The Band - Lone Star Retrobates


Kevin McConnell, Mylos Sonka, Bryan Adams, Ray Landsberg, Bing Nathan, Garry Williams, Ray Green, Bob Akers at the Union Street Fair, San Francisco, 2010

Mylos, Bryan, Kevin		Bryan, Ray Landsberg, Johnny Cuviello (The Texas Drummer Boy)

Our Trailboss in the latest open-heel cowboy slippers		Zee Zee and Spex

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The Lone Star Retrobates is a boot-scootin’ dance band specializing in authentic West Coast Cowjazz. If Jazz is America’s musical taproot, then this roadhouse-swing fusion is its west-facing branch.

Featuring trumpet, sax, twin fiddles, both standard and pedal steel guitars, drums and standup bass, rich four- and five-part vocal harmonies and even trick yodeling on demand, the Retrobates sashay from hot swing to honkytonk. Let’s say Ella and The Inkspots were to gig with Billy Jack Wills at the corner of Louis Jordan and Ray Price, and say Hank Williams and the Modernaires were sitting in — that’s the Retrobates in a nutshell. Oh, and with laughing gas piped in — these guys have a lot of fun.

The Retrobates show pleases all comers: retro-roots for the youth, jump-boogie for the hipsters, classic swing with new arrangements for granddad, and good tight original arrangements and vocal harmony for the many musicians who like to drop by and sit in on their shows. They might slide easy-like into a sagebrush serenade, to rekindle the campfire classics of the Sons of the Pioneers or the Texas Playboys. They rustle up much of their inspiration from rare 78s, musical oaters, and radio transcriptions.

With a freshly retooled show featuring a kicking all-star horn section — each horn man a bandleader in his own right — and with the best Cowjazz singer on the West Coast, Bryan “Spex” Adams, ably assisted by Emily Bonn of the Bonn Vivants, the Retrobates are making a stir in the Bay Area alt-country and retro-roots scene. In addition to fronting their own groups, Retrobates alumni have been band members or recorded with Wills brothers Billy Jack and Bob, Jimmie Rivers, Junior Brown, Bill Monroe, The Neville Brothers, The Sky Blue Band, Kinky Friedman, Frank Wakefield, The Swing Cats, The San Francisco Starlight Orchestra, Dan Hicks, the Hot Club of San Francisco, Lavay Smith, Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, and many, many others.

They've made many radio and TV appearances, and have been featured at many west coast shindigs, including the Western Regional Folk Festival, the Northwest Regional Folklife Festival (Seattle), the San Diego Folk Festival, the Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival and the California State Fair. They played a seven-year engagement at Paul’s Saloon in San Francisco. Going on three years they’ve circled up the wagons the third Sunday of every month at Marin’s premiere hotspot, the 19 Broadway Niteclub in Fairfax. Now they are also playing first Sundays monthly, 3 to 6PM, at the scenic Presidio Yacht Club near Sausalito.

Mylos “Boogie” Sonka, the Retrobates trail boss, plays both steel and standard guitars, as well as the fiddle and tiple. He sings all vocal parts, though seldom at once. He has been an ace fancy yodeller since the tragic barbed-wire high jump accident. His main interest is western swing music, though back in the day he performed with bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, toured up and down the West Coast with The Frank Wakefield Band, and, with Butch Waller, co-founded High Country. For over 25 years he has played, off and on, with the jump vocal swing group On the Air, and these days he’s also chopping Freddie Green-style rhythm guitar with the 17-piece Ray Simpson Big Band.

Kevin “Cody” McConnell has been playing guitar since 1965, when he co-founded the infamous Sky Blue Band, playing blues and rock 'n' roll. Those days found him and the band jamming with such blues greats as Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield, and Luther Tucker, to name a few. His interests soon included jazz, often accompanying Harlem stride pianists Dan Dickson and occasionally the great Mike Lipskin.

		Bryan “Spex” Adams has been singing with Mylos for almost eight years. He has appeared with Johnny Dilks and the Visitation Valley Boys, Ned Ripple's Hot Club, and Don Burnham's Lost Weekend. He also appeared on Jeopardy a few years back (and he's still bent over losing). Among his major influences he cites Ella Fitzgerald, Tex Williams, Connie Boswell, Jimmie Rogers, Bette Midler, Joe Williams and Louis Prima.

		Emily “Zee Zee” Bonn leads her own band, Emily Bonn and the Vivants, and met the Retrobates backstage when they shared billing at a festival. They got to jamming and soon discovered she wanted to sing more swing and the Retrobates wanted her in their big-band-style harmony mix. Emily honed her original songs from busking in San Francisco BART stations to touring Europe in 2010 with The Vivants. She now makes frequent appearances in Bay Area clubs and festivals. As a featured vocalist with the Lone Star Retrobates, she finds inspiration from such pre-rock legends as Bob Wills, The Boswell Sisters and Louis Jordan.

