As the 68th Annual Grammy Awards approaches, we note a significant chapter in MonoNeon’s career: his Grammy nominated bass contribution to fellow Memphis artist Eric Gales’s album A Tribute to LJK. Gales’ latest record [nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album], a deeply personal homage to his late brother Manuel “Little Jimmy King” Gales, earned wide acclaim.  

While publicly documented Grammy nominations and winning for MonoNeon focus on prior projects (e.g., his Grammy winning bass work and additional production credit on the song “All Bad” on King’s Disease with Nas and Anderson .Paak, on Djesse Vol. 3 with Jacob Collier [In My Bones], guitar, bass, and co-writing credit work on Cory Henry’s “Operation Funk”) — the 68th GRAMMYs offer a new platform for the bassist’s involvement on “A Tribute to LJK” to attract attention in its own right.

MonoNeon’s presence on Eric Gales’ A Tribute to LJK represents a meaningful union of roots and innovation. At the 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards, as nominations are celebrated and winners will be announced, MonoNeon stands as an exemplar: a bassist and artist whose distinctive voice is in demand, and whose contributions continue to resonate in various places: from playing music with his grandma in the living room, avant-music circles and mainstream recognition.

For MonoNeon, whose playing style is often described as “micro-tonal, avant-garde, funky and childlike”, recording on the album “A Tribute to LJK” by Eric Gales doesn’t just expand his résumé — it reinforces MonoNeon’s versatility and grounding in roots music while still pushing boundaries and doing what he calls, “whateva the fyuck”!