Gunboat
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Gunboat

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The best kept secret in music

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"Gunboat enjoys a slow rise in local fame"

Well, it looks like you should be expecting one of these every Friday. I know, I’m excited too. Anyway, this week Will Freeman and Harrison Smith of the band Gunboat were kind enough to hang out with me and talk about themselves for a little while. In keeping with last week’s theme, any bracketed words are loose translations of what was actually said. Enjoy.

AC: You don’t seem to play as many shows as other local bands. Is that intentional?

WF: We have gone so much slower than any band I can think of, but we’ve enjoyed going slow. We’re not going to get burned out. Every gig is like the first gig. We’re just playing music because we enjoy it, and then whatever happens is because of that.

AC: I like a band that plays hard to get.

WF: Oxford has been real good to us, and we don’t want to wear out our welcome. You know what I mean? We might be taking it a little too slow…

AC: You played at Proud Larry’s last Saturday. How did that go?

WF: It went great. There was about 115 people in there, and everyone was dancin’ all night.

HS: The first time we played Larry’s I was thrilled. I love Proud Larry’s.

AC: What do you think about Two Stick?

WF: I think Two Stick is doing something really cool. They’re bringing in huge diverse bands.

AC: Two Stick needs an open-mic/jam night.

I can talk to Lee Morgan about it.

AC: Who do you pay to see?

WF: There is a lot of good bands around… Day Breakdown, you have WILX of course, Maria Y El Sol, Shady Deal. My favorite band in town now, without a doubt, is Tate Moore and the Cosmic Door.

AC: You live next door to St. Andrew of the Blood and Guts. That’s cute.

WF: Yeah, we share a duplex. His little brother calls us Funboat.

HS: People like to misinterpret our name. Like, “Oh yeah, so Gunbelt’s playin’ tonight.”

WF: “How’s Battleship doin’?

HS: Gumbo… Gunshot…

AC: How did you come up with Gunboat?

WF: Gunboat was inspired by a hat, a Harrison hat. The joke was always Gunboat. Eventually we were like, “[Paris Hilton] it, lets just call it Gunboat.

AC: I like Funboat.

WF: We did have our share of bad names. Our good friend David Swider came up with the name Left Front Tire, which was already taken. So we were Left Front Tire for three gigs. Then there was the name New South Groove…

AC: That’s pretty bad.

WF: That was Bubba (the bass player) and Will Pleasant’s idea.

AC: Sure, blame a guy that’s not here.

WF: He’s a phenomenal bass player… and it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s in my band. He took a bass lesson one time from Victor Wooten’s brother. Bubba also plays with a band called Slim Chance and the Odd Beaters.

AC: They rock.

WF: That’s my little sister, the front girl, Anne Freeman.

AC: You’re from Greenwood. What’s it like playing in the Delta?

WF: The gigs we could get in the beginning were just god-awful.

HS: We have a big jam at Christmas. It’s amazing. Everybody’s getting’ all [poop faced], just hangin’ out.

AC: I haven’t spent much time in the Delta. I did go to Cleveland once. It’s pretty much paradise.

HS: We all grew up in the Delta, so a lot of our early gigs were in the Delta. There’s no telling how many times we’ve had requests for “Jesse’s Girl” and “Free Bird”.

WF: “Play something good” is my favorite.

AC: Where do your songs come from?

WF: “Improvise” is the magic word with Gunboat. The song essentially gets written on stage.

HS: Jonbob (the keyboard player) is the master at improvising lyrics. He’ll improvise it like three gigs in a row, then he’ll take certain parts that he likes and compile it to make the “official lyrics”.

AC: When’s you next gig?

WF: Next weekend we’re playing The Shed in Meridian and then a place called Midtown Billiards in Little Rock.

- Daily Mississippian ~ By: Adam Carder


"Ron Etheridge opens for Gunboat next week"

I did this article a little differently, so try to keep up. The first part is a phone interview with Ron Etheridge, who will open for Gunboat at Larry's on Dec. 7.

Why am I publishing an article about something that happens next week, you ask? Well, there's no such thing as The DM during exam week, so this is it. Fin. It snuck up on you too, eh?

Anyway, the second part represents a brief chat I had with Gunboat guitarist Will Freeman, and since Gunboat is indeed the headlining act, it seemed appropriate.

Part I: Ron Etheridge

Adam Carder: So what's your story?

Ron Etheridge: I've pretty much been singing since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. At church and I used to do theaters and stuff. I kinda picked up guitar at 14 and immediately started writing songs.

I eventually started playing in bars and was making a living at 17 - (I) dropped out of high school and got a GED and went on the road with my first band, Shake Bone Fest. Then I moved to Nashville and tried to make it as a solo artist there for about a year. They kinda kicked my butt and sent me back to the Delta, where I met up with William Coppage.

We formed Willy and Me, traveled and toured for about four years, did an album and were voted Second-Best New Band by "Honest Tune." I guess we all just decided that we were ready to go different directions, so I came home to record my solo album, "Apple Tree."

AC: That was very succinct - well done. How did you get involved with Gunboat?

