Those
Good Time,
Hard Drivin,
Philosophical Blues
A
double-major in biology and philosophy bound for medical school, Gordon
Bonham departed the well-beaten path to become one of the Midwests
most entertaining and respected blues guitarists.
by Howard Hewitt
If life is a journey defined by learning, Gordon Bonham 80, is a
constant traveler.
The noted blues guitarist is better known for his bottleneck steel guitar
playing and hot licks with his Gordon Bonham Blues Band than he is for
his philosophical outlook on life.
And thats just fine with him.
Bonham arrived at Wabash in 1976 as a promising Hammond High School distance
runner. But an interest in music had started to build as he played the
trumpet in his high school jazz band. His parents had bought him an old
beat-up six-string guitar when he was 15 in exchange for painting their
home.
He moved up to his first electric guitar while at Wabash. But he also
concentrated on his biology major with an eye toward medical school. By
his sophomore year he became attracted to the intellectual challenges
in philosophy. He graduated magna cum laude with a double major.
After graduation, Bonham chose to depart from the path into medicine many
predicted. He followed his growing love for music.
I like to think one of the most important things I learned at Wabash
is that you can do whatever you want, the 44-year-old said. I
kind of chose a crazy thing to do. But just like anything else, you put
your head down and work on it and you can do it.
Bonham has approached his music career with the same determination he
did academics and athletics. He has played with many greats and traveled
the nation and Europe choosing music over academia or medicine.
A philosophy degree is a perfect thing for a blues player,
he laughed. Dont ask me why. Its a thinking persons
degree. Those degrees teach you to read, write, and think. It was refreshing.
There wasnt a job it was directing me toward when I graduated, it
was knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
While pursuing that knowledge, Bonham sowed the seeds of his music career
with a trio playing small shows around campus and Crawfordsville. While
reflecting on his College days at his Story, Indiana, home one August
afternoon, he recalled Professor Bill Placher 70 showing up for
one of his groups performances.
There are good teachers and great teachers, Bonham recalled.
He is just one of those persons who inspire. He made the whole process
fun.
The admiration is returned today. Placher recalls Bonham earning distinction
during his senior comprehensive exams.
Gordon had been a good student, but not right at the top of the
class, so his distinction signaled that he had really been thinking about
what he was learning and putting the pieces of his education together
for himself, Placher said. I had sensed that about him, so
it surprised him more than it did me.
I knew about his guitar playing when he was a student, but I guess
I thought of him more as a distance runner than a guitarist. I terrifically
admire the way he has remained true to what he really wanted to do ...
make a living in a very tough field.
It wasnt easy.
After graduation Bonham decided to pursue his dream. He moved home and
substitute taught in local schools. He also worked landscaping. But while
living in Hammond he frequented Chicago blues clubs and improved his skills
by listening to and playing with many of the citys great musicians.
He also made frequent trips to Bloomington, where the music crowd his
music was warmly received. He started sharing the stage with household
names like REM, the Georgia Satellites, REO Speedwagon, and John Prine.
Most were in town recording at John Mellencamps studios. Mellencamp
drummer Kenny Aronoff started playing with Bonham in the Ragin Texans,
a group of legendary stature in the Bloomington area.
But Bonham wanted to travel and see the world. He hooked up with Texas
harmonica master Gary Primmich and the Mannish Boys, toured the country
and Europe. He played with a couple of other groups before fronting the
Cooler Kingsa band that also toured Europe and had significant critical
acclaim in the early 90s. Then, the Gordon Bonham Blues Band came together
in 1994.
The four-piece band includes Indianapolis veteran drummer Jeff Chapin
and Smokin Dave Wyatt on bass. Tom Harold adds harmonica and occasional
vocals.
Bonham and his band members like the simple old songs. His band or acoustic
show is certain to include a dose of legendary blues man Robert Johnsons
songs, old standards and Delta blues.
I call it the blues Top 40, he explained, sipping lemonade
and sitting near his small horse barn in Brown County. We play a
lot of Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, I also throw in some of the
Texas stuff, The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I kinda copy some of the sounds
they have, what I think of as Texas bluesreal guitar-driven with
harmonica.
PERHAPS THE ONLY THING MORE AMAZING than Bonhams mastery of the
electric, acoustic, and resonator guitar and energetic band performance
is that hes self-taught. I didnt take lessons, but I
did hang out with people who were better than me. I kind of learned by
watching and being around good players.
He cites Johnson, Bukka White and Jimmy Walker among his many musical
influences. He listens to a lot of 70s classic blues rock and describes
himself as a folkie. He listens to Bob Dylans older
material every day.
He has plenty of time to catch tunes on his car stereo. He commutes almost
daily from his secluded Story home to Indianapolis, an hour-and-a-half
drive.
He shares a small farmhouse with his wife, Francie, and three-year-old
daughter, Emma Clare. Francie has worked as a graphic artist while Emma
Clares work is restricted to chalk on a front walk. Story, Brown
County State Park, and the Hoosier National Forest surround the yellow
frame house. The Bonhams share their solitude with four horses, a cow,
several cats, and one old dog.
