"Bones" Weedsley

"Bones" Weedsley
Music Interview with "Bones" Weedsley

Music Now Artist/Band Spotlight Weekly Series



By: Isaac Davis Jr., GBS, MBA

Jam band "Bones" Weedsley is creating quite a stir in the indie music scene with their funky blend of music. If you want to listen to a band that knows how to get down, then "Bones" Weedsley will entertain you for days. In this recent spotlight with our Webzine, we speak to the members of the band about their music and what fans can expect from them in the near future. Here is what developed.

Isaac: I just listened to one of your songs titled, "You Enjoy Myself". What was the inspiration for making this song and your new album?

(BW) - Barless: You Enjoy Myself is actually a "Phish" song that we like to take little snippets of, and build off of. Turn it into a jam of our own so to speak. Plus, the people that come to see us might recognize it for the composition that it is, and then we throw in a bit of a musical surprise as we go off with it. As far as “new album”, we have nothing in the works currently, but if you contact Brian at MowTheDog.com he could probably hook you up with some live recordings, OR you can just listen to a bunch of our MP3’s there.

Isaac: Who were your influences?

(BW) - Barless: Wow, it might just be easier to say who isn’t an influence. If you’ve been to one of our shows you’ll see we are all over the place musically. I am confident in answering for the rest of the guys by saying The Grateful Dead, Phish, Moe., Allmans, the old Chicago blues masters, roots music. Honest music.

Isaac: What do you consider to have been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?

(BW) - Barless: For me, the highlight would have probably been our first “gig”, before we were even officially a band. (Are we officially a band??) Playing with the other 4 cats, unrehearsed, and just the amazing vibe…that was great. And the audience picked up on it too, which is why we have continued doing our thing.

The lowpoint for me would have been after playing a show at “The Coop” in Clinton NJ, and not being able to remember a damn thing about the show the next day J Then I heard the board mixes and it was amazing.

Isaac: Brief history about your background plus the style of music you play.

(BW) - Rich: The genesis for this thing we do was Bam's (drummer) old community jam sessions. It was at one of these events that I realized how much talent there is in our area (central NJ), and realized that it can be a whole lot of fun playing unrehearsed material with other good musicians. When you play with good players, the magic seems to happen because it's unrehearsed. Those events were a huge undertaking, but really showcased what's possible. It was out of this that I somehow convinced Bam to do something more regular, and basically it started as an offshoot of those community jams. One night the line-up really worked well, and it just seemed like it would be fun to make this something we could do as a more regular thing, but without the trappings of a typical band. We all genuinely have fun doing this, and that's part of what makes it special.

All the players involved with this - either as the basic core unit or in the cast of characters that shows up regularly to help us out, are excellent musicians with years of experience; they all just love to play, and all respect the jam and the concept of listening to each other.

After seeing Bam play drums and getting a chance to play with him, I knew I wanted to do something with him. He's one of the most musical drummers I have ever played with, and knows how to read a jam. He's a listener, smart as a whip and funny as hell. And he loves to play. It doesn't get any better than that.

I have known Don for something like 20 years. Maybe more. We only played together occasionally until this project, but he's also a musician I always wanted to do something with. Another very smart guy, a real listener, and very talented player who really understands how to make a jam work.

I knew Barless could rip on the guitar, but who knew he could play bass? We needed a bass player one night, no one was available, and Barless offered to do the job. He described his approach once as something like an amalgamation of Jack Bruce and Mike Gordon. I think that pretty much sums it up. A real talent and one of the nicest guys I know. He lives on The Compound. How cool is that?

Billy's a fellow gear head and a blues guy - a real blues guy. I don't know why he's such a good fit for what we're doing, but he is. He's got a knack for tapping into the jam, and a downright uncanny ability to take the jams in directions I (for one) never thought of. Another player who knows how to listen it's a pleasure to jam with Billy because he's always got a new and clever lick up his sleeve that makes me smile. I've played with a lot of other guitar players over the years, and Billy's one of the best - I learn something new every time I play with him.

Bottom Line - This is a great group of guys and something musically intense happens every single time we play. What's better than that?

Isaac: How easy is it to gets gigs for you as an artist? What is the live music scene like in your area?

(BW) - Barless: There are a handful of clubs/venues that will put up with our traveling circus on a regular basis, which we are very grateful for. In general, the live music scene is out there, you just have to look for it. There are some very good bands playing the circuit. Then there is just the status quo that goes through the motions, plays safe, and never takes chances. For reasons unknown to me, they seem to get most of the gigs. The club owners need to realize there is an audience for what we do. Just look at most of the major music festivals in the country today. At one time, they were all based on the”jam” scene or included “jam bands” in their lineups.

Isaac: What do you think of the state of JAM music at the moment? Do you listen to radio much at all? Has the Internet helped music grow or hindered it in your opinion?

(BW) - Barless: I think the genre is alive and well. There are a lot of great young cats stepping up to the plate. I think the internet has certainly helped out with newer bands…made their music accessible to an audience that otherwise would not have had a chance to hear them. Personally, I am a fan of “Pandora” Internet radio. I rarely listen to “commercial radio” these days unless I am tooling around in my beater of a truck

Isaac: If you could create a fantasy band - what would be the line-up and why?

(BW ) - Barless: It would be “Bones” Weedsley obviously. Read Rich’s answer a few questions ago and you’ll understand why. It’s always an adventure, and fun as all hell.

Isaac: What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?

(BW) - Barless: Come see us live and bootleg us. There’s your CD’s. hah hah hah

Isaac: Where can fans access your music, videos, blogs, and anything else about you online?

(BW )- Barless: Well for starters, there is the “Bones” Weedsley Facebook page for all things Weedsley. Drummer Brian “Bam” Bridge runs a recording and production facility called Mow The Dog, and you can find live recordings of us there. Not to mention a plethora of entertaining effluvia MowtheDog.com There are also a bunch of live vids circulating on You Tube.

Isaac: Message to your fans?

(BW) - Barless: Come out and see us play. Say hello. Maybe we’ll buy you a beer or give you a Blow Pop. Bottom line, get out and support local live music. And remember, we all play in other bands as well, so keep your eyes peeled for Dyer Weed, Jam-Bone, Alligator, or Slee to see your favorite Bone Heads playing in some different situations. And thank you Isaac for looking us up and giving us the chance to say howdy to the cyber world. - Juniors Cave / Isaac Davis Jr