Jerry's Archive: Radio Interviews

Jerry Lawson was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but raised in the tiny country town of Apopka, FL, about 12 miles north of Orlando. This was when there were still a million orange groves there, untouched by Disney. Jerry’s uncle, Booker T. Washington, owned a juke joint in Apopka named The Two Spot, and he and his mom lived in the apartment upstairs during his early years. His Mom, Miss Estee, fried the catfish, and Jerry kept the joint clean.

At the age 71, Jerry released his first solo album on a major label that is already critically acclaimed and features the backing of Nashville’s finest recording artists including Jim Lauderdale, the McCrary Sisters, Eric Brace and many more. Tune In

With his new album Just A Mortal Man out this week, his solo debut, and even after half a century in the music business, Jerry says it’s a thrill to see his own name alone on the marquee. A lot of people may be wondering what took him so long. Listen Here

Host John Semper Jr. of Experience Talks speaks with Jerry: John is an Emmy-nominated writer, story-editor, and producer with thirty years of experience in the entertainment industry, focusing primarily on animation and children’s television. His many credits include producer/story editor/writer of the Fox animated TV series, “Spider-Man,” and the PBS animated pre-school series, “Jay Jay the Jet Plane;” writer of the English language scripts for the Hayao Miyazaki feature films, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Laputa: Castle in the Sky;” and writer of the Warner Bros. live-action feature film, “Class Act.”

NPR’s Tom Ashbrook enthusiastically interviews Jerry about their tribute CD to The Beatles, The Persuasions Sing The Beatles. The Persuasions perform live in studio and discuss the art of making a cappella music. View the original post on WBUR This program aired on July 4, 2003

Jesse interviews Jerry about his tribute CD to The Grateful Dead titled: Might As Well: The Persuasions Sing The Grateful Dead (Out of Print) What led The Persuasions to the Dead? According to Lawson it was a dream conjured up by a special request. They’ve done Dylan, Zappa Kurt Weill, Sam Cooke to name a few. Now Jerry adds The Grateful Dead to the Persuasions seemingly unlimited repertoire proving once again that great songs done by a genius arranger and producer transcend categories and labels. Listen Here

Jesse interviews Jerry about his tribute CD to Frank Zappa titled Frankly A Cappella The Persuasions Sing Zappa– Listen Here