TAKING music back to its simplest form wasn’t a conscious decision made by The John Wesley Stone, but rather a natural progression.
The band had its first gig in October after having been together for only two months and is passionate about keeping the sound ‘rootsy’.
‘Someone approached us and offered to play double bass,’ explained member Tinshack.
‘We turned him down – we want to keep it raw.’
Heavily influenced by country, rockabilly and one member’s love for the Cramps, The John Wesley Stone produces a sound that no other band in Guernsey does. And it’s not to be confused with ‘folk’ music, either.
The philosophy behind country and ‘hillbilly’ music fits closely with the band – no messing about, playing fast and most importantly, having fun.
‘If there is no fun in music, there is no point,’ said baritone and guitar, bass and harp player Hillbill.
‘We do have really good fun playing together,’ added fiddler Nashville.
The band like to keep to the ideal of the music speaking for itself, avoiding the heavily produced sound found with most artists of today.
‘We like the do-it-yourself approach,’ said Lynchburg.
‘It’s simple but it works.’
‘We’ve had some good feedback,’ said Tinshack.
‘Which I find odd,’ Hillbill chipped in, ‘as the band was a complete accident that just happened to work well.
‘It was something we all wanted to do, I guess.’
The John Wesley Stone is a refreshing change of pace for Hillbill and Lynchburg, who both wanted to do something different from the output of their other band, Thee Jenerators.
‘We were talking for a while on how we wanted to do something acoustically,’ said Hillbill.
‘So I turned up at his house with a pair of drumsticks and drank cider in his garage,’ said Lynchburg.
‘We were going to do an acoustic version of Mystery Man.’
Not long after the garage incident, Shaun Shackleton, aka Tinshack, expressed his desire to do something musically and the Dukes of Vazon’s classically trained Nashville joined later, playing fiddle to add some dynamic to the sound.
‘I was quite apprehensive at first,’ he said.
‘But not about joining the band – about the speed they played at. I tried it and it worked – and we play faster out than we do in rehearsals.’
The members are quick to note that playing at a big venue on a big stage isn’t their thing.
‘I think Pieces bar will be the only stage you’ll see us play on,’ said Tinshack.
‘We’re more like trailer-trash music that you’ll find in bars and small places – similar to a session in an Irish bar.’
‘Plus the sound we produce would not come across right on a big sound system,’ explained Lunchburg.
‘It more like bluegrass busking.’
The band is about to play its first gig in three months at Pieces bar with Thee Jenerators.
‘Expect a fast-paced performance, a raw sound and a lot of fun,’ said Tinshack.
- Catch The John Wesley Stone at Pieces bar on Saturday. Listen to some raw recordings at www.my-space.com/johnwesleystone.
Article posted on 5th June, 2008 - 3.19pm
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