
Charles J. Jones, is a lifelong entrepreneur dealing in such businesses as being a former major Real Estate investor, former owner of a mortgage company, virtual reality tech executive, International country music line dance instructor in Ireland, former major label recording artist (aka J.C. Jones), former federal prison inmate, now certified public speaker, producer, metaphysical author and self-proclaimed “TruthAvenger”. Charles declares, "I realize that all my crazy extreme life experiences, both the good and bad, were all part of my ‘evolution’ into my Higher-Self. I don’t regret any of it, even my prison time. That was the only way the Universe was going to get my attention and give me time to allow my 'false-self' to die. As I state in my book, ‘I think everyone should go to prison for 2 to 3 years to disconnect from society. Anyone who has ever ‘evolved’ Spiritually, mentally or even physically, knows that growth is usually not found in comfort. Some people spend 4 or more years of their life in college only to come out indoctrinated with just a piece of paper, with a lot of bad learning lessons, and hundreds of thousands in student loan debt. I learned more in the 4 years incarcerated about myself, life, inner peace, true happiness, humanity, Universal laws, God and Spirituality, than I did the previous 40 years of life. I'll take that over some "degree" all day long. If people want to judge me for what they think I did or for that experience, I really could care less. It doesn’t define me and will only define them as someone who needs to judge. When you come to a point where you have absolutely no need to impress anybody, your freedom will begin."
Born and raised in Southern California to a Hispanic mother and a Irish/Native American Indian father, Charles has had the fortunate ability to live in other countries and different parts of the U.S. such as Mexico, Miami, Baltimore and 16 years in Nashville. Working from the early age of 14 as a busboy and then waiter at the local Elks Lodge, then at 16 once old enough to drive, he began a Wedding and event DJ business which actually did quite well. As he states, “I had major accounts with local country clubs and restaurants and it helped that at 16 years of age, I also looked and acted like I was 25 with my height, body size and Tom Selleck-ish mustache. I always knew working for someone else was not in my DNA”. At 18, he passed the California Real Estate exam on the first try and began his career in that field. At 20 years old, he left a very lucrative career as a real estate agent and loan officer living in Los Angeles, as well as his established DJ business, to move to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue his lifelong ambition of becoming a Country Music recording artist.
One year after moving to Nashville, he took what he thought was a leave of absence from his executive loan officer position at Franklin American Mortgage (now a Fortune 500 company), to travel to Ireland and teach country music line dancing. “What I thought would be a 4 to 6 week fun expedition, turned out to be a 1 year crazy adventure experience in all of Europe. I kind of became a mini-celebrity there in Ireland for a while as it wasn’t hard to spot the 6’4 tall American with long hair who was on TV co-hosting a line dance competition show, which ironically, became aware that one of the troupe dancers turned out to be the now famous actor Colin Farrell.” After 6 months touring all of Ireland and teaching literally several million people how to Country line dance, and a brief stay in Sweden and Norway, he decided to leave Europe and head back to Nashville to pursue his recording ambitions based on a simple conversation with his father. “When I told my father, who was always one of my biggest inspirations that I was offered a recording contract by a European record label, he told me straight up that he felt that if I could get one in Europe, that I could easily get one in Nashville, which is the home of Country Music. I literally took the next day’s flight back to the U.S. And you know what? He was right, 6 months later I was offered an 8 album record deal with Rising Tide records which was a subsidiary of Universal records.”
After a chance meeting a few months after returning back to the U.S. at a Nashville’s songwriter’s night hosted by Troy McConnell, who wrote “What Color Am I”, Charles and Troy began a close friendship which led to Charles recording a 2 song tape demo which one of them was “What Color Am I” that accidently fell into the hands of a new label record executive who happened to sit at the wrong table by mistake at an industry event. After a cold call from the head of A & R Steve Fishell and a quick meeting where he was asked to sing with his guitar the Celine Dion song “The Power of Love” 3 times in a row, which he had just recorded in a self-produced country version, each time to another label executive who was coming back from lunch. “Yeah it’s a 5 minute song and you have to belt it out, which I can, and after each time they would ask if so-and-so was back from lunch and if I could do it again, so I did. Guess it worked as they offered me a record deal on the spot.”
Charles, who was then known as J.C. Jones, recorded an album for the label called “One Night”. The producers on the album were a “who’s who” of some of the industries biggest producers in all of the entire music industry. One of the producers was Emory Gordy Jr. who produced such acts as George Jones, Alabama, Patty Loveless, Delbert McClinton and even played bass for Elvis Presley. Emory is in the Georgia Hall of Fame. The other producer was Barry Beckett, who also helped define what is now known infamously as the “Muscle Shoals Sound”. Barry has produced and worked with such acts as Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Etta James, Rod Stewart, Hank Willimas Jr., Cher, Dolly Parton and Kenny Chesney. Barry is in the Alabama Hall of Fame. “I was very blessed to have some amazing people and the musicians were all the A-list players who played on everyone’s albums from Garth Brooks, to Alan Jackson, to George Strait at the time. I also had Bill Carter as my manager who managed most of Reba McEntire’s early career and rise to fame. I was set for what I ‘thought’ would be the path to Stardom. I guess life had a different plan”.
