Braden Jones

Braden Jones is a Tennessee-based musician with a passion for drums and the fire to share his songs with the world. Originating from Memphis, Tennessee, Braden is currently studying Studio Music and Jazz along with Music Composition and Music Business at the University of Tennessee, where he was awarded a wide variety of musical scholarships. Furthermore, he has continued his personal private instruction since he was 17 years old and has acquired students of all backgrounds throughout his teaching career. He has played with a myriad of talented artists and an assortment of genres ranging from jazz, indie and classic rock and roll, contemporary avant-garde music, funk, country, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and electronic music.
Braden has performed in a multitude of venues around Knoxville. These include the Bijou Theater and its Bistro, the Tennessee Theater, Barley’s of Knoxville, the Pilot Light, the Hyatt Hotel, the Radius Rooftop Lounge, the Tennessean Hotel, and other highlight venues of Knoxville. Outside of his locality, he has performed in concert halls and venues in Chattanooga, Johnson City, Bristol, Morristown, Rogersville, Greenback, and other rural areas of East Tennessee. Braden has performed at various elementary, middle, and high schools promotional events for the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, the Knoxville Jazz Workshop, and the University of Tennessee School of Music. Finally, Braden has performed at events for multiple departments of the University of Tennessee.
Most recently, Braden has been hard at work honing his sound as a live performer, manning the rhythm section of his Indie-Rock group Okay Karma, playing Jazz with The Harbingers. Performing in association with the Jazz music program at the University of Tennessee, he has played with artists like Gregory Tardy, Jon Hamar, Jack Roben, Eric Reed, Taber Gable, Sam Adams, Rob Linton, Bernell Jones, and Margherita Fava, where he has performed in with Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and the sponsored concert series, NXT GEN and Jazz on the Square. He has also performed with the classic blues-rock band Vagabond Brew, the indie alternative raging band Wasted Major, and the cumbian fusion group Rica Chicha, which he performed with at the 2023 Big Ears Festival. Additionally, he has performed with the Knoxville salsa dance band Candela, country artist Jason Lee Wilson and James County, and multiple churches in East Tennessee. With these artists, Braden has been broadcasted on WDVX four times with James County, Candela, Rica Chicha, and Ok Karma.
Braden is also a member of the University of Tennessee Jazz Orchestra and University of Tennessee Gamelan Ensemble. Braden has also performed with the University of Tennessee Percussion Ensemble. As a member of these groups and various small jazz ensembles, Braden has performed in 22 school of music concerts for various studios and ensembles, including five graduation ceremonies and two New Sounds Concerts that he composed for. Finally, Braden has performed in 24 School of Music recitals, ranging from junior, senior, graduate, studio, and non recital programs. These concerts include his junior and senior recitals, which featured music he has composed and arranged for various ensembles.
Braden has also been an instructor and intern of the Memphis Jazz Workshop since 2020 and the Knoxville Jazz Workshop since 2021. He was a member since the genesis of both organizations and continues to work with them. Braden has continued his percussion instructions at the School of Rock and Knox Music Studios, where he has taught students in genres outside of jazz. He has coached ensembles at the University of Tennessee and the School of Rock, where he has prepared their repertoire, given musical and performance critique, and enhanced musicianship of adolescent musicians. These instructions have been paramount to Braden’s development as an educator and performer, which he plans to continue in his future endeavors.
His influences shine in his work, including drummers like Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Philly Joe Jones, Taylor Hawkins, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, and many others. He is influenced by bands including the Foo Fighters, the Eagles, James Brown and the JBs, Sly and the Family Stone, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Miles Davis Quintet, the Ahmad Jamal trio, and the Jazz Messengers. For composition, Braden draws upon classical titans like Johann Sebastian Bach, Antono Scarlatti, Johannes Brahms, and many others. He also references Romantic and Impressionistic composers like Robert and Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Sergei Rachmaninoff, William Grant Still, Claude Debussy, and Lily Boulanger. Finally, Braden draws upon Modern twentieth and twenty-first century composers, ranging from Serialism, Minimalism, Futurism, and Electronica. He plans to embark on discovering new compositional, educational, and performance influences and attributes that will serve him throughout his career while tying the past traditions to his current works.