Meet the Music Blogger

Tracey Stones, Writer

When I was growing up, being a blogger was not even a career option.  It has been quite a journey to get here. I started writing stories and poems by about the age of nine. For as long as I can recall, I have always carried a love for music in my soul too. Even before I started writing. Over the course of growing up, I found a way to merge my love of music and passion for the written word. In 1994, I set out on my journey as a music journalist.

Before graduating from Union County College in Cranford, NJ with an Associates Degree in Communications and Liberal Arts, I started writing for the very publication that I relied on for weekly music news. Hired as an intern during my last semester, within weeks I worked my way up to being a paid intern and in time, a paid employee of Arts Weekly, Inc.

Over the course of my internship and employment, I wrote several weekly columns for this publishing company. Starting in March 1994 I was asked by my editor to take over the column Bea Flatte which appeared in The Aquarian Weekly. Following the internship, the publication company offered me a blues column. Writing Boogie n Blues allowed me the best music education. I learned so much about our country’s music history in following the blues.

The highlight of that time period was definitely my one cover story for AW, Crossroads, A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Published August 23, 1995.  This might have been the only cover story I wrote, but it is an article that is listed in Stevie Ray Vaughan Day by Day, Night After Night; His Final Years 1983-1990. A true honor!

Two years later, Arts Weekly, Inc. offered me another column opportunity for their publication, The East Coast Rocker. Backyard Boogie n Blues featured news about acts on the local rock n blues scene. In all, I would be a published writer at Arts Weekly from 1994-1999.

Along with weekly column content, I also wrote several band profiles that featured local and regional acts. These articles were published in Twist & SHOUT,  another Arts Weekly gem.

Major Music Memories

After meeting and interviewing in March 1996 Buddy Guy I asked for his autograph

Along the way, I have had the honor to meet, interview and watch many great performers. Some of my favorite memories include meeting  B.B King at a high school in Denville, NJ and interviewing Buddy Guy at a hotel in New York City.

Meeting my favorite Rolling Stones guitar player, Mick Taylor, for an interview at a studio in New York City was also a  great honor. Truly an afternoon I will never forget.

I enjoyed getting to know Jeff Healey and would keep in touch with him until cancer took him in 2008. He was not quite 41 years old. I caught up with Healey several times on the road when he was touring in support of his blues trio.

 Rufus Thomas met with me at a different hotel in NYC. We in the lobby to talk.  I enjoyed hearing him warm up his vocals for his appearance on Conan O’Brien. He would sing Walkin’ The Dog.  O’Brien would dance with me in the aisle before the start of that show, making it an even more memorable day.

 Another fond memory for was interviewing a young Kenny Wayne Shepherd the week his debut release took over the blues charts. I also remember the first time watching him shred strings from just feet away. He was 18 when he experienced his first ride to the top of the charts. When we  met he was conquering the blues world with his “Deja VooDoo” assault on the world. That was the first release of his debut album, Ledbetter Heights.

Remembering the old and making new music memories always fills my soul with happiness. I thank The Rolling Stones most of all for my love for music.

It is for them that I have opted to write and publish my works under the name of Tracey Stones.

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 Radio DJ

September 1996 I debuted on air at 88.9 FM WBZC in Burlington County. The Tracey Stones Zone, Your Ticket To Ride. It was a monthly feature show that tied in with my monthly columns. I would interview the national artists coming through the area and promote blues shows in NJ/NY/DE/PA.

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 Band Manager

1987-1989 Manager/Promotions for Del Capries

1989-1990 Manager/Promotions for SideShow

1990-1992 Makeup and Personal Assistant for Tumblin’ Dice

1994-2005 Manager/Personal Assistant/Media Agent for Teddy Young & The Aces.

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 2015 – Current

Creator and writer for NCMZ.LIVE 

Published by

Tracey Stones Productions

www.traceystonesproductions.com

Available for the development of electronic press kits, website development, band branding, photography, promotional tools like commercials for social media accounts and much more.