After recording the music video to “One Night” which aired on CMT on December of 1997, playing Caesars’ Palace, being on the cover of Music Row magazine, and being mentioned as a “Country Star of Tomorrow” by several major media magazines, his recording career with the label came crashing down in one phone call when in March of 1998, a multi-Billion dollar merger between Universal Music and Polygram resulted in several labels closing their doors. “I was literally on my way driving to meet with my manager to discuss the 2nd single and to discuss the idea of vying for the opening act spot on the Judd’s reunion tour in 1999, when my then girlfriend Penny calls me and tells me she just heard the label shut its doors.Talk about taking the wind out of your sail. I can also admit 2 things. 1.) The business side of the music industry was not fun at all. In fact I hated it. I wanted to be the Julio Iglesias meets country music and the label wanted a bigger version of Tim McGraw. That didn’t fly well with me. I didn’t want to be anyone but myself. So I was labeled ‘difficult’. 2.) I can admit that I also wasn’t ‘evolved” enough to understand that had I been successful anyway, I would have taken it ‘too seriously’ and not enjoyed myself. So why do it then?”
After the music deal ended, the dawn of the internet was growing and was changing the music industry. So Charles decided to take a break and go back into the loan officer business. Within a few months of returning to the business, he quickly found his way and took over operations of a smaller Nashville mortgage company and eventually decided to start his own company 1 year later. That business exploded to the point where he began buying multi-dozens of rental properties, buildings, a bowling alley, a sportsplex and even started a pre-foreclosure company as well as a property management company. “I can admit that I became too big too quick. Marketing was always my strong suit, and I created a marketing avenue with TV commercials and such which just exploded my businesses. People were literally giving me their properties because they were losing them to foreclosure. At the time, I thought I was doing great by helping many people, but as the saying goes ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’. After the tragic and weird train accident death of my father, who I blamed myself for for some time afterwards, I went into a clinical depression, and after about a year, came out of the depression only to find myself in the big financial recession.”
Charles discusses some of what transpired in his decision that ultimately led him to make the choices he did which cost him his freedom 5 years later in November of 2013, in his first book Truth Avenger Vol. I. If some are questioning what the crime was, it was a non-violent white collar crime he was eventually convicted of from the testimony of his ex-wife who also had a strong motive to save herself from her own prosecution. “I discuss everything in the book, but I also try to keep it positive. The only thing that separates good judgment from bad judgment, are the experiences that came from bad decisions. I made decisions ‘thinking’ I was doing the ‘right thing’ at that time and not with any malicious intentions to harm any one. Enlightenment is knowing the mistakes and being ‘conscious’ enough to no longer be ignorant in making them again. I own what I did and I don’t look at myself as any victim at all. I am grateful for every experience and the growth of my Higher-Self from all that. I learned how strong I am mentally, physically, and even Spiritually from it all. Everything from being placed in Max confinement, to months in the SHU (solitary housing unit), experiencing that solely due to the false-testimony of his ex-wife, to the ‘shanking’ attempt on my life from 2 black inmates which I fought off and won, to being tased in the head by one of the guards. As I state in my book in a chapter called Sweet Surrender, ‘You cannot break or destroy someone who ultimately found their strength, from within their own destruction’. I found out what I was really made of and I am very proud of my evolution. I actually asked a friend of mine who, believe it or not, actually has 4 black belts in martial arts, if he had ever been put in a position where everyday was a test of your strength, your sanity, and where at any given day, you might end up either in the hospital or dead. He told me no. I told him that I was for over a year while in Max confinement where at times, I was the only white inmate (even though I am half Latino and part Native American Indian) in the pod with some of the most violent people, and told him I found out something about myself. He asked what. I told him I can be a pretty smart, bad-ass muthafucka when I need to be.”
Charles is grateful for the experience because as he sees it, it was all a Universal blessing as it allowed him to disconnect from society itself, to see the problem that IS society as the psychological prison which keeps most mentally enslaved within the confines of their own walls and illusion that people create and keep up. He also stated that being in that situation allowed him to read, study and digest hundreds of the most powerful Spiritual and metaphysical books ever written. “I couldn’t have done what I did if I had been free, so in hindsight, it helped me set my life (Soul) course on track, whereas I had been all about business, making money, and making things happen before, yet always being unhappy once it did happen because it did not bring me the joy I thought it would. It was the ultimate mindfuck”.
After his official prison release in late 2017, Charles relocated back to his roots in Southern California to be close to his immediate family and has implemented all his experiences, knowledge and enlightenment into practicing what he learned and discovered, and thus, has authored several books of which the 1st book, Truth Avenger Vol.I, was released August of 2020 and Vol.II will soon also be released with future books already in the works. Charles knows that his delivery and authenticity of his raw truth will be extremely controversial and his response to that is ” Real spiritual ‘TruthAvenger’ messengers, cannot sugar coat and pussyfoot around anymore. We need to be bold in our message to the masses, all of them, despite who it ‘offends’ or pisses off. My intention is never to disrespect, to be mean or hurtful, just truthful. Whether I am liked, disliked or whatever, I truly don’t care. I don’t need anyone’s acceptance to know my self-worth.”
Charles looks to tour the country and world, speaking to those who may be interested in what he has to say and promoting Metamundo, the non-profit foundation that was set up to help “Awaken the Masses”. Charles spends much of his time writing, being creative, working out, promoting, enjoying life and his freedom both physically and spiritually, and hopes to start performing music again. “I hope to provide an intimate mini-concert experience for those who want to stay after my speaking engagements and listen to some of my music. I call it ‘metaphysical music’ (lyrics and tunes from a higher dimension).The energy and love of music is something that cannot be repressed; it’s just in your blood and DNA.I have no ‘agenda’ anymore with the music business other than just to enjoy the moment and to make sure that I don’t die with my music still in me.”