Sharon Jones is a true soul-survivor. At 59, the lead singer of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings recently bested a bout with pancreatic cancer and is returning to the stage more energized than ever, hitting the road this June with the Tedeschi Trucks Band on their Wheels of Summer Tour, which stops in Santa Barbara on June 7. With 20 years of recording to her name, the Georgia-born soul revivalist has been turning heads and wowing crowds with an unstoppable vitality. Her band’s most recent album, Give the People What They Want, earned a Grammy nomination. I spoke with Sharon about staying positive, beating cancer, and going fishing.
How are you today?
I’m alright, actually. I just got a big catfish--I’m fishing. I’d say he’s about eight pounds or so. I’m at a lake in Clarks Hill, South Carolina, right across the bridge from Augusta. This lake goes into the Savannah River, and that’s what separates Georgia from South Carolina.