Sharon Jones says the best part of having even modest success during her four-album run with the New York troupe the Dap-Kings has been moving back down south — and taking her family with her.

The 55-year-old R&B singer, in fact, now lives “in the same neighborhood I grew up in as a little girl” in South Carolina, “just across the bridge from Augusta, Ga.” She’s taken her mother and sister out of public housing in Queens, N.Y., and has set up an ideal existence — except that she hasn’t had much time to enjoy the digs herself.

“I’ve only had a chance to be there about two weeks and then had to go out (on tour),” notes Jones, who continues to promote the Dap-Kings’ 13-month-old fourth album, “I Learned the Hard Way.”

“We’ve been touring since the album’s been out and haven’t stopped — well, maybe just for a couple of weeks here and there.

“It’s been a lot of work, but that’s OK. It means a lot of people want to see us, y’know?”

And, Jones adds, not being at home does have some advantages.

“It can be a bit much being around the family,” acknowledges Jones, who expects to record the next Dap-Kings album this fall. “My family is really strong. There’s a lot of really strong personalities, so when things come at you from some people you don’t know how to react. So if I’m around too much, I don’t know how to react, so it’s good to get away and regroup sometimes.

“I’m glad I can keep helping people out, but sometimes you have to be tough with them and stay away. If I don’t, every five minutes everybody would be asking me for everything, so I have to tell them to back off me for a little while and go and live their lives like they have been, and I’ll see them when I can.”



Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears perform Saturday at the Crofoot Ballroom, 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. Call 248-858-9333 or visit www.thecrofoot.com.