Initially, I was going to start this article describing Uncle Uber’s in Deep Ellum and the gloomy evening that shared light rain with me as I strolling up Commerce St. This time I felt it was appropriate to cut to the meat and potatoes but first, I wanted to express how amazingly talented and resourceful this generation of Dallas artists are. Every time I attend an event, there’s always a fresh , brand new face that appears on stage , gripping the mic and waiting for the beat to drop to showcase their passion. Not only that, it seems as if the current DFW underground music scene is very DIY. Everyone puts on their own shows, book their own artist(s), produce their own flyers, etc. In the midst of Dallas’ beautiful underground culture, an artist by the name of Yellow Jones caught my attention. One of the first few times I caught an Yellow Jones performance, it was in Denton at Backyard on Bell. He was wearing an assortment of colors as he was jamming out on his guitar during another performer’s set. Months later, I was fortunate to watch him perform again at the FUBUVibes bash in September. From his tunes to his vibes , I was compelled to get to know the man behind Yellow Jones.

Trevor Nelson aka Yellow Jones, is the son of Terry and Bryan Nelson with two older twin siblings. Originally from Plano, TX, Trevor spent a few years there before moving to Duncanville then moving to Cedar Hill at the tender age of 11. The move was the result of his parents getting divorced. At this time, he was too young to register what was going on but his twin brother and sister were very much aware and didn’t take the move well. They were in middle school and made friends, so naturally they disagreed with the move. At first, Trevor assumed his dad moved out of the house due to a job opportunity. It wasn’t until later when his parents told him the truth about their divorce. With his mom and siblings by his side, they hightailed in to his grandma’s house to live. Trevor describes his move to his grandma’s house as “pretty cool”. By the time they moved in, she was already retired. From the way she described his grandma, she seemed to be a laidback women who always supported Trevor’s creativity and talent. In his words, she sat on her porch and guzzled down beer to the most part. One of his favorite memories is her is when she found Trevor playing Rock Band: The Beatles Edition. She came into the room questioned the activity he was partaking in. When he explained what he’s was playing, she made the comment that she was a fan of the Beatles in her younger days. Unbeknownst to him, she had trouble with Schizophrenia but he never witnessed any episodes. Unfortunately, she passed away while they were living there.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you: The Sunshine Pimp, makeup by @devindavidartistry on Instagram

Trevor was born with natural talent and a keen sense of creativity. At 9 y.o, he inspired to become a director. Considering that he was a huge fan of Star Wars, he acquired what it seemed to be a pamphlet that contained George Lucas’ upbringing as an independent director. That gave him a push into his creative nature. Along with that, he also had the natural ability to sing and always has an ear for music. From one of his earliest memories, he would hum some of his earliest songs while he ate. When he lived in Duncanville with his grandma, his mom would take him to middle school in the mornings and he was constant jamming to the Beatles, singing the lyrics throughout the entire car ride. His mother suggested that he should learn how to play the guitar. This gave Trevor a tremendous push and after acquiring an acoustic guitar, he used Youtube to teach himself how to play guitar at the age of 12. Listening to ska and punk early on also gave him the inspiration to play guitar . One of the first few bands he became a fan of in the 3rd or 4th grade was Red Hot Chili Peppers. He loved John Frusciante and the funky style that the band’s sound portrayed. He became of huge fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn as well. Other bands that he considered his favorites are Nirvana, Weezer, Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys and The Strokes. Overall, Trevor possessed a very curious, adventurous, creative spirit. From dipping his toes into art, to his dad giving him a camcorder to make films, to long boarding, to teaching himself how to play an instrument, Trevor’s spirit has never ceases to keep him active.

Makeup by @devindavidartistry on Instagram

High school rolled around and Trevor found himself in a band called Lunch on the Moon.

Although there was a constant changing of drummers, Lunch of the Moon played a couple of shows. His mother was a local librarian at the time and with her help, he was able to play some show for the local community. It wasn’t long before the band became short lived and the members eventually split up and created their own paths.

During his sophomore year in high school, his sister’s ex husband was always around. He would let Trevor drive his car to get back and forth from school. One day, he decided to turn on the radio (prior to this, he wasn’t into the radio that much). One of the first few songs that got him into rap was the song “We Major” by Kanye West. Around that same time, he would hear his school peers constantly mention the artist Chance the rapper. From there, he began to branch out and became a fan of Childish Gambino and Tyler the Creator. He was also interested in R&b: it was different to him, considering R&B used different chords. The motion of stepping outside of his main genre of music was challenging but it wasn’t enough to turn Trevor away. Due to his musical background, he favored melodic tunes, i.e, artists like Dram. What I found brilliant about him is passion for analyzing song structure, sound selection, rhythm and above all, being self taught. Briefly, I asked him if he ever attended music school and as I assumed, he didn’t. He explained that he wasn’t opposed of it by any means but he felt like it would put a damper on his creativity. Aware that he could definitely grab pieces of knowledge from attending a music school, he expressed that he felt like his freedom to create and discover would hinder him if he attended school. With the ability to teach himself certain things, it gave him that particular freedom to chose his own music path.

