Greg Bowles

The Resonators, comprising of father and son Greg and Jarrad Bowles, bought a whole barrage of vintage American instruments with them. There was a 97 year old banjo and a 57 year old mandolin giving the sound a classic and authentic touch. When they started playing it was like they fired up the flux capacitor and shifted us right back to 1932. Greg plucked his blues guitar and sang in a husky southern drawl while Jarrad tapped and scraped along on the washboard. The songs mostly came from the deep, deep South of the States and particularly Robert Johnson, the man who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads for the gift of music. The Devil and Me and Last Fair Deal Gone Down were just some of the great songs attributed to the delta blues Godfather. Greg Bowles might have got his talent from years of practice but he was still playing like a man possessed. He took the slide on for a few tracks and switched to the banjo for a fantastic rendition of Death Letter by Son House.
Afterwards Greg left Jarrad to do a few solo tracks and a few original songs, which were no worse than the classics we'd already heard.
The Resonators and the night overall was easy to like. It's always great to see local bands and especially something a little different from your usual pub rock. Good on the Prince of Wales for serving it up once again
BRAYDEN EDWARDS - Drum Media - 28/3/08

If you've ever driven through Margaret River on a Sunday afternoon you would have noticed a crowd gathered at Settlers Tavern and heard all manner of quality acoustic sounds pouring down the main street. Running for around 18 months now, Settlers Tavern has brought the tradition Sunday Session back to life with the weekly "Blues on the Veranda". It's where locals and visitors congregate every Sunday with family and friends for a great afternoon of eclectic blues-inspired music from some of the country's finest acoustic artists.
This weekend was no exception with the Southern American musical stylings of Bunbury's totally talented blues duo, The Resonators. Father and son team, Greg and Jarrad Bowles, were back for their second show after an impressive first outing on the 'Veranda' a few months back.
Although most weekends the 'Veranda' sessions go ahead out front, Sunday was quite rainy and so the boys moved indoors and set up atop a Persian rug next to the stage on ground level inside the venue. Playing to a smiling and appreciative crowd at candle-lit tables, the pair's gravely warm vocals mixed nicely with the blazing wood fires, taking the audience with them on a magical carpet ride back in time to the early days of the Delta blues.
The boys started the afternoon off with a couple of short solo sets to get things rolling. Greg was up first with a half hour of straight-down-the-line Southern American Blues on his very shiny National resonator guitar. Jarrad followed, giving his own twist on the Southern sound on a Maton 6 string acoustic. Their individual styles complimented each other beautifully, as you would expect from a father and son team.
Running from 4-7pm each week, Blues on the Veranda has a reputation for being one hell of a foot-stomping good time and The Resonators did a fine job of living up to the crowds expectations. Armed with banjo's, mandolins, resonators and washboards, they turned back the wheels of time to the haunted railroad melodies and cotton-field choruses of the old Mississippi. Drawing their inspiration from the 1930's Delta blues traditon, The Resonators howled and hollered out an impressively traditional raw set of down and dirty old-style blues. And with a swag of old school tools, their show was an enjoyable change from the swathe of new-blues artists doing the rounds of the country at the moment.
CATHY GAVRANICH - Drum Media - 18/5/08