MusicaNeo
The Music of J. S. Graves

Biography

J. S. Graves

My full name is John Samuel Graves, III, and I was born in Savannah, Georgia, USA. I spent my early childhood in the coastal areas of the South Carolina Lowcountry near Hilton Head Island. I listened there to the compositions of my father's cousin, Luke Peeples, a classically trained pianist and collector/arranger of South Carolina Lowcountry folk songs and Negro Spirituals. (I have edited the complete works of Luke Peeples. More can be learned about him and his music on my website astarfell.com.) I became hooked for life on song and the human voice. My mother, Florence Rubert Graves Rossi (F. R. Rossi), was a poet and it was from her that I gained my love of language. I have used many of her poems as lyrics for my songs. I like to think that my songs exhibit a good marriage of language and musical treatment. I hold degrees in both English and Music Theory and Composition. I studied composition with Dr. Robert Boury, resident composer and professor of music at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I live in Little Rock, Arkansas, with my artist, writer, musician wife, R. S. Perry. (Her works can be viewed on her website, cronesinger.com) I used one of her poems for lyrics to my song Cry, Sad Bird. We collaborated on the words to my song Chocolates From Vienna. We live in an old English style cottage built in 1925 with our dogs, Bella, Sandy, and Foxy, surrounded by the souls of previous pets and friends who have now passed. A group photo of the 3 dogs appears in my Gallery.