Lockeland‘s Michael Boris has announced his engagement to AC Jones. All details on their love story below.
Michael Boris, member of the rapidly-rising country trio Lockeland, was “all business” at last year’s Country Radio Seminar (CRS2020) in February. Michael’s band had just returned from their first international tour across the United Kingdom, where they opened for acts such as Cam, Kip Moore, Josh Turner, LANCO, Morgan Evans and Logan Mize after their debut single, “Til the Cows Come Home,” landed on Music Row’s Top-40 Breakout chart.
Also in attendance at the conference was country newcomer, AC Jones, whose first two singles, “Buses and Trains” and “Mr. Moon” had also broken into the Top-40 Breakout (the latter which earned a position on Billboard’s Indicator). Romance was the last thing on either Michael or AC’s mind at the Grass Roots Promotions Starlight Dinner where the two sat one chair apart from each other.
The two had run into one another sporadically over the last couple of years at various events and industry gatherings, but on this day, they were laser-focused on their music–they chatted briefly about their ongoing projects and agreed to follow each other on Facebook.
Shortly following CRS, the virus hit and everything went into lockdown. AC’s latest single, “Castle,” however, had managed to climb its way to #34 on Music Row’s Top-40 Breakout chart and became her second single to gain an entry Billboard’s Indicator. It should have been an exciting time for AC, but the supporting tour had been cancelled and she found herself grounded in her hometown of Youngstown, Ohio.
500 miles away in Nashville, Lockeland’s latest single, “Made for Mornings” had climbed to #33 on the Music Row Breakout chart, but their international tour was also put on hold. This afforded Michael the time to strengthen a few industry connections, so he shot a friendly DM message to AC, upon seeing her comment on a recent post of his. The conversation, which both attest would likely not have happened under any other circumstance, quickly turned into a brief exchange that more than piqued the other’s interest.
“Something in my gut told me to reach out to AC. The more we communicated via Facebook Messenger, the more of a connection I felt with her” explains Michael. “I offered to buy her a cup of coffee the next time she was in town, and so I messaged her my number.”
“I gave him my phone number–I NEVER give out my phone number!,” laughs AC, “but I did it without hesitation. I’m a nervous person on the phone, and I tend to pace, but talking to Michael brought me so much peace and comfort that I found those little anxieties melting away, and a few minutes into the conversation, I realized that I wasn’t pacing at all.”
Right from the start, the two began communicating on a daily basis. As the conversations continued over the next couple of days via text, phone, and Zoom, Michael and AC began to explore topics beyond music and realized how much they had in common. They both had strong convictions in their Christian faith, and they shared many of the same beliefs and ideals. Not to mention discovering their mutual quirkiness, as well as their love for puns. A revelation was occurring in each of them, and day by day, they began to awaken to the miracle that was about to happen.
Exactly one week later, a late night phone call on the eve of Thanksgiving changed everything. Michael and AC both addressed the “elephant in the room,” as Michael humorously phrased it. They put their hearts and feelings for each other all on the line. Talking for hours through the night and into the morning of Thanksgiving, the two cemented their relationship. From this moment on, the two vowed to take an action every day for the rest of their lives… pray. Pray that the Lord Jesus would always be the solid foundation of their newfound relationship.
AC admits that she was completely falling for Michael. Call it fear or call it pragmatism, that evening she decided to lay her heart on the line.
“I just couldn’t draw out the relationship any longer or take the next step forward if his intentions weren’t the same as mine, so I poured out my heart to him. I was fully prepared for him to consider me ‘too much to handle’ and run away, and as much as it would have hurt me, if that was the case, I needed to know” says AC.
“When I listened to this beautiful woman pour out her heart to me, yes, I will admit that I did have a desire to run… TOWARDS her” exclaims Michael. “I have been through a failed marriage in the past. Moving forward, I was reluctant to open up my heart to anyone else. Over the next few years of singleness, I began to experience God’s healing on my scarred up heart.” He continues, “while I was listening to AC speak, I felt the Lord’s peace wash over me, and the things she thought might scare me away, actually drew me closer and closer to depths of her heart. She wasn’t dating to ‘date’, and neither was I. When she was finished, all I could do was chuckle and exclaim, ‘thank God!’ I believe it may have shocked her a little bit, but I knew that she was the real deal. From that moment, I was wholly, undeniably, and wildly in love with AC Jones.”