RE: I called Scott a while back. I'd been trying to get a date to do a CD release there and he just called me recently and said that he wanted to set me up with those guys. They draw a good crowd, it will be a good fit.

AC: How would you describe your sound/album?

RE: I would say it's roots-soul mixed with blues and Americana folk. It's all acoustic and I use a loop pedal as well, kinda similar to the Keller (Williams) thing without the beat box. I think roots-soul would be a good definition for it, I guess.

AC: Any last words?

RE: I don't know man. Why don't you just come up with something and make me look cool.

Part II: William Freeman

AC: Are you familiar with Ron Etheridge?

William Freeman: I've actually met him one time. Bubba and I were drinkin' at the Marshall County Disco and Willy and Me got out there and did a handful of songs. They were good, it was real good progressive jam-type stuff. Is Ron the guitar player?

AC: Yeah.

WF: He's a really good guitar player from what I remember. There was a lot of whiskey involved. And $2 Budweiser.

AC: So it's the end of the year, what's your take on the status of Gunboat?

WF: We have an album coming out in January, so I think it will be a good transition from '06 into '07, Gunboat style. Every year is a better year. - Daily Mississippian ~ By: Adam Carder


"Gunboat experiments, raps on stage"

Not every Southern rock band raps, but Gunboat does.
The Oxford-based quartet doesn't get the chance to practice due to distance and conflicting schedules. Keyboardist Jonbob Wise lives near Jackson, while Oxford is home to drummer Harrison Smith, bassist Bubba McCabe and guitarist and vocalist Will Freeman. So the band's live shows are like practice, and for fun the guys will throw in a Dr. Ore cover.
"We rap once in a while," Smith said. "Only if we're really having a good time."
Gunboat experiments while on stage, adding in new parts to existing songs or covering rap tunes. It makes for a unique experience, the guys in Gunboat said.
"With our style of music, we can take a chance (on stage)," Freeman said. "If it doesn't work out, OK. If it does, OK."
And it's not a big deal if any of the band members mess up.
The audiences realizes "we're trying to experiment. We'll laugh, the audience will laugh," Freeman said. And the rap covers aren't funny -they're actually pretty good, McCabe said. "It catches people off guard. But we do (the songs) somewhat justice," he said.
From joke to band name McCabe and Freeman, friends since elementary school, met up with Smith and Wise a few years ago and formed Gunboat. The band name, however, took a while to come about. Smith had a hat that said "Gunboat" long before the band formed. "It was the worst hat in the world. We didn't have the band yet, but we told people we were in a band (called Gunboat)," Smith laughed.

The band went through several names before deciding on Gunboat.
So Gunboat "was a lie, then a joke,
then out of desperation we just settled on it. It turned out to be the best," McCabe said.
Gunboat is going into the studio next year to record its first LP (no rap songs planned for it, however), and, of course, the band will take the rest as it comes.
"We're making baby steps, always improving, and that's what keeps us going," McCabe said. "That always tends to work out. We've come a long way."
- Scence ~ By Sheena Barnett


Discography

Currently Recording with Jimbo Mathis at the Delta Recording Service.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

How did the band name come about? “Every time we got together to decide on a name it became a big joke. The first one we settled on was Left Front Tire, but we found out that a punk rock band in Athens had that name. “Gunboat” was always a joke that Harrison came up with because he had a trucker hat that said Gunboat on it and for some reason we thought it was funny. Then, one day the clouds parted and we realized that it would be a good name for the band.” -Bubba McCabe

Gunboat began as an impromptu jam session in an abandoned bar in Morgan City, Mississippi in the heart of the Delta and the cradle of rock ‘n roll. Following the initial jam in 2002, Will Freeman, Harrison Smith, and Bubba McCabe realized that they would be foolish not to pursue their options as a “real band”, but they knew needed help because none of them wanted to sing and they didn't really know the words to many songs anyway. Their only asset was raw musical ability, so they elicited the help of a good friend and local solo artist named William Pleasants (not to be confused with Will Freeman) to help them get Gunboat off the ground… or “set sail” if you don’t mind the pun. Basically, William was the fertile soil that allowed Gunboat to grow in ways that they would not have been able to do otherwise by allowing them to take the stage without having to deal with the pressure of the "spotlight." He also introduced Gunboat to their keyboardist Jonbob Wise who has remained with the band after William moved on in 2003 when he decided that Gunboat no longer required his services as a tugboat (sorry).

Gunboat currently calls Oxford, Mississippi home as the guys are finishing up their collegiate work at The University of Mississippi, but they can always find time to return home to Greenwood, Mississippi for a gig in a sleazy Delta dive bar. As a part of the Oxford music scene, they have developed their sound and become close friends with other rising acts such as Shady Deal, Slim Chance and the Oddbeaters, The Mayhem String Band, Day Breakdown, and WILX while following in the footsteps of bands like Beanland and the Kudzu Kings.

Gunboat’s sound continues to evolve as they bridge the gap between jam and Americana interpretations and they are currently in the studio recording their debut album.