Caroline Jones has been writing and performing country music since visiting Nashville for the first time as a teenager — but Jones’ career reached new heights when she joined Zac Brown Band in 2022.
As the only female member of the Grammy-winning country music band, Jones, 33, told Us Weekly exclusively that she takes her role very seriously.
“[Joining the band felt] really natural because we’re all just human beings more than anything,” she said. “It’s something that I take very seriously and feel really honored about, especially for the little girls in the audience. I know what it would’ve meant to me, what it did mean to me as a little girl, to see a woman musician up on stage. It brings tears to my eyes to maybe be an inspiration to those girls.”
Jones is no stranger to major music tours, having opened for Zac Brown Band in the past, as well as legends like Jimmy Buffet. In an ever-changing genre, Jones draws her inspiration from country mainstays like Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, and she looks to musicians like Carrie Underwood and Jewel for advice on balancing music and motherhood.
“Carrie sticks out because I opened for her last year and we had a great talk about how to sing and tour and maintain your vocal fitness while pregnant,” she told Us. “At the time, I was in my second trimester, and I was really nervous. I tore it up until I was nine and a half months pregnant. So just picking her brain about it and getting her declaration of faith that I could do it was really cool. She’s such a vocal powerhouse, so I took her advice.”
Keep scrolling for Jones’ full Q&A with Us, and learn more about her journey as a solo artist and a member of Zac Brown Band:
Us: You’ve got a lot going on right now. Obviously you’re on tour with Zac Brown Band and Kenny Chesney, but I want to start from the beginning. You are the only female in the all-male group, so talk to me about how that started.
Caroline Jones: I actually started out opening for the Zac Brown Band in 2017. I was supposed to open two shows for them on their tour that summer, and I ended up opening that whole tour and then on-and-off for three years. I really owe Zac [Brown] a lot in terms of getting me on the map as a touring act.
Then the pandemic hit, and I was working on my second record, Antipodes, and I got a call that they were beginning touring again post-pandemic. Zac invited me out on the road with them, and I was totally shocked because I just couldn’t believe that he actually wanted me to come play as part of the band. I was very honored and they just kept inviting me back.
Because I’m obviously an artist as well, we just decided to make it official in 2022 so that I could make the band a top priority and fit my own tours and album cycles around it. And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.
Us: How is it entering an established group like that?
CJ: I would say it’s a very fine balance and something that I have taken very seriously. You’re walking into decades-long brotherhood. They have an established dynamic, they’re a family. So even when I was an opening act, I used to be so intimidated by them, and I was just so overly respectful. I would say I’ve tried to continue with that attitude, and I honestly think that’s part of why I fit into the band so well. I think they can all trust me.
I’ve just tried to put my head down and contribute something to the group and to the band musically, and also hopefully as a person, because they’re all really great, special people. They all are so unique and offer something dynamically to the band. Over time, I hope to prove that of myself as well. I think it takes a lot of tact and respect. There’s this phrase, “hardwood grows slowly.” So just having faith that over time, hopefully whatever contributions and talents you can offer will show themselves.
Us: Were there any nerves?
CJ: Yeah, definitely. I was so intimidated and nervous. But one thing that they’ve really taught me is how to be less of a perfectionist, trust your musicianship more and be less timid on stage. It’s trial by fire. We didn’t really do rehearsals and no one told me what to play in most situations for their new record. I had designated parts, but for the old stuff, I just had to figure out how to fit in. So a lot of the times I played the songs with them the first time I ever played them with the band was on stage in front of 25,000 people.
It was extremely intimidating, but I was really excited and honored. I did my best to be prepared as much as I could. I really am grateful to Zac and the band for that freedom and that trust.
Us: Being the only female member after so long, what is that like to sort of be a part of that movement with the band? I think it’s such a big symbol to have that representation.
CJ: Honestly, it feels really natural because we’re all just human beings more than anything. For me, it’s something that I take very seriously and feel really honored about, especially for the little girls in the audience. I know what it would’ve meant to me, what it did mean to me as a little girl, to see a woman musician up on stage. It brings tears to my eyes to maybe be an inspiration to those girls.
I’m also standing on the shoulders of so many women who came before me who paved that way, but also women who would’ve loved to have been musicians but weren’t able to. So I feel really lucky to live in this time, to be playing music and to be a part of a band of this caliber.
Us: Do you have any female inspirations in the business that you’ve been able to look up to and even meet?
