Blues band Apostle Jones has built a reputation for high-energy performances across Northeast Ohio. But translating that live electricity into a studio recording proved to be something else entirely.
Now seven years in, the Cleveland-based collective recently released its debut album, 鈥淪econd Chances Don鈥檛 Come Easy.鈥�
Bandleader Mikey Silas has remained the constant as the group itself has shifted form over the years as a rotating, collaborative ensemble.
鈥淚f you're stumbling onto it for the first time, as I always say, 鈥榃e're like the Cleveland weather. Just wait 10 minutes. It will change,鈥欌�� he said.
Silas grew up in Cleveland Heights, teaching himself piano and guitar before spending about 15 years in Chicago working in theater.
But over time, he said he felt like something was missing personally and creatively. He felt unfulfilled and unsupported during this chapter of life.
After returning to Cleveland in 2016 for a reset, he found himself at the Grog Shop during an open mic event where another attendee asked what he planned to work on next.
He didn鈥檛 have an answer initially. After giving it some thought, he started to envision leading a blues band that would honor the genre while bringing a fresh, more expansive perspective to it.
鈥淲hat if the blues project was about going through hard times? Taking teachings and putting them into ways that can be shared and exchanged with other people,鈥� he said.
That idea became the foundation for , a band and expressive framework for transformation.
Even the name reflects that philosophy: With so many members weaving in and out of the lineup, Silas joked the band is loosely inspired by the 12 apostles of the Bible.
鈥淛ones 鈥� it just felt like a bluesy name,鈥� Silas said. 鈥淲e're all jonesing for something.鈥�
A collective built on saying 鈥榶es鈥�
From the beginning, the group was designed to be fluid. The lineup shifts depend on availability, relationships and instinct. It鈥檚 a structure Silas embraces rather than resists.
鈥淥prah Winfrey, she has this philosophy: 鈥楽ay yes to life,鈥欌�� Silas said. 鈥淚f someone can't go, just say 鈥榶es.鈥� It'll be OK. We'll figure it out.鈥�
That openness has shaped both the band鈥檚 membership and its sound, which is built through collaboration.
鈥淵ou could put us in front of any type of crowd, any grandma or grandchild, and we can make you feel something."Mikey Silas
Key creative partnerships include guitarist Michael Haburay and vocalist Bria Miller.
鈥淸Miller] is so jaw-dropping talented,鈥� Silas said. 鈥淗er ability to take a song and completely squeeze every bit of moisture 鈥� so that everyone can drink from that same cup is such an amazing talent.鈥�
But capturing the chemistry between its fluid collaborators in a recording environment proved difficult.
The band, which his now a nine-piece collective, spent years refining a live experience built on spontaneity and shared energy. The studio demanded something different.
鈥淚t was hard for us to really change our identity from capturing something live that is filled with the energy of the room and move into a studio where you鈥檙e putting it on wax,鈥� Silas said.
Eventually, they found a way forward, recording much of the album together over two days in a church basement in Cleveland鈥檚 AsiaTown neighborhood.
The result, Silas said, is only a glimpse of what the band can do.
鈥淚 think the album is just a teaser, a small taste of what we really get into as a band,鈥� he said.
A question of timing and meaning
By the time the album was finished, a new question began to take shape that had less to do with process and more to do with purpose.
鈥淲e get how insanely frustrating, demoralizing and upsetting the world is right now,鈥� Silas said. 鈥淭hen I look at this album, I'm like, 鈥楧oes the world need this record right now?鈥欌��
It鈥檚 a tension that runs beneath the surface of 鈥淪econd Chances Don鈥檛 Come Easy.鈥�
But in searching for an answer, Silas began to hear something within the songs themselves - a thread that hadn鈥檛 been obvious at first.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃hat's the common theme?鈥� And I thought this idea [that] taking back your power is a second chance,鈥� he said. 鈥淔orgiving somebody, starting over, is a second chance.鈥�
Across the album, the stories vary from personal burnout to identity to intimacy. But they circle a shared idea of transformation.
Even joy, Silas said, can be a kind of renewal.
鈥淛ust the sheer audacity it takes to try to be a happy or hopeful person, that in itself feels like a second chance,鈥� he said.
That broader perspective also shaped the band鈥檚 decision to include a cover of 鈥淏all of Confusion,鈥� the 1970 protest song by The Temptations.
For Silas, it鈥檚 a classic track that connects past and present, with lyrics like, 鈥渆volution, revolution, gun control, the sound of soul, shooting rockets to the moon, kids growin' up too soon.鈥�
鈥淚 felt like it resonated with the universe to bring back a song from that era when we're facing issues, socially, that are also issues that were happening back then too,鈥� he said.
The album doesn鈥檛 attempt to resolve those tensions, Silas said. Instead, it offers listeners a space to reflect, process and feel.
That impulse for Silas extends beyond the music.
He is also a central figure in Cleveland鈥檚 creative community, hosting weekly open mic nights at CODA and helping create space for new artists to step forward.
鈥淭his community, this world, is really my family,鈥� Silas said.
It鈥檚 also rooted in his own experiences when he needs that same kind of support. The local creative community has inspired him to keep going.
He said the investment is reciprocal.
鈥淚 decided to pour into community, and that has only ever poured back into me,鈥� he said.
A band still in motion
Apostle Jones鈥� debut album is a time capsule of the last seven years and a reminder that growth, however uncertain, is always in motion.
The fluid, collaborative nature of the group means performances differ each time, often shaped by audience engagement.
For Silas, his band has always been a spiritually elevated blues project inspired by his beliefs and aspirations to share lessons and a higher meaning.
鈥淵ou could put us in front of any type of crowd, any grandma or grandchild, and we can make you feel something,鈥� Silas said.
