Kentucky native Brady Jones delivers low notes, high hopes for Kingsmen

By John Herndon, KentuckySings.com

Brady Jones’ first appearance with The Kingsmen Quartet was one of those nights where everyone in attendance knew something special was happening.

What they didn’t know was how long the wheels would turn before the Kentucky teenager would be hitting the low notes every time the legendary gospel group stepped up to the microphones.

“He just blew the roof off the place,” remembers Kingsmen baritone Alan Kendall.

The night is etched in Jones’ memory. He’d just earned his driver’s license and drove just over 90 minutes from his Morgantown home. “They were in Cadiz, Kentucky,” Jones says of that first meeting. “I drove over there on a Thursday night.”

It was common knowledge that Kingsmen fan favorite Ray Dean Reese, already in his 80s, was looking to cut back on his traveling and groom a young bass singer to take over on the left side of the stage. The Kingsmen got word one was attending the concert 

“We had been told there was a local kid in attendance who sang bass,” Kendall recalls. “They asked if we could get him up to sing with us just to give him a shot in the arm. He just blew the roof off the place. I think he would have jumped on the bus with us that night if we had let him.”

Jones adds, “They got me up to sing ‘Glory Road.’ I was 16 and a half.”

And Reese wanted to talk to the teenager.

“Ray came up to me after and asked what I was doing,” Jones says with a slight grin. “I said I was still in high school. He said, ‘OK,’ and walked away.”

After telling Jones to finish his studies at Butler County High School, The Kingsmen turned to another young one, Drew Laney, to learn the ropes of living on a bus and singing several nights a week for a living.

Jones finished high school in 2023 and enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville to study audio engineering.

And while Laney started touring in 2022 and was wowing audiences wherever The Kingsmen traveled, he came to realize life on the road was not his calling. He told the group of his intention to leave in late 2023.

“I told Brandon (Reese, the quartet’s manager), ‘One phone call,'” Kendall says. 

“So I called Brady and told him Drew was going to be leaving  and if he was interested (in becoming a part of The Kingsmen), meet us in the next few weeks at a concert.”

The next few weeks became the next few hours.

“That was on a Thursday,” Brady recalls. “On Friday night they were in central Alabama, so I drove 4½ or 5 hours to get to that concert. I didn’t want to take the chance of them meeting someone else.”

Obviously, Brady Jones was more than interested. He was given a date to start a trial in December of 2023.  “I had just turned 19,” he grins.

And on Dec. 31, 2023, Jones was introduced as the new bass singer for the Kingsmen. 

As he showed during a concert at Sand Spring Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg, Jones owns talent with depth and authority well beyond his years. And when he sits down at a piano, Jones brings an element that has been missing from Kingsmen concerts for many years. At Sand Spring, he played during some of the group’s songs as well as soloing during a break in the group’s set.”

“It adds so, so much,” says Kendall, who has been with The Kingsmen since 2018. “To me, the most important thing is if we are doing a serious type of service or at the invitation, to have him be able to play some of the old favorites is a blessing.

“I have always been amazed at people who play an instrument and sing harmony.”

Jones seems natural in the double-duty, possibly because he’s living his dream.

“I loved The Kingsmen. They were probably my second-favorite group. The Cathedrals were my favorite,” says Jones, who considers Cathedrals’ George Younce as one of his greatest influences.

“Even though I sing with them, I still tell people The Kingsmen are my favorite current group. It’s not just the songs, but their history and all they have done.”

In less than two years, Brady Jones has gone from a college student studying the recording industry to one of Southern Gospel’s favorite up-and-coming singers. There’s no doubt that fans love the Morgantown native’s style. 

“They think he is the cutest thing they have ever seen in their lives,” Kendall laughs. “They come up to him and pinch his cheeks. He gets picked on a lot.”

And in a genre where the fan base is heavy on Baby Boomers, a bass singer born after the turn of the century is not common.

“When I started out, I noticed that was the case so I started talking with some of the older people. But we have started to notice some younger people coming too. 

And chances are they will be hearing Brady Jones for years to come. 

He’s happy. He’s doing what he loves. 

And he’s doing it well. Very well.

Kingsmen to be in Bagdad

The Kingsmen will be appearing at Christiansburg Baptist Church in Bagdad, Ky. on Thursday, July 24 at 7 p.m. Also appearing that night will be The Noblemen, a popular regional group that calls the Bagdad area home.