The relationship continued to deepen across the miles and on New Year’s Day, Michael caught a plane to spend a week with AC in Youngstown. As he hurried off the plane, and approached the sliding glass doors leading to the outside of “Arrivals”, there stood AC awaiting their first embrace.
“There wasn’t one shred of awkwardness” reflects AC. “During our hours of conversation, we had fallen in love and connected with each other at the deepest level… there’s no doubt in my mind that the Lord shaped us to be who we needed to be for each other – like two perfect puzzle pieces.”
“When we saw each other for the ‘real’ first time at the airport, our paces quickened and we ended up in a full run towards each other. She was a perfect fit in our embrace, and I didn’t want to let go” says Michael. Because the two had the unique experience of falling in love long distance, AC describes the week they spent together, from New Year’s Day to January 8th, as “backwards dating.”
“I knew the man’s heart completely. I could tell you anything about the core of who he was, but I didn’t know the small things, like how he liked his eggs!” laughs AC. “Normally, you learn these things at the front-end of a relationship and then you get to the really deep conversations, but we started out by sharing our souls, and then we got to the small-talk part.. like what do you like on your burger?”
When their time together had concluded after a beautifully breathtaking, yet short week, Michael left AC with a message he secretly wrote on her white board before his departure. It read, “I’m coming back for you.”
On February 24th, he fulfilled his promise and came back for her to visit for a long weekend. However, this visit, would change the course of their lives forever. When the couple arrived back at AC’s apartment, Michael pulled out a handwritten note for AC. In this note, he was not speaking as merely a boyfriend to AC, but he was speaking as something more. After promises and proclamations of his undying love in the note, he gave instructions to turn over the card. On the back of the card read, “Which leads me to my next question…” And in the very next moment, Michael was in front of AC, on bended knee, and holding a diamond ring. And not just any diamond ring, but rather AC’s late Grandma JoJo’s engagement ring. A powerful representation of a woman who never gave up on love.
With butterflies and a choked up voice, Michael asked, “AC Jones, will you marry me?” To which AC replied with love and assurance, “Is that even a question? Yes!”
And just like that, Michael Boris and AC Jones became engaged to be married!
After minutes of joyful embrace, the two ventured over to tell the good news to AC’s parents. Not only did they find Amanda’s parents in attendance, but also her sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, as well as Michaels parents joining via FaceTime from Nashville. Both families celebrated, rejoiced, and shed tears of joy. To Michael and AC, family is everything, and marriage does not only bond two individuals together, but it also merges the two families into one family.
In the meantime, the couple considers the distance a huge blessing. Painful, yes, but Michael and AC are filled with a spirit of God’s Love, peace, gratitude, and a forward determination.
“The reality of being away from someone you love is always a consequence of being an Artist and a unique challenge to any relationship” says Michael. “That being said, therein lies the blessing from God. Right from the start, He has been teaching us how to love one another through a computer screen. AC and I fell deeply in love before we ever had the chance to embrace each other in person. We choose to see our distance for what it is… a blessing. As each day goes by, the pain of missing each other always stings, but He gives us the confidence and the strength to be joyful in spite of our circumstances.
As a beautiful reminder to each other, Michael and AC each wear a half of a “mizpah” coin on a necklace, which is a Jewish custom and prayer that “the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another.” If you look closely in many of their photos, you can see them wearing their half of the coin.
Michael reflects, “I couldn’t help but think about how just a year ago in February of 2020, we sat one chair across from each other at an industry event. We did not share anything more beyond a pleasant and professional conversation. And then almost exactly a year later, I would be on one knee in front of her, asking her to marry me. The Lord’s Timing is truly as they say… perfect.”
As for their careers, Michael, and the boys in Lockeland are planning on releasing their single, “Blackberry Whiskey” to all digital platforms on April 30th. Not to mention, they are currently making plans to release a long awaited album in the fall of 2021.
AC released her latest single, “You Wouldn’t Know Me Now,” on February 19th. The autobiographical song is one of self-empowerment and personal growth and the reintroduction of that stronger self to the world.
“I used to get the feeling that if something wasn’t going right in a relationship, it had to be caused by my own shortcomings, so I would slowly find myself sacrificing little pieces of who I was until I didn’t recognize myself anymore,” reveals AC. “It took some time (and quite a few conversations with the Lord) to find myself again, to fully embrace my self-worth, and to learn that, to the right person, who I am would always be enough – flaws and all. With Michael, I have the beauty and blessing of being radically and unapologetically myself.”
Follow AC Jones and Lockeland on all forms of social media and streaming platforms, and for fun updates on their wedding planning!
