Weldon Hill

The band has 2 sets of brothers, plus a 5th brother. Not a brother by blood, but a brother by choice. Sean W, Jeff W, Jeff A and Mike A have been long time friends. Pretty much since elementary school. As they got older (early to mid teens), the boys began taking and/or learning "how to" on their own, how to play instruments. Sean W was a natural singer. The "Jeffs" learned guitar and Mike taught himself how to play bass. At this point a long time friend named, Ben Spera, also played guitar.
So this tight-knit group of friends decided to form a band. Which only made sense, since they already had a connection, being brothers and such good friends in this small town we grew up in called "Hanson". The only problem is that there was noone to fill in on drums. At this point the boys were about 15 years old and playing cover songs. They tried "jamming" with a couple drummer-friends from high school but none really clicked. So what they decided to do was to have Jeff and Jeff share the role of drummer (self taught).
After a few years of "jamming" on covers, they started writing their own music. So the boys decided to record a 5 song demo at Courtlen Recording Studio in Hanson, Ma. At this point the band you know of as "Weldon Hill" had only been an official "band" for just a couple months but already had that "click" that so many bands take years to achieve, if at all! The demo consisted of the songs, "Murado", "Coast", "Open Up", Believing" and "Bishop Red".
Word around Whitman-Hanson High School was quickly spreading about this new band called "Weldon Hill". Another friend of the band, named Tom Maloney, decided to put on a music show at the High School which consisted of about a half-dozen bands from the school. In the show's lineup was a band called "Madcobrii" which had a fellow classmate named Sean Gerraughty on drums. Madcobrii was just a cover band for the most part with 1 or 2 originals. Sean G was amazed at how quickly this new band was able to write their own songs and play them so perfectly. And they were really good songs! While sitting at home and watching the show on video, Sean G would just "rewind-play, rewind-play" the Weldon Hill performance of their original called "Murado". He was amazed at how catchy Jeff W's lead in the intro of the song was! "I knew these guys had something. Something special!" says Sean G. He started asking around and finally got a chance to try out for the band. So in June of 1998 the lineup was complete with Sean G on drums. His first test was a, quickly-upcoming, show Weldon Hill had booked at the world-famous Cambridge, Ma nightclub, "The Middle East". The turnout was huge and the band performed as if they've been playing for years!
We practiced, at least, once a week and just kept on writing new songs. At this point we agreed to hit the recording studio once again to record a full-length album. With influences, between all band members like: Pearl Jam, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice In Chains, Silverchair, Weezer, STP, Van Halen, Radiohead, Chris Cornell, Guster and Counting Crows, you know this was gonna be a "must-hear"! So after 2-3 weeks in the recording studio, and still attending high school mind you, the band's first full length album, entitled "Poor Man's Pub" was released. At this point half the band was in their senior year of high school and the other half has just graduated. We were even invited back to play at The Middle East. High school was winding down and Ben Spera decided to leave Weldon Hill to concentrate fully on college.
So now it's approximately 2003-ish. The boys were getting older but still remained good friends but weren't playing as much. Sean W got married and had 2 children. Mike and Jeff A joined another band, called 57Deep, as their side project, (which Sean G later joined as well). So now it's 2009 57Deep broke up (again)and we've started practicing on a regular basis. We're wiser with a more broad list of musical influences. The first time we started practicing, which had been the first time in a couple years, it seemed as though we never parted. Everyone remembered all the old songs and alot of the newer songs that we never got to record. So we're writing new songs as we speak and plan on booking shows in the very near future! -WH