We’ve had the pleasure of covering Warwick musician Nate Jones for the past couple of years. He’s talked to us about being on the ballot for the Grammys and a few singles he’s released, including “Wait For Me,” which came out right during the dawn of COVID-19 in March of last year.

It turns out that month was an eventful one for him on a personal level in a positive way. One can also imagine what life has been for Jones as a musician with live gigs being a rarity these days. That’s why I decided to reach out to see how he’s been faring over the past 10 months.

We recently talked about him making adjustments, getting a girlfriend, starting a wellness business, going on retreats and amassing a catalog of original tunes.

ROB DUGUAY:  Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down last spring, you established yourself as a full-time musician. When it came to doing virtual shows during that time and eventually performing socially distanced gigs, what was the biggest adjustment you had to make?

NATE JONES:  Well Rob, one of the hardest things was adjusting to not singing nearly as much. I get into a heightened physical and emotional state when I sing, especially to a live audience. I feed off the energy of the crowd and it nourishes my soul. It was difficult to adjust to being stuck at home on the weekends and feeling like I was not able to share my energy with others. However, there was one incredible silver lining for me.

The night of my very last show before the pandemic, Friday the 13th of March at the Tipsy Toboggan in Fall River, I met a girl who changed my life. Her name is Tara. I started giving her music lessons and we soon realized we were in love. We’ve been together ever since.

RD: That’s serendipitous. Congratulations.

NJ: Thanks man.

RD: Outside of music, you recently became a wellness coach with the company Mind-Body Harmony. What made you want to pursue this career and what are your feelings on the profession?

NJ: Tara and I had both been wanting to launch a coaching business for a while, so we created Mind-Body Harmony in December. Our idea was to combine physical wellness with creative practices that enhance our emotional and spiritual well being. After watching the documentary “Vegan 2020,” we knew it was time. The film chronicles how COVID-19, like the avian flu and swine flu, came from intensive breeding and farming of animals in very unclean conditions. We wanted to help others transition to a plant-based diet in order to help mitigate the risks of another viral outbreak, as well as help people get healthier.

I’ve been very passionate about veganism for several years because it has been scientifically proven to be the single most effective choice a person can make to reduce their impact on pollution and climate change. It is also the only diet ever shown to actually reverse heart disease. I’ve been eating plant-based for over four years now and it's truly changed my life. I feel better, I have more energy and I never get bloated anymore. On top of that, I have the satisfaction of knowing that my dollars are not supporting cruelty to animals. I’ve offered various types of coaching services in the past, but it was mostly sporadic. We’ve been working on designing an online course on veganism for people who want to make impactful change.

RD: You’ve gone on a few music retreats over the past few years, including one that happened in New Hampshire this past weekend. Without giving too much away, what are these retreats like?

NJ: The retreats I’ve gone on all feature music as a central activity, but are more based around spirituality and mindfulness. I've gone to Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York, 11 times since 2016. They host retreats several times per year with different themes. My favorite is a summer retreat for young adults called “Wake Up.” Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh created “Wake Up” as an international movement of peace and mindfulness for young adults.

This past year, however, Tara and I went to four different plant medicine retreats, where we had the opportunity to try Ayahuasca and San Pedro. In fact, the last retreat we went to was at Pachamama Sanctuary, which is actually an Ayahuasca church in New Hampshire.

RD: You have some visual art pieces available on your Patreon page, which are complementary to anyone who makes a monthly donation. How did you get into drawing and painting? Has it been a passion of yours for as long as music has?

NJ: For those unfamiliar, Patreon is a website where you can support your favorite artists, musicians and creators by making a monthly donation. They recently started offering merchandise services, so I decided to create art prints of the album artwork for my new single, “Jungle Rock,” which is an instrumental song set to the backdrop of rainforest jungle sounds. I made lots of art as a child but fell out of it for a long time. I rekindled my passion for visual art when I took a course called “The Artist’s Way” at the Warwick Public Library. It’s a 12-week program by Julia Cameron, where creative people learn to overcome their blocks by taking a deep dive into what energizes, heals and excites their inner artist. It’s been immensely helpful on my journey as a professional musician as well.

RD: Wicked cool. What are your plans for the next few months?

NJ: I’m going to be releasing new music every month of this year. I have been hard at work crafting a catalog of over 30 songs for the past several years and I’m finally ready to share this music with the public. I won’t give too much away just yet, but I am also working with Georgetown University to publish a first-of-its-kind album in a book. I just received the green light from my publisher, so the book will officially be out this August. I’ll be launching a crowdfunding campaign in March to offer special perks, including the chance to be a part of my beta-reader community.

To learn more about Nate Jones, visit www.natejones.world or like Nate Jones Music on Facebook.

Nate Jones