With their music, Tucson band Abes Bones brings their own style of psychedelic folk rock. Throughout their history, they have continued to evolve, and this growth is highlighted in their new album “Strafed by All Gods Angels.”
On Saturday, Sept. 14, the band will be celebrating their new album with a show at Che’s Lounge. They will be joined by The Working People and Sherbet & Champagne — two other local Tucson bands.
Abes Bones is made up of vocalist and guitar player James Willis, bass player and backup vocalist Shane Harkins and drummer and backup vocalist Ben Pearson. Their newest member Sam Ritchie, who just joined the group recently, plays the keys, guitar and trumpet.
Pearson comes from a musical family, with a dad who is a drummer. Willis plays drums in the band Human Sounds as well. Harkins, who did jazz band as a teen, also plays bass in Coffin Hotbox.
Along with the three core members, the album has Rachel Cummings on flute, Christian Payne on guitar and piano and Mark Ferguson on saxophone and keys. Luca D’Ippolito served as producer. The Wurlitzer is featured on the song “Fast on the Road,” which was the first single they released off the album.
Willis said the new album explores the topics of loss and personal maturation. He said he has gone through a lot in his life and survived it, which the record explores.
“I think that this album ‘Strafed by All Gods Angels,’ is a reference to ‘The Book of Job.’ It’s definitely not a Christian album,” Willis said. “As a person who studied anthropology at the University of Arizona, I connect very deeply with that story as somebody who has had everything taken away from them, doesn’t have the opportunity to ask why and just has to live with what their lot in life is and do their best. I think there’s something that gets in my head about that. I relate to it.”
The album was recorded live by the trio, with some overdubs from other musicians added later.
“We recorded it all live in my living room,” Willis said. “My buddy Luca, he helped produce the album. A lot of his recording equipment was used when we made this album… I had really wanted to record all of these songs live with all of us in a room. With the last album we made, I poked at it for too long, and I kept adding little things to it, kept touching it up. That was with a whole other group. All of those people moved away. Once we had this chemistry, me, Shane and Ben, it just felt right. The most takes we ever took on one of the songs on this album was maybe three takes. Several of the songs we hit record. We played it one time, and then we stopped recording, and it was done.”
Leading up to making the album, the three band members rehearsed and jammed together for a few months and played two shows with each other. Willis said that the band has kept a similar sound over the years, but the energy has changed because of what the other musicians bring to the group.
Willis explained with the music, he tries to use very simple structures melodically while embracing more “out there” ideas lyrically. He does, however, use dissonance and spookier-sounding sonic elements in the music.
“Generally, everything is in the folk-rock tradition of three chords, four chords, a verse, a chorus, maybe a bridge, and that’s it,” he said. “I don’t overcomplicate it… I think a big inspiration for me as a musician and the way I approach art is Jack White of the White Stripes, the very simple straightforward two-piece. My first band I ever played in was a two-piece blues rock band. It just feels right to me to have three to four people.”
Abes Bones’ music has been featured on KXCI and 99.1 FM Downtown Radio.
The group has performed in different spots in Tucson, including Brick Box Brewery, Club Congress and Desert Island Records. They also have played Firecreek Coffee Co. in Flagstaff and the Trunk Space in Phoenix. A few years ago, they performed at the Sidepony Express Music Festival in Bisbee. In February, they did an event called the 12*12 Fest, which spotlighted a number of local bands. Willis performed with both Abes Bones and Human Sounds.
Willis came up with the band name “Abes Bones” while at a restaurant for his dad’s birthday.
“I looked up at the ceiling, and I saw a bicycle on the ceiling, and the words ‘Abes Bones’ popped into my head,” Willis said.
The band name also ties to his religious upbringing and the band’s connections to American folk traditions.
“I think a lot of the songs I write have a lot to do with me trying to express the depth of my relationship with a superior being, call it ‘God,’ what have you, trying to cope with that, seeing the things I go through in my life, trying to process it in the context of my relationship with God,” Willis said. “Secondarily, the core of how we write songs is based in American folk music, the tradition from the Appalachia, down south with the origins of blues and jazz and just American music generally.”
The current lineup for Abes Bones has been together for about six months. Willis said the three of them developed a strong connection very quickly.
“As soon as we got into the same room together, we just had a chemistry together that was undeniable,” Willis said. “It felt so right. I was so there for it.”
Willis put together the group back in 2014 while he was living in Flagstaff.
“I started this project up there, but at that point, it was just me,” he said. “Actually, in September, it will be ten years of me working on this, of doing Abes Bones, which is pretty weird to think about. I was a teenager when I started.”
Willis grew up with a piano in his house and took some lessons, but he really took an interest in playing music around age 12 or 13 when his brother brought home a David Bowie CD.
“I always thought that playing drums was cool and playing rock music was cool, but that really grabbed me and never let go,” Willis said. “Then, I got into playing drums, and I taught myself guitar when I was a teenager.”
For a time, Willis went to school for, and thought he would go, into film. He found that music was a better fit.
“I can just sit down, and if I have a piece of recording equipment, I can just hit record, and I can make a piece of art,” Willis said.
Willis said he is attracted to rock music because of its DIY vibe, which is also prevalent in the Tucson music scene.
There have been times when Willis has played on his own. He said the experience made him grow as an entertainer and become more creative with his onstage presence, but he prefers to be with a band.
“It wasn’t as exciting for me as playing with other people,” Willis said. “Connecting with other musicians onstage is just such an exhilarating experience.”
Abes Bones “Strafed by All Gods Angels” Release Party
WHEN: 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14
WHERE: Che’s Lounge, 350 N. 4th Avenue, Tucson
COST: No cover. 21 and older
INFO: instagram.com/abesbones
