J ason Stokes, born in Washington D.C. and originally from Atlanta, grew up right in the middle – time and place – of what has come to be known as the Neo-Soul Movement He cut his teeth working with some of the prime artists of that genre such as India Irie and David Ryan Harris (John Mayer). He immersed himself in live performance situations as a engineer, learning all that he could about stage performance and the basics of live sound. “I think there was a period of about 7 years, off and on, during which I saw an average of 15 bands a week–on top of the shows that I played myself.”
All of his hands-on work in live music is what finally lead him to studio engineering. He started as an intern working for Dallas Austin at D.A.R.P. Before he knew it, he was working at Stankonia for Outkast, earning his first Grammy nomination for Album of the Year while performing regularly and writing furiously the entire time.
In 2000 Jason moved to California. He applied his skills to feature film work. It was at this time that he became a Rebel Star Records Recording Artist and Producer. He played shows all around the Bay area while engineering and producing in multi-million dollar facilities like The Skywalker Ranch, and American Zoetrope. He mixed front of house and monitor sound for The Red Devil Lounge, and The Independent. He produced records for local bands. “It’s was an extremely busy time for me. Not only was I working every night of the week, but I had recently applied to Berklee College of Music–one of the world’s most prestigious music schools. I had spent the year before studying at the Jazz School in Berkley California to prepare.”
In 2007 Jason moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music where he studied guitar with Richie Hart, Jonathan Weatley, and Mick Goodrick. Jason also completed studies in Ear training, Music Notation, and Traditional Harmony. Upon graduating with a Degree in 2009, he was offered a full-time position working for Berklee. Jason is currently employed with Berklee as a Audio Production and Music Notation Developer.
What is Stokes style? Jason describes it as “Garage Soul.” Its roots are deeply embedded in soul music – that’s what drives his ballistic vocal performances. But the muscle in his performances and in his songwriting reveals his debt to garage rock, the music that compelled him to become the dynamic, soulful guitar player that he is today.