Bonehead…“Have done it all”

by Jimmy Abgarian

For 18 years Bonehead has been one of the top drawing acts in the tri-state area. In 1994 Eddie and Chris from Slippery and the skirt chasers created Stone Groove Productions and decided to put together a band of the best musicians they could find. Rather than take a group of guys who were friends who may have a weak link, they auditioned a bunch of musicians and dubbed them “Bonehead”. At the time it was unheard of to take to the free agent market and cherry pick talent. This process proved to be a perfect business model for them. Using the Alternative music of the time to shape the band, Bonehead skyrocketed at a rapid fire pace. Having played all of the top clubs in the Philly area as well as saturating the Shore market, they only seemed to get better. In 1999 they released a CD of original songs through Vulgar entertainment and produced by Grammy award winning producer James Cravero. Fade would prove to be a steppingstone to bigger things to come. The buzz from the Fade cd caught the attention of producer Don Gehman and they were soon signed to a major label. For legal reasons the name of the band had to be changed to Familiar 48. They then released Wonderful Nothing in April 2002. Wonderful nothing is still a great CD that released today would have an entirely different end result. In 2003 after the minor success of Wonderful Nothing lead singer Jayy Mannon decided to put the band on hiatus to work on some original music. 2005 saw the reformation of Bonehead with Jayy being the only original member. With the reformation of the band Jayy along with Vulgar records rereleased Fade their first full length CD adding 4 bonus tracks. Playing sporadically and not keeping the schedule that would burn them out proved to be essential in creating the new music that would make up the 2007 release “Broken and Glued”.

Over the years for this band one person has remained through everything. Jayy Mannon has been the Front man from day one. The band was put together around him and he took Bonehead to places most band only dream about. He understands that Bonehead is a brand name and treats it as such. Jayy can walk into a room with a guitar sit down and garner the attention of everyone. Years of playing have made the Bonehead show look almost effortless. I have seen Bonehead a lot over the years and have seen Jayy take time to talk to everyone about everything and not think twice about giving advice to up and comers. The current lineup of Bonehead consists of some of the best veterans of the scene. Drummer Daryl Updike and Mike Arrelano and Jeff Camarco are all former members of The Interns. Daryl is the owner of United Strength Academy in Trenton NJ that handles personal strength and conditioning as well as being a full service training facility. Mike works at Hoshino makers of Ibanez guitars. Jay is a color specialist and stylist at salon Zen in Warrington. When not working their day jobs the band plays acoustic and full band shows all over the area. I had a chance to check them out at The Limit (formerly Reeds) and for the first time in a long time felt that I got more than my moneys worth. I suggest that you take what I say with a grain of salt and check them out for yourself. It will be worth it, I promise you.

You can get their schedule and check out their music at

www.boneheadlive.com