The Mobile Press

Songwriters to play rare show Sunday

Friday, July 21, 2006

"It was kind of funny," said Tammy Vice, "because I was kind of the brain, I was valedictorian, he was a musician."

"I was kind of a hippie that smoked cigarettes in the back of the bus. And she wouldn't have anything to do with me," agreed Tony Ray Jones. "I never even got my class picture made. That's how hippie I was."

It's a small world, though. And once Vice and Jones have caught up with their classmates at this weekend's Shaw High School class of 1976 reunion, you'll find them in a position unthinkable 30 years ago: sitting side by side at the Silver Moon Café in Orange Beach FL. , playing songs they co-wrote

The funny thing is not so much that they both wound up writing songs in Nashville, but that they didn't actually bump into each other until another Shaw reunion.

By his estimation, Jones played "every venue in Mobile I could possibly play" back in the day. His Web site, www.tonyrayjones.com , lists the band Willow Creek, with partners Johnny Barbato and Luther Wamble, as his first significant project.

In the early '80s he left for a seven-year stint in Texas. By 1989 he'd moved to Nashville, where his gigs included working as a troubadour for various Opryland venues. In 1994 he dropped out of music completely and went into the ministry, working as a missionary for four years.

When he came back into music he'd given up most of his performing ambitions, but he was still interested in songwriting and recording. His newest album is about half complete, and some of his songs can be heard at www.myspace.com/tonyrayjones. He also enjoys helping Nashville newcomers navigate the process of recording their demo albums, and includes some no-nonsense free advice on his Web site.

Vice, by contrast, developed her songwriting skills mainly through her association with the Mobile Songwriters Association before moving to the Nashville area in the late '90s. An advocate for autism awareness (visit www.tammyvice.com for details), she's had some success writing positive country and country Christian music.

In recent years, Jones has come around to a similar approach.

"I'm kind of a little bit of both. It's pretty positive. It's real-life adventures and stories," he said. "I guess if you want to categorize it, it would be acoustic country and Christian."

The stage was set, but the two say they didn't actually connect until the 25th reunion of their Shaw class. Seeing how much their inclinations had converged in the intervening years, Vice said, she suggested they try collaborating.

"He took me up on it," she said. "We've been writing together for a couple of years now, and really enjoying it."

Sunday's show will be a rare chance to hear what they've been up to. Vice herself has made regular trips back to the coast in recent years, but Jones reckons his last gig here was sometime in the mid-'80s

The stage was set, but the two say they didn't actually connect until the 25th reunion of their Shaw class. Seeing how much their inclinations had converged in the intervening years, Vice said, she suggested they try collaborating.

"He took me up on it," she said. "We've been writing together for a couple of years now, and really enjoying it."

Sunday's show will be a rare chance to hear what they've been up to. Vice herself has made regular trips back to the coast in recent years, but Jones reckons his last gig here was sometime in the mid-'80s.

"It'll be very much a songwriters' round," Vice said. "And obviously some of the Mobile Songwriters will be there."

The music is to run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Silver Moon Café. The venue is across the street from the famed Flora-Bama roadhouse on the Alabama-Florida line.

Likely it'll be a relaxed affair. After all, the class reunion will be over and done with at that point.

"That 10-year reunion, everybody's trying to prove themselves," Vice said. "After that, they relax. They're just happy to be alive."

Lawrence F. Specker is the Press-Register's entertainment reporter. He can be reached by phone at (251) 219-5606; by e-mail as lspecker@press-register.com; by fax at (251) 219-5799. Mail notices of upcoming events to him at the Press-Register, P.O. Box 2488, Mobile, AL 36652.