CJ: Obviously everyone’s heroes are Loretta [Lynn] and Dolly [Parton], Emmy Lou [Harris], etc. But in terms of women musicians, I love that Mother Maybelle Carter was basically the founder of country music, and she was the OG female guitar player. She actually invented a lot of the finger picking and cross picking techniques that have become a staple in bluegrass and country.
More recently, there are incredible female musicians that blow my mind, from Sierra Dawn Hall to Molly Tuttle to Annie Clements, who plays in Maren Morris‘s band, to Rachel Loy, who played in my band for a while. She has three kids and is a touring bass player, so I really picked her brain before I had a kid.
Jewel is one of my biggest heroes of all time, ever since I was 16 years old. She’s become a friend and also a real mentor to me in terms of being a mother in this job. There have been some women who have become amazing resources for me, and I think part of the reason that they are such great mentors is because they’re giving the help that they wish they would’ve had. It’s so wonderful to pass that on.
Us: I know you were born in New York. Were you always drawn to country music?
CJ: No, I didn’t grow up listening to country music. I grew up listening to almost every other genre. I grew up with soul, classic rock and the big vocal powerhouses of the ‘90s, like Mariah [Carey], Whitney [Houston] and Celine [Dion]. But when I was 17, I went to Nashville for the first time. I went to a show at the Bluebird Cafe, and I was absolutely transfixed and transformed.
I fell in love with country music. I feel like I found the missing piece of my artistry when I discovered it. I have had a real draw to Nashville ever since then.
Us: I know Jimmy Buffett is one of your biggest mentors. Talk to me about your relationship with him.
CJ: I really owe the career that I have to Jimmy and Zac. They were the superstars to really take me under their wing and mentor me, opening the door for me to get on big tours. I started opening for Jimmy the year after Zac in 2018, and Jimmy was notorious for not having opening acts. The fact that he asked me to open his tour was in itself a real honor. And then he made a big deal of bringing me out on stage every night, and he signed me to my first distribution deal on his record label and helped me put out my first record, Bare Feet.
He wrote a song for me called “Gulf Coast Girl” that he featured on with Kenny Chesney, Lucas Nelson and Mac McNally. In more ways than one, he was a champion for me and was very passionate about being part of my ascent and my career. I’m just forever grateful just to have been in his orbit. He was such a dynamic, unique character. There will never ever be anyone like him. He was, in the best way, just a kid at heart, but also a brilliant business person and a real emotionally intelligent poet. It’s very rare to have all those qualities in one person. He was very special.
Us: You’ve opened for a lot of other greats as well. Kenny, of course, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Jake Owen. The list is long. Are there any moments that stand out the most for you, or even some things maybe people might not know about them?
CJ: There’s a lot that you learn by osmosis, from being around people and superstars of that caliber. Carrie sticks out because I opened for her last year and we had a great talk about how to sing and tour and maintain your vocal fitness while pregnant. At the time, I was in my second trimester, and I was really nervous. I tore it up until I was nine and a half months pregnant. So just picking her brain about it and getting her declaration of faith that I could do it was really cool. She’s such a vocal powerhouse, so I took her advice.
Kenny is just a really sweetheart. He really walks the walk of what he stands for, and he cares so much about his audience. He’s very similar to Jimmy Buffett in that way. He just has such an understanding of who his audience is and how to connect with them. It’s really inspiring. He’s just a salt of the earth person. He’s more shy than people would think, but he’s also been a great mentor for me. To be back on tour with him now after four years is pretty cool.
Faith and Tim are a powerhouse country couple. I think that it’s a real testament to their characters to have a long marriage being two superstars in an industry. That is very rare and not without its challenges. I really respect how they’ve been able to be so private. You can tell they’re very family-oriented.
Us: You’re so busy. How important is it to sort of set yourself apart from the band as an artist as well?
CJ: I don’t really think of it strategically like that. It’s just who I am. My artistry is a part of myself. I was an artist way before I was in the background band, so I don’t think of it strategically from a branding perspective as much as I just think of it from a logistics perspective — how the heck do I do both and also have a baby now?
As long as I can keep the schedules straight, everything else is really natural because being an artist, driving my own ship creatively from A to Z, from writing the lyrics to a song, to choosing the album cover, that is so joyful to me. I love every aspect of the creation and presentation of music. So that is an essential part of who I am, and I will never lose that.
