Fae Barnes, b. 1900 in Hillsboro, TX. Jones worked in black revue from around 1922, first in New York and later in the Dallas/Fort Worth area until her retirement from showbusiness in about 1934. Her history thereafter is unknown. Her Columbia recordings, made between 1924 and 1926, besides including some of the most sensitive recorded playing by Louis Armstrong and Charlie Green, are the work of one of the finest of the female vaudeville blues singers, demonstrating her resonant voice and outstanding technique, powered by a remarkable ability to sustain a note. Never as highly rated as Bessie Smith or Clara Smith, she easily bears comparison with either.
She was born Fae Barnes in Hillsboro, Texas. Her year of birth is most regularly cited as 1900, although this has not been proven. She relocated to New York in 1922, where she performed in local nightclubs. She appeared at the Princess Theater in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1922, and toured the TOBA theater circuit until ca. 1926.
Her debut recording session was on July 26, 1923, for Black Swan Records, where she became the first singer from Texas to record a side. Her recording career saw Jones appear on several record labels including Black Swan, Victor, Pathé and Paramount, although the bulk of her work was released by Columbia. On Black Swan and Paramount she was billed as Fae (or Faye) Barnes; on Pathé and Columbia she recorded as Maggie Jones. It is unknown whether marriage played any part in her name change.
Over a three-year period, her accompaniment was variously supplied by notables such as Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Green, and Elmer Snowden. Jones is especially noted for her six sides on which she was backed by Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong; author Derrick Stewart-Baxter singled out "Good Time Flat Blues" as "her masterpiece". With Fletcher Henderson and Charlie Green she recorded "North Bound Blues", which contained trenchant references to the South's Jim Crow laws that are unusual for a classic female blues singer. In 1925, Jones recorded four songs written by Tom Delaney, including the track "If I Lose, Let Me Lose (Mamma Don't Mind)". By October 3, 1926, Jones had cut her final disc. In 1927, she performed with the Clarence Muse Vaudeville Company and sang in Hall Johnson's choir, at the Roxy Theater in New York City.
In 1928–1929, Jones appeared with Bill Robinson in the Broadway production of Lew Leslie's revue, Blackbirds of 1928, which toured the US and Canada. She often worked outside the music industry, including co-owning a clothes store in New York. By the early 1930s Jones moved on to Dallas, Texas, and ran her own revue troupe which performed in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1934, she appeared in the All American Cabaret in Fort Worth. She subsequently disappeared from the public eye.