Caroline Jones on What She’s Learned From Mentors Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown

Singer-songwriter Caroline Jones is making a name for herself with her joyful brand of country-pop, and she's even attracted the attention of some of the biggest stars in country music.

At the Trying to Reason hurricane relief benefit concert in November 2017, Jones performed with Jimmy Buffett, with the duo later releasing the live version of Buffett's "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On" to benefit Singing for Change. Buffett was so impressed with Jones that his record label, Mailboat Records, partnered with her to release her 2018 album, Bare Feet. He also invited her to join him on tour that year, where Jones joined Buffett to duet with the star during his set.

Speaking to PopCulture.com, Jones shared that Buffett has become "a great friend and mentor to me."

"Jimmy is a really special, very unique spirit," she said. "He's so playful, so creative. He inspires so many people with his message and his lifestyle brand. I'm just really blessed to be able to look up to someone like him and then have him take me under his wing."

"Jimmy just has this very unique message that people are inspired by and people are uplifted by," Jones added. "And it gives people a break from some of the mundane of their lives. It allows them to imagine and create in this tropical world that he's created."

Jones has also toured with Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown and shared that each musician brings something different to their craft that she's eager to learn.

"Zac is very much almost like a jam band. I mean, they're very musically centered," she said. "Kenny is like the consummate entertainer and he just has this positive, high energy show with his fans. He's running around, dancing around the entire time and so is everyone else in the arena."

"I learn something from all of them and it's definitely made me a better performer, better artist, better songwriter, everything."

While Jones is a big fan of traditional country and the musical elements the genre is known for, she also enjoys incorporating more modern sounds, like synthesizers and bass, into her unique blend of music.

"I do have the heart of like a singer, songwriter," she reflected. "My lyrics tend to be poetic and it's very much rooted in the songwriting tradition of country and singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, all that stuff. But I love modern production. I love electronic elements. I love modern pop production. It inspires me, it gives me energy."

"I think just like an artist has a unique voice or a songwriter has a unique lyric or melody style, I look at production the same way," she added. "It's just so refreshing when you hear a production that just sounds so different and so beautiful and has such a sonic perspective. I really strive to do that in my music."

Learn more about Jones and hear her perform her song "Chasin' You" in the video above.

Photo Credit: Tyler Lord