I’ve been doing that way longer than I’ve been in a band. But it has been a lovely surprise how much I enjoy being in a band and being in the background. It’s a totally different side of your brain. It’s much more of a team player kind of challenge, whereas being an artist is really mining the inspiration in your own heart and soul, and then bringing that to fruition out in the world. They’re just completely different things, and I really deeply enjoy both. I think they create a symbiosis that hopefully adds to each other.
Us: You’ve obviously dabbled in other genres as well. What’s your favorite thing about country music songs, fans, or just the vibe?
CJ: That’s a great question because country has changed so much now. The definition is so dependent on who you’re talking to and what generation you’re talking to. My favorite thing about “classic country music” is that it centers around musicianship and the craftsmanship of songwriting. Nashville is still a songwriters and musicians town. Those elements of this craft are what I want to be known for and what are most important to me, which is why I’ve always come back to Nashville.
But country music is a blue collar music of the people traditionally, and it’s about honesty and real life. I’m much more of a poetic lyricist just naturally the way that I write. And there’s plenty of that in country music too, but some people might think that that is a little bit stylistically different.
Us: Such a big part of your life is being a mom. You are a new mom, a five month old son. Tell us all about motherhood on the road.
CJ: It is a lot, but it’s a lot for every mom. I have yet to speak to a mom who’s like, ‘Oh yeah, this was a breeze.’ It’s a lot no matter who you are, and no matter what circumstance your life is in, and I am actually very blessed because I have a career where in some ways I can make or at least tweak my own schedule. And the guys in the band are all family men. They all have kids and they have families. So there’s an understanding there and an acceptance.
I feel like I’m in a very blessed position. I also have a husband who’s a real partner to me in terms of childcare, which I know not everyone has, and I feel that he should be recognized for that. A lot of people have to help for me to be able to do what I’m doing. I feel very lucky to be living in this time, and he’s just the sweetest little boy.
All the clichés are true. People say, ‘Oh, it’s a wild ride,’ or ‘It’s a love you’ve never felt before.’ And then you have one, and you’re like, ‘Well, what can you say?’ How do you put it into words? It’s impossible. It’s like saying what’s good about being alive. It’s just this very elemental thing. It’s beautiful and it’s impossible and it’s perfect.
Us: Any milestones?
CJ: Every day. I mean all the time. I will say he’s been a real trouper. We’ve had to travel quite a bit with him this month. He’s a good traveler, which we already knew. He traveled so much in my belly. He’s my first kid, so I have nothing to compare him to, but he’s very vocal. And I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve sung to him, but he’s in this phase now where he makes a hell of a lot of sounds. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is karma.’ I think he’s going to be a very active little boy. He’s starting to move and wanting to crawl and all those things.
Us: I know that you’re taking him on the road. So how is the prep for that?
CJ: We’re in a really blessed position right now. It’s not like we’re on the road four days a week. That would be so tough. I know some people have done that. Carrie being one of them with a three month old, which she said was the hardest thing she’s ever done.
But how do you prep for that? You get really, really good at packing. I’ve had to get really organized there, and he’s not eating yet, so that helps because I am his food. We try to adhere to his schedule as much as we can and prioritize his sleep as much as we can. It’s a wild ride. I’m still very new at it, and sometimes it’s so tiring. Every woman deals with this stuff, I happen to have a really cool job with it.
Us: Mom guilt is real for a lot of moms. Is that a real thing for you as well?
CJ: I think it will be when I leave him for the first time. I haven’t really been away from him yet, so that’s something that I’m trying to figure out now for some of the runs that we have this year. Obviously there’s no perfect answer to it, but one of my friends really helped me when she said, ‘All you can do is know that you’ve made the decision that you think is best for your child.’
I don’t want to be the only person that my child feels comfortable around. I want him to have a community of people that he feels love him and that he loves. Obviously, at this age he needs his mom, but there are also those skills that I want to build in him over time. So I think that alleviates the guilt too.
Us: You’ve probably sung so many songs to him, but is there a favorite of yours that you sing to him?
CJ: I just make up songs all the time with my husband. I have a lullaby that I always sing to him every night, and that’s pretty sweet. But I actually sing him a lot of old American songbook classics like “Moon River,” which is funny because I grew up singing that with my singing teacher. I think I have a real nostalgic connection to those songs. We listen to Frank Sinatra every bath time. I sing him a lot of those old-timey songs like Ella Fitzgerald and Dean Martin.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
