Willie and Me
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Willie and Me

Band Rock Funk

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"Don't Miss This"

If you missed them the first time, you don't won't to miss them this go-around.

For the second time this year, Willie and Me is back home for one night of a rockin' good time.

Saturday night One Block East will be filled with old friends and acquaintances of Willie and Me's frontmen and founding members William Coppage and Ron Etheridge, both Greenville natives.

It has been almost three months since the group has graced the Delta with its presence, and lot has happened in those 12 weeks. The band has completed a long tour on promoting their first album "Magic Show," and under the new direction of manager Geoff Hanson, the foursome is making heading in the Southeastern jam band scene.



I was looking at their newly updated Web site, www.willieandme.com, and I saw a quote that caught my interest. The quote was how Willie and Me describe their own music.

"(It's) Mississippi music for the soul. Sometimes it's slow. Sometimes it's fast. Sometimes it's happy and sometimes it's sad. Sometimes it's funky and sometimes it's folky. But it's always got soul."

While trying to think of a way to describe their music, I couldn't have found a collaboration of words more fitting. Let me take a second to analyze each phrase.

"Mississippi music for the soul." - Mississippi's rich blues and Southern rock tradition weigh heavily in both Coppage and Etheridge's guitar playing. They reach deep within themselves to find that sound that hits you in the gut and makes you listen them.






"Sometimes it's slow. Sometimes it's fast. Sometime it's happy and sometimes it's sad" - This sounds like more of a vague description of any type of rock music, but holds validity in their song set lists. A slow almost ballad-type song can be followed with upbeat and funk tempos to make your toe tap and your tailfeather shake.

"Sometimes it's funky and sometimes it's folky." - Bassist Jason Moore holds up his end of the bargain with the funky bass rifts. And the folk comes from Greenville's own Aubrey Holman's strong influence on Coppage and Etheridge from years ago. Willie and Me is even known to play a Holman song or two.

"But it's always got soul." - If you listen to just one CD of Willie and Me you will know that soul is there in every lyric and every pluck of a string or tap on a drum. These are just two good ole Delta boys who have found a better place and way to express their music. So take a gander at a CD, you might like it, but if you want the full Willie and Me experience, you must see them live.

David Vowell is a sports/entertainment writer for the Delta Democrat Times.
- Delta Democrat


"Willie and Me, Not your ordianry Jam Band"

"For those of you who haven't heard, Willie and Me isn't your ordinary jam band. Each member of the four-man outfit brings his unique talent and various influences to the table, making for a sophisticated sound that delights in genre crossing. With a group of musicians from all over the East, the band's distinct sound bears a hint of Northern hip hop, Mississippi road house blues and North Carolina folk influences. Willie and Me combines the soulful attitude of blues with the rawness of Southern Rock, the sentimentality of folk and the vitality of funk and jazz...

With influences ranging from Frank Zappa and Willie Nelson, to Herbie Hancock and the Jacskon 5, it's no wonder that their music varies so much in style. From improv jams to southern gospel and old school Mortown, Willie and Me experiments with every kind of soul music.

The band's funky fusion of sounds lends itself to an energetic, hypnotic live performance. Paired with meaningful lyrics, Etheridge's soothing vocals will leave you moved in supple songs like "Nightlife" and make you sway your hips to lively and infectious tunes like "North Carolina.

With the release of their debut album Magic Show, Willie and Me is sure to see success on the horizon. - Encore Magazine


"Willie and Me: Home for a Night"

It's hard to imagine anyone considering One Block East their home. But for Willie and Me's frontmen, William Coppage and Ron Etheridge, it is -- musically.

Greenville natives Coppage and Etheridge's joureny began just a block away from the levee almost a decade ago as teenagers in seperate bands. In 2002, the duo moved to North Carolina in search of a better musical outlet and will make their first trip back to One Block East Saturday since May 23, 2003.

"I love Ron and William," said One Block East owner David Weiss. "I've watched them grow musically over the years, and it always makes me feel good when Greenville musicians go out and do well for themselves. That's one reason we support local bands."

The Greenville stop is just one one leg of a 13-city five-state tour which starts at the Georgia Theatre in Athens and ends in Raleigh, NC.

"It's a privilege to get to travel and play, but it's a treat to come home and play at the place we started," said William Coppage in a recent phone interview. " It means so much when our friends and family come out and have the opportunity to see the effort we've put into our music."

And the effort is there. With cover songs ranging from Bill Withers "Use Me" and the Ghetto Boyz "Damn, it feels good to be a Gangsta" to originals like "Litle House" and Broken Levee." which talk of Mississippi tradition, Willie and Me has dazzled audiences along the East Coast with their unique style of mixing rock, blues, R&B,, hip-hop and funk."

"Growing up in the Delta has given us so much material to write about and expres in our song writing," Said Coppage, a 1997 Washington School graduate. "We always try and stop in here whenever we can."

Coppage and Etheridge's delta blues rock background fuses with Jason Moore's grooving bass rifts and Charis Payne's snappy drum beats.

Moore graduated in 2003 from the University of Wilmington with a degree in jazz performance, while Payne holds a bechelor's in classical drum performance from UNCW.

"There's an underlying groove that's present that's normally found in older R&B, Motown, and hip-hop," Coppage siad. As long as you can bop your head , you can dance, and that means that the groove is there."

The quartet began playing in September 2002. They took the name Willie and Me from Coppage (willie) and Etheridge (Me) who had been playing around the Wilmington scene since May 16, 2002, as a guitar duo.

Since forming Willie and Me has gained tremendous popularity in the North Carolina region and has earned countless accolades.

They placed second in the SOutheastern Battle of the Bands and wonn the Level 5 Battle of the Bands in 2003. Willie and Me earned a Whammy (Wilmington's Grammy) for the Third Best New Rock Band in 2004, and they have been named Band of the Month by Beat Magazine.

The foursome has been featured on UNCTVNC's public broadcasting channel and has also had the prilege of opening up or sharing the stage with bands such as Widespread Panic, M.o.e, Drrick Trucks, Les Claypool, Medeski Martin and Wood, Tishamingo and the Kudzu Kings.

The southeastern tour is an effort to promote and raise money to launch their Freshman album ""Magic Show," which is scheduled to be released this summer. "Magic Show," which features an Aubrey Holman song, was produced by Geoff Hanson, who has produced Widespread Panic's DVDS "The Earth Will Swallow You" and the RIAA certified Gold release "Live at Oak Mountain."

To learn more about Willie and Me, go to www.willieandme.com - Delta Democrat Times


Discography

Magicshow - 2005, Saltwater H2O

Photos

Bio

Willie and Me formed in Wilmington, NC. in 2001 when Mississippi natives Ron Etheridge and William Coppage adopted the Port City as their new home.

The two guitar/vocalists linked up with bass player Jason Moore and drummer Chris Payne and Willie and Me was born. In 2006 Will Chacon took over the role as drummer.

The band calls its music “Grooves for the soul.”

Willie and Me has built a steady following over the last three years and now boasts a loyal fan base across the state of North Carolina . The band’s roots oriented rock n’ roll caught the attention of local film and music producer Geoffrey Hanson, best known for his work with Widespread Panic (Live at Oak Mountain and The Earth Will Swallow You) and as the writer and producer of the cult film Scrapple.

Hanson’s Saltwater Productions recently signed a management deal with Willie and Me and hopes to extend the band’s following across the country.

"I've recorded with Widespread Panic, Taj Mahal, JJ Cale, The Radiators and Jorma Kaukonen. I've seen a lot of music in my day, and Willie and Me is the real deal," Hanson said. " Check them out and you'll know exactly what I mean. "