal goal in 2010 when she recorded a duet with her Dad titled, "You and Me and Time," which Georgette co-wrote for her Dad and was released as the first single from "Burn Your Playhouse Down".
Georgette has filmed a TV series entitled "Sordid Lives" starring along side Emmy award winner Leslie Jordan (Will and Grace) and many other big stars such as, Olivia Newton-John, Bonnie Bedelia (Die Hard), Margaret Cho and others. Georgette re-recorded three of her Mom's songs included with five songs from Olivia Newton-John in the soundtrack. Georgette is also an author. She released her book titled “The Three of Us” co-written by Patsi Bale-Cox in 2010.
Feeling intimidated by the sheer power of her legendary parents’ career caused her to be shy about pursuing her own path in music. She was a registered nurse for 17 years and gave birth to twin boys.
More recently, she’s released several albums of her own, including ‘A Slightly Used Woman,’ ‘Strong Enough to Cry,’ ‘Till I Can Make It on My Own’ and her new release, ‘Skin.’ She has been seen on TV shows like Crook and Chase and Sordid Lives and performed at the Grand Ole Opry. ‘Skin’ is her first self-released effort.
Alan Mercer: Georgette, it’s so exciting that your album is coming out now after a long wait. Have you performed any of the songs in concert yet?
GJ: I have done three of the songs live. I did tell people they are songs that haven’t been released yet. Other than that, nothing has been played on the radio yet.
AM: Tell me about the title track.
GJ: The title track is called, ‘Skin’ and I’m super excited about it because for me it was a song that was very much where I was at the time I wrote it. It describes basically the fact that we are all defined by stereotypes whether we admit it or not. You look at someone and you do judge them by the way they look. I have tattoos here and there and all over. (Laughter) I’ve even added some since I last saw you. I sit at home in yoga pants and no make-up and my hair in a ponytail most of the time. The point of the song is please don’t judge me on the fact that you may think tattoos make me crazy or unkempt looking. At the end of the day I’m still that innocent little girl. I’m a woman made from this world, but I also have the heart of daddy’s little girl, so being comfortable in the skin I’m in is really the main point of the song. I’m really proud of that song.
AM: It’s about being strong enough to face other people’s judgement of you.
GJ: It’s kind of a twofold process. It’s being non-judgmental of other people and it’s accepting who you are without worrying about the judgement of other people and being happy in your own skin.
AM: Anyone who really knows you, knows your life hasn’t been charmed.
GJ: No, it’s definitely not. I think the misconception of most people was to expect that the people who have famous parents have glamorous, perfect lives. They think we have all this money, but I don’t. My husband and I live paycheck to paycheck just like most people in America. We do not have silver spoons and I don’t have a butler. (Laughter) It isn’t what people think it is. We are normal, completely average people.
AM: Isn’t your husband a musician as well?
GJ: He is. He plays steel guitar for Easton Corbin and I could not possibly be any prouder of him. He’s an amazing musician.
AM: He must be on tour a lot.
GJ: He is. It’s funny but we tend to be gone on the same weekends and home during the week. Sometimes he’s home when I’m gone and vice versa but it all works out somehow. When there are times when we’ve been on the road too much, we will try to meet each other somewhere and I’ll watch him play with Easton or he’ll come hang out on the road with me. It’s an effort to make sure we spend plenty of time together, but we love each other, and our relationship is important. Time away is good sometimes but you can’t let it be too much. You have to find the balance.
AM: I’m thinking your daily life must be filled with constant references to your parents.
GJ: It is. I think as I’ve gotten older, either I don’t pay attention to it or maybe I’m around a lot of the same people, so I don’t have to hear about it as much as I used to. It’s more prominent when I am working and going places. It is a constant referral to “the daughter of” and that’s fine. To be honest, I am very proud of my parents. It’s an honor to me.
AM: You are a “one of a kind” person!
GJ: Well, thank you.
AM: You are Country Music Royalty.
GJ: You‘re very sweet to say that.
AM: I just hope it doesn’t get old for you.
GJ: It’s twofold. It’s wonderful to hear people’s stories and hear how my parents affected their lives and how much they appreciate them. But I am a songwriter and there are days I like to do my own music. It’s hard sometimes to be able to do that and just be me. I’ve even toyed a couple times with not using my name, but I am proud of my name, so I don’t want to do that. It’s a hard decision to make and keep the balance.
AM: Do you sing your original music in your live show?
GJ: Some shows are tribute shows so it’s nothing but my Mom and Dad’s music. I do other shows where I do a mixture of my songs and theirs. I would love to one day go somewhere and perform all my music and maybe just one of Mom and Dad’s songs. I’m hoping to go that direction, but I’m still very thankful to be where I am now.
AM: I’m glad you understand that those of us who LOVE your Mom and Dad just have to tell you!
GJ: It’s very complimentary.
AM: They are bigger than life.
GJ: That’s the thing I keep in mind. Both my parents were very modest. Up to the day they died, I don’t believe they understood the impact they had on people. I don’t think they knew they were larger than life. To them, they were just simple people who sang simple music. I also don’t think they had a clue how big Country Music had become.
AM: Really!?!
GJ: They always thought of Country Music as being the outcast genre. They weren’t the ones that everybody talked about on TV. People always made references to Country Music as Hillbilly. When people started talking to them on a big scale, it didn’t register to them that they were icons and legends.
AM: Wow, that is amazing.
GJ: I’m very proud of both of them. I certainly understand that I wouldn’t be able to do what I do if it hadn’t been for my parents and how people admire them. I appreciate all the people who come up to me and tell me about them.
AM: I think social media has made us more aware of how big things can be. You do such a good job at keeping up with all that, which is its own full-time job.
GJ: I’ll be honest, I’m better at some things than others. I will add people I meet on the road to my personal page if I meet them and like them. I do feel a responsibility to be thankful to people who take their time to talk to me. However, on my fan page, it’s almost impossible. I have 135,000 people following me. I know there are probably people out there who get mad, but I can’t keep up.
AM: No, it would be impossible, and you would have no life.
GJ: Right, and I don’t have a manager. I manage myself. My husband and I take care of everything. I don’t hire people to do my social media the way most entertainers do. It’s rare when a celebrity is actually controlling their own page.
AM: You are still working on a movie about your parents, aren’t you?
GJ: Yes, we’ve been held up a few times, but it looks like it will start production in 2020 with Josh Brolin playing my dad and Jessica Chastain playing my mother. You can’t get any bigger names. I’m so excited.
AM: That is exciting! Georgette, I notice that you love to go camping. I love thinking of you out there in the woods.
GJ: (Laughing) Yes! I’m out there peeing in the woods. We love it. I grew up with my grandparents and we did it all the time. My grandfather would take me fishing and he made sure I could change the oil in my car and change a tire. Seriously, I was a Tomboy. We always did outdoor things and then I had two boys, so we always did outside things with them. They loved it and I loved it. Then I met my husband and he was from England and had never been on a boat or been camping. He had never even seen a gun, much less shoot one. He had not done any of these things that I did growing up and I was hoping he would love it and thank God, he loved it. We could be lost in the woods for a week and be happy.
Follow Georgette Jones on her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/georgettejonesmusic/