The time at Story is precious to the self-proclaimed family man. He often
doesnt arrive home until very late at night, early morning for most.
I try to be a day person, and by definition Im a night person,
he explained. I typically perform 9 p.m.1 a.m. and get home
at three or four in the morning. Then I get up at nine and try to do stuff
with my family.
Im lucky because I get to be home all day with my family.
Its like Im on vacation all the time. I just dont get
to sleep. I tend to function okay, maybe after all those years of running,
my metabolism is such that I have stamina for it I rarely get more
than four or five hours of sleep.
The life of a working musician requires additional hours on the road,
talking with agents, publicity and "keeping my calendar full.
He says the weekend bar dates are his bread and butter, but corporate
shows and special performances usually pay better.
Its never decent enough, but it gets better every year,
he said of his standard of living. Ive reached certain plateaus
Im very proud of. We enjoy our modest life out here ... so its
not hard to make ends meet.
BONHAMS REWARDS HAVE GROWN WITH HIS MOVE INTO ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE.
While his band plays mostly on weekends, blues fans are likely to find
Bonham on a weeknight in a Bloomington or Indianapolis bar, a Borders
Bookstore or any number of corporate performances.
He has a 1998 release titled Get Back Home of all acoustic
material. He wrote half of the CDs 16 tracks. His bands CD,
Low Down and Blue, was released in 1999.
He started the solo performances in the late 1980s when he returned from
his days with Primmich.
Id always been in bands, Id never been on stage by myself.
I remember my mom saying, Play me a song Mr. Guitar player
... they [his parents] really didnt know what I did.
But hes now hooked on the solo efforts.
When youre holding an acoustic instrument, theres a
lot more going on in the subtleties, and its a lot scarier too.
Volume is a big thing to lean on [with electric]; its kinda easy
to club people over the head with an electric instrument. Its easy
to show off, easy to get their attention, easy to make them dance, easy
to manipulate them to do whatever you want ... and thats thrilling
too ... but when I play solo, I still break a little sweat.
The misconceptions people have of a working musicians life are many,
and the weekly routine can have Bonham working up a lather. He performs
five or six nights a week and nearly 300 nights a year.
Its a lot harder than people might think. They see me having
so much fun up there and gosh, Im putting in, like, 12-hour days
almost every day. I may only be onstage for four hours, but are hours
of drive time, setting up and tearing down. People dont believe
I carry my own stuff. They dont believe I mow my own yard.
His enthusiasm shows on stage. Bonham, hair tied back in a ponytail, bounces
through his set. Hes happy. Hes having fun. And dont
think playing the blues gives a musician the down-and-outs.
Blues is party, fun musicmusic to get over the blues,
he says with a touch of defiance. People usually want to know what
kind of blues I play: for me its good times. I want to let people
know blues is not sad music. I think most people kinda know that now.
Bluegrass is pretty sad, thoughsongs about hollerin, and so
and so dyin ...
But hes also finding enjoyment in sharing his talent. Bonham started
teaching while at Wabash. But having never taken a lesson, he didnt
know where to start. "Id just sit there and say this is how
I taught myself and Ill show you what I did."
He still teaches but prefers to think of it as tutoring or mentoring.
"I usually take people who are already professional or established
players. They might want to learn how to play some slide guitar or delta
blues stuff. Ill show them things, tricks and things that I do."
He would like to do more clinics and perhaps record a video of his lessons.
The idea of an adult learning camp also appeals to him.
Bonham has appeared with the growing Indianapolis Jazz Fest. In 2000,
he split the bill with Robert Cray, John Hiatt and Al Green. Just this
year he did 12 junior high school clinics teaching students about the
blues. It was really fun and there are lots of opportunities to
do education things, he said. I would like to do more stuff
like that.
While teaching is a growing passion, Bonham also aches to expand his own
skills. When someone asks me whats on my mind ... I want to
learn more, he said with genuine enthusiasm. I feel like theres
not enough time to learn the stuff I want to know. Ive kind of been
branching off a little bit into folk music. And, Ive been learning
banjo and mandolin. Id like to know how to play everything.
These styles would be incorporated into my brand of blues. Its
what I love to listen to in the car and when Im at home. And, gosh,
I want to play it too.
As the interview ends, he explains that a friend is on the way over to
visit. Bonham plans to cook dinner, talk a while. Then the two of them
are learning to play the ukulele.
For Bonham, the journey never ends.
pulled quotes
A philosophy degree is a perfect thing for a blues player. Its
a thinking persons degree
knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
I terrifically admire the way he has remained true to what he really
wanted to do ... make a living in a very tough field.
When youre holding an acoustic instrument, theres a
lot more going on in the subtleties, and its a lot scarier too.
Its kinda easy to club people over the head with an electric instrument.
Its easy to show off, easy to get their attention, easy to make
them dance, easy to manipulate them to do whatever you want ... and thats
thrilling too ... but when I play solo acoustic, I still break a little
sweat.
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