by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
WHO: Bonerama
WHERE: Mojo’s Kitchen at the Beach
WHEN: Friday, August 3rd
The mighty trombone army called Bonerama evolved in 1998 from the bayous of New Orleans. Trombone masters Mark Mullins and Craig Klein decided to form a band driven by four trombone players and accompanied by a bassist, a drummer, and a sousaphone (a marching band tuba) player. The idea was to have fun and play a few gigs, and the group was a hit from its very first show. Soon, the bone-masters were getting so many gigs, that they realized their group could be a full-time commercial endeavor. However, Mark and Craig kept their original prime directive- it had to be fun or they wouldn’t do it.
So the project snowballed into Bonerama. The band performed as the house band for the all-star comedy event Comedy Relief, which was recorded live from Caesar’s Palace last November. It featured an all-star lineup including Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robin Williams. Recently, the band won the coveted Best Rock Band honor from the 2007 Big Easy Awards.
The band believes that live is king, and recording live is the only way to produce records. The group released its third live CD titled Bringing it Back Home, which I listened to before talking to Mark. It’s Chicago on acid, with a funky tight sound that comes at you like a high-speed train. The band members are all songwriters with many original songs in their repertoire, but they also perform selected covers, like an awesome version of Led Zeppelin’s The Ocean. Mark plays a solo that sounds like Jimmy Page’s guitar solo but on trombone and with a wah-wah pedal. It comes very close to the sound of bending notes on a guitar.
To find out more about this amazing group, I called Mark while the band was on tour in the Midwest.
EU: So, I’ve been listening to your album Bringing It Home. It’s funky and tight, with that hell-on-wheels sound of four trombones. This is a fabulous record, and I’m glad you recorded live. Do you intend to record all your albums live? Also, tell me how you got started.
Mark: Absolutely, we believe that only live recordings are a true representation of the group’s sound. Besides, we love playing live and are not into studio recording. Craig Klein and I formed the band in 1998 as a fun project because we always wanted to hear a band with at least four trombones out front. When we found the players, we played a few selected gigs and it took off from there. At the time, we were working other jobs and projects. Soon, the Bonerama project was so much in demand by word of mouth; we decided it could be a full-time business.
EU: You started the band for the right reason–to have fun. If the band is having fun on stage, then the audience will usually have fun. Soon, everyone is having a ball and goes home happy. As the years have gone by, are you still having fun?
Mark: Yes, and if we weren’t we’d pack it in. Now, of course, we are in our 30s and 40s and we all have families with kids, so it’s difficult to go off on an extended tour. But everyone in the group and all the band members’ wives are supportive and believe in what we are doing, so we don’t mind touring to expose the band to new audiences. We get to a gig and worry about people showing up, but every time the place sells out and we have a ball. It’s really why we can keep doing it and not get burned out.
EU: I noticed that you have some vocals on your new album. Are you planning more songs with vocals?
Mark: Yes, as a matter of fact, we are moving to all vocal arrangements, but keeping a few instrumentals. Right now it’s about 50/50 vocals and instrumentals, but we are writing new songs all the time that include vocals, so that percentage will change.
Mark sounded genuinely excited about Bonerama, and his enthusiasm was infectious. The band includes Mark Mullins on trombone and vocals, Craig Klein on trombone and vocals, Steve Suter on trombone, Bert Cotton on guitar, Matt Perrine on sousaphone and Eric Bolivar on drums. The mighty trombone juggernaut rolls into Mojo’s Kitchen on Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach on August 3rd. Be prepared, because Bonerama will blow your socks off.
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