		“Fiddle” Ray Landsberg, our musical professor, is a pint-sized saddle pal with ten gallons of talent. He has played with many well-known jazz and country artists. In the jazz field these have included Bart Bales, Dick Oxtot, Barbara Lashley, and Norman Teagarden. In country: Pat Cloud, Rhythm on the Range, and Fred Maddox. He also produced and appeared on the Melissa Collard CD, Time Changes Everything. Ray's fiddling has been influenced by Bob Wills and Louis Armstrong. His deadpan humor, often impossible to detect, is featured on Mal Sharpe's comedy record, The Meaning of Life, on Rhino Records. He is not on a record with Norton Buffalo but met him once. Recently Ray has recorded with Paul Mehling's Hot Club of San Francisco, Dan Hicks, the Monogram Boys, and the San Francisco Starlight Orchestra.



		“Curley” Bob Akers plays flute, clarinet, alto & tenor saxophones. Born in Whittier, California, Bob received considerable classical training in flute and clarinet early on. He developed a love of jazz and swing-era music in high school and took up the saxophone. He performed extensively in the 70s and 80s, culminating with several years as a member of the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point. He has performed as guest soloist in orchestras and symphonic bands throughout the Bay Area. Bob currently makes his home in Sonoma County and is in demand as a jazz soloist and big-band sideman as well as “subbing” in local orchestras

		Ray “Idaho Slim” Green on trumpet and vocals, has been playing with Curley Bob Akers, our reed man, in various bands for over 20 years, and their smooth and effortless ensemble work is wonderful to hear. Ray has also headed up his own outfit, the Ray Green Band, for the past seven years. Click to check out this Youtube of them from 2007—and check out Curley Bob with all that hair.



		Robert “Bing” Nathan, after studying doublebass with Stuart Sankey at the Aspen Festival and in NYC, Bing attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he played in the Orchestra conducted by Igor Stravinsky! Since moving to the bay area in 1965, Bing has played Western Swing (Lost Weekend), Rock (Notes from the Underground), Country (Bravo!), Rockabilly (Rockin’ Daddy), Blues (Cool Papa), in several symphony orchestras, Afro-Cuban Jazz (Ulysses Crockett), Dawg music (David Grisman), and swing and early R’n’B (Lavay Smith, Steve Lucky, and his own bands (Swingin’ Thing and the New Bing Thing). He stepped into the boots of Johnny Cuviello and Peter Lind as the core of our rhythm section as drummer... You know those are big boots to fill and he does it well! For more info on Bing Nathan you can visit his website: www.bingnathan.com.

		Greg Dunn, our bass man, first picked up a guitar at age fifteen and was soon jamming and gigging with friends playing guitar, bass and drums. He also played guitar in his high school jazz band. While in college he played in an acoustic Grateful Dead cover band known as The Dreadful Ingrates. After relocating to the Bay Area he played guitar with the Mos Eisley Brothers—a funk cover band, and also played upright bass with Our Trailboss in On the Air. He currently plays upright bass in various traditional, gypsy Hot Club and straight-ahead jazz combos—and electric bass in the rock 'n' roll band Chopper 5.

		The Rhythm Guitar Rotation: Originally Kevin, our take-off guitar man, covered rhythm guitar, but when he soloed, Fiddle Ray and Mylos would have to cover the job with cheesy fake rhythm chops on fiddle and steel. Several top-notch archtop rhythm guitar players, doubtless horrified, started asking to sit in, so it has evolved into a seat held down variously by Bob Wilson (who once recorded with Merle Travis), Bill DeKuiper (Swing Shift, On the Air, Hot House Swing Band, and others), Don Burnham (band leader of Lost Weekend Western Swing Band), and occasionally Dick Wilson (who once recorded with Duane Eddy), or our own genius webmaster-photographer Victor Landweber (website). You just never know. And Kevin? He's happier than a gopher in soft dirt because he gets to do more fills behind the vocals and join in on riffs with the horn section.

Concerts, Fairs and Festivals

California State Fair Sacramento
Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival
Northwest Regional Folk Festival, Seattle WA
Western Regional Folk Festival CA
Bill Graham’s Shoreline Amphitheater w/ Patsy Montana
Oakland Festival of the Arts
San Benito and Sonoma County Fairs
San Diego Folk Festival concert and workshops
S.F. Folk Festival, Fort Mason—concert and guitar workshop
Jack London Square Oakland mayor’s rally
San Francisco State University concert
Luther Burbank Arts Center concert
Annual Stern Grove Concerts
Tuolumne County Wild West Film Festival
Grand National Rodeo—Cow Palace, San Francisco

Radio and Television

KPFA-FM the “Midnight Special”
KQED-TV with Lone Star—San Francisco Public Library Benefit
East Bay Community Access TV—“On Stage” program with Lone Star
KQED-FM - Sedge Thompson’s “West Coast Weekend”
KKUP-FM, Cupertino CA

Corporate

Moscone Center SF
Cast party for “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”
Marlo Thomas birthday party, with Tommy Tunes
Int’l Singer Sewing Machine Convention
Francis Ford Coppola filmcrew vineyard campout—filmed for documentary
Cascade Ranch dance-BBQ, Ano Nueva State Park

