Truman Holland Band

Gnawing the Marrow of Rusty Bonz
By Thomas J. Bond
Cross-over is a fickle beast. It killed Rock and Roll. It turned Country into Pop. It made Blues white, happy, and singsong. It took street-hardened cocaine dealers and made them into savvy, hip-hop/rap icons. It linked power chords to men in make-up, in a couple different ways. It had everyone wanting to look like grungy heroin addicts. It took all the different dances and sold them to the same beat. But sometimes, in the mega-mechanism of the modern music industry, an original beat, derived from but unlike any before, crosses through, and a new style is born. Some are wondrous and great; some are merely original. But, they all predicate the future of sound. While examples of these styles are numerous, and entrenched in todays pop cultures, it is the recognition of burgeoning originality that is fleeting, and therefore, so valuable, at least to the fan of the music scene. Rusty Bonz, a funk-a-billy, punk-country, swamp rock band from the Northshore (of Lake Pontchartrain) has a distinctly new sound, colored by innumerable influences and driven like a chopper on back roads: gravel-hard, but cool and comfortable. Front man Truman Holland embodies the essence of the sound. Hailing from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, its hard to catch him wearing something not torn or cut-off. He laughs about most things, but his bright, crazy eyes say he aint fraid, neither. All he really cares about are his daughter, music, and women, probably in that order. He plays a bluesy guitar with a jumpy, rock-n-roll zeal and a J. J. Cale-esque shuffle. When asked, he says his biggest influence is Lightning Hopkins, but quickly spouts a myriad of others that blanket the full spectrum of guitarists and singer/songwriters. Rusty Bonz lyrics are reminiscent of classic blues, country music legends, and early 70s, cocaine-driven Texas rock, that Truman delivers like a charged up and angry, southern David Byrne: soulful, gritty, and tangible. Like most good Louisiana cuisine, Rusty Bonz first CD, self-titled Rusty Bonz, has a full-mouth flavor. Deep Inside Your Soul, Bad Love, High Horse, Bye-Bye, Baby, and Six Strings & Belly Rings all have unique but multi-market styles. Down on the Bayou is sure to be a good timin, barroom classic, and Cecil is as tough as they come. Rusty Bonz have deep roots. Their style is unquestionably indicative of the past. Still, they rattle like nothing else. And, just maybe, these Bonz will comprise a part of the future skeleton of modern music. - thelogoncafe.com

"That same night, Lafayette’s very well-known prodigal son, Drew Landry (bandryland.com) , played at Artmosphere (myspace.com/artmosphere) with the Truman Holland Band (trumanholland.com) opening. Holland is originally from Ponchatoula, and has played since the early '90s with various New Orleans’ bands. Like the strawberries his hometown is famous for, Holland is full of Louisiana’s lifeblood, close to the vine and true to his roots. He plays like he has reverence for Delta blues and early '60s country-Western music, and he was great in conjunction with Drew Landry’s style. I hope they play on the same night again." - The Times of Acadiana