“Going to school has so many rules, I didn’t want to learn these rules to figure out how to break them.”

In 2016, he graduated from Cedar Hill High School and had plans on becoming a firefighter. He went through the entire beginning process, from getting accepted to the school, took a tour tour of the fire station, watched the training video, etc. When it was time for registration, he decided to to ditch the firefighter gig and push his music. At 18, he ended up working as a bartender at various restaurants, Toyota Event Center, Girmaldis Pizzeria, etc. At the time, Trevor was living with his mom in an apartment.

Through the powers of social media, Trevor found out about the Dallas ain’t Dead festival. That would be considered the first time he performed as Yellow Jones. Prior to this, he was producing beats and was already familiar with artists like Pat Ron, Sleazy Ease, Luna Luna and Wastey Money. At the Dallas ain’t Dead festival, he met artist Falak Fahim and he introduced Trevor to his collective, 617 Banks. Falak ended up buying Trevor’s first ever beat he produced and in return Trevor was featured on a couple of Falak’s songs. Through the grapevine, he met Dallas female event curator Tune and performed at a handful of her events.

At the second or third TUNE’s world Trevor attended, he wasn’t suppose to perform but he brought his guitar because members from the group chat that he put together decided to show up to Tune’s World and have a jam session. Prior to this, he made a mutual connection with Kaash Page via Twitter. Kaash was suppose to perform with a live band but one of her guitarist flaked out on her so she asked Trevor to fill in. On the way to the show he learned all of the songs she was going to perform and when he finally arrived, he and Paige met behind the venue to practice her songs. From there on, they developed and closer relationship. The duo ended up going the Days of Summer Cruise hosted by DJ Khaled featuring artist such as Cardi B, Post Malone and Jay Rock, just to name a few. Unfortunately, Trevor wasn’t able to perform with Kaash Paige due to the miscommunication with the staff about renting equipment for him so Paige ended up performing solo.

As he started his journey into Dallas underground scene, doors and opportunities started were opening up left and right. From his performances at Tune’s world, word of mouth spread like wildfire and it ultimately linked him up with promoters and event curators all over DFW. All in all, it’s been a busy couple of years for Trevor. He was performed Good Game Talent events, Vibes and Fubupalooza. He would then go on to perform with the 617 collective and Dali Voodoo and even produced a song for Pat Ron.

The Story behind the name “Yellow Jones”

Back in high school. Trevor fell in love with a cheerleader. At the time, they assumed a match made in heaven: two young high school sweethearts enjoying their adolescent puppy love phase. It wasn’t long until they broke up. After breaking up, this left Trevor with a bundle of sadness and a sense of a “shifted reality”. According to him, “Love is the most human experience”. It was from that moment on that he realized that his former relationship wasn’t true love. Simultaneously, the color yellow stood out to Trevor. He felt a sense of happiness every time the color came into sight. The feeling that he acquired from the color yellow inspired him to use it as his stage name. Not only did he market this color for his music persona, he also refers to the color as a tool to use to metaphorically shed light on tough subjects. “As a straight white male, I can live my life to the fullest and I recognize that other may not. I feel as if it’s my responsibility to shed light on truth and injustice”, he says. “ Shining light on stuff like that will hopefully incite more conversations about that.” What I admire the most about Trevor isn’t his natural talent in music or his brilliance or his love for music in general, it’s his sense of humanitarianism that was expressed in our conversation. Trevor is a young man with a wonderful spirit and possesses beautiful soul. It was easy for me to spot that from a mile away.

The Sunshine Pimp in a random bathtub, makeup by @devindavidartistry on Instagram

Late 2019, Yellow Jones released his album, Sunshine Pimp via Apple and Spotify. Coming in smooth with 12 songs and roughly 33 minutes, the album holds some heavy weight. It’s refreshing to know that he mainly produced the entire album from the instruments to the beats. I personally feel that this album alone is essential to the Dallas underground scene because it showcases the raw talent and creativity that only a Dallas born, Dallas raised can possess. In its entirety, Sunshine Pimp contains a wonderful blend of Contemporary R&B, indie pop, hip hop with a pleasing guitar solo or two nestled in there. Confidently vulnerable, Sunshine Pimp is a real treat, it’s enough for me to guarantee that listeners will give this two thumbs up.

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