Clubs

Napa-Sonoma-Marin:
19 Broadway Fairfax
Fairfax Lodge
Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
Old Western Saloon, Point Reyes
Presidio Yacht Club
Rancho Nicasio, CA
Rosebud’s, Benecia CA
San Rafael Elks Lodge
SF Scottish Right Temple Western Dance NIght
Silverado Country Club and Resort
Sweetwater Mill Valley
San Francisco and Peninsula:

23 Club and Dick’s Tower Brisbane CA
Fairmont and St. Francis Hotels
Fort Mason Plowshares concert with Patsy Montana
Lucky Luke’s, North Beach
Mariott’s Great America
One Market Plaza
Owl & Monkey
Paul’s Saloon, San Francisco—8 years as the house band
Pier 23 on Embarcadero
SF Public Library Artists Series
The Waterfront
East Bay and beyond:

Askhenaz
Bear’s Lair, UCB
Freight & Salvage
Kensington Western Days, CA—Lone Star
Olympia Tavern, Fresno
Petty Officer’s Club, Alameda Naval Air Station
Western Swing Society, Sacramento

Lone Star at the St. Franciso Hotel, San Francisco, December 13, 1990. Standing: Johnny Cuviello, Bruce Stelter, Mylos Sonka, Joe Yamamoto. Kneeling: Piper Heisig, Vance Terry		Billy “Longhead” Wilson—steel, Mylos Sonka—guitar, Bruce Stelter—guitar, Ray Landsberg—fiddle, Piper Heisig—bass

Lone Star at the Freight and Salvage, L-R Tony Marcus, Paul Scott, Larry Lyons, Mylos Sonka		Lone Star at Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival, 1981, L-R Brian Godchaux, Tony Marcus, Paul Scott, Mylos Sonka, Larry Lyons

Mylos with the Texas Playboys, Leon Springs, Texas. L-R: Leon Chambers, Mylos Sonka, Bob Rosenquist, Casey Dickens. Off camera is Herb Remington.		Mylos with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Bean Blossom, Indiana, 1967. L-R: Byron Berline, Lamar Grier, Bill Monroe, Mylos Sonka.

Lead Vocalist Emily Bonn Larry Lyons Bruce Stelter Pete Charles Bryan “Spex” Adams Fiddle Tony Marcus Stephanie Davis Kevin Wimmer “Fiddle” Ray Landsberg Mark Mazerek Bryan Godchaux Joe Yamamoto Paul Shelasky Jeremy Cohen Steel & Dobro Gene Tortora Billy “Longhead” Wilson Vance Terry Willy Williams Jay Riley David Philips Joe Goldmark Mylos Sonka Lead Guitar Mylos Sonka Dick Wilson Kevin McConnell Bass Pud Zippers (Paul Scott) Bethany Raine Beth Weill Piper Heisig Greg Dunn Bing Nathan Steve Strauss		Sax & Clarinet Jim Rothermel Spencer Hollis Brian Campbell Steve Deutsch “Curly” Bob Akers Trumpet Phil Wood Ray “Idaho Slim” Green Drums Johnny Cuviello Peter Lind Chris Carpiniello Bing Nathan Piper Heisig Tom “Pep” Peplinski Rhythm Guitar Bob Wilson Don Burnham (of Lost Weekend) Victor Landweber (LSR webmaster) Bill DeKuiper Billy “Longhead” Wilson Guest Vocalists Patsy Montana (wrote “I want to be a cowboy’s sweetheart” and was the first female million seller in country music) Fred Maddox (The Maddox Brothers and Rose) Lonesome Chuck Wheeler D. L. Maynard (The Cajun Hank Williams) Rusty Richards (The Sons of the Pioneers) Don Burnham (Band Leader of Lost Weekend) Carolyn Martin (The Time Jumpers) Pam Brandon (Lost Weekend) Jim Passard (The Lost Cats) Rusty Evans (Ring of Fire) Shorty Joe Quartuccio Mellissa Collard

BLUEGRASS BREAKDOWN MAGAZINE: “Lone Star is an acoustic western swing band. This kind of music works well acoustically and Lone Star does an especially nice job of it. The double fiddling of Tony Marcus and Brian Godchaux is beautifully tight and evocative. The sweet soaring sound of twin fiddles is as pretty a tone as you’ll hear in country music. Mylos Sonka has always been one of the Bay Area’s best country singers and it’s good to hear his stylish sounds in such a good band. I like Lone Star’s non-imitative but dedicated and respectful treatment of older country music.”

— Robbie Macdonald, “The 1981 Fall Grass Valley Festival in Retrospect,” Bluegrass Breakdown, vol 7 No 6 Nov/Dec 1981

MAL SHARPE: “I myself, aside from running a production company, am a trombone player and play with traditional New Orleans jazz bands. Many “trad” players have, over the years, sat in with or been part of Lonestar. Traditonal jazz is one of the main tributaries of Southwestern music, so it should be no surprise that traditional musicians and swing musicians blend in with the Lonestar sound. It’s not at all unusual to find trumpet, clarinet, and trombone players from many of the Bay Area jazz bands dropping by Paul’s Saloon to jam with Lonestar on a Sunday evening. These sessions always seem tremendously healthy for both styles of music. I highly recommend the Lonestar show for its musicianship, vocal harmony and the joy that they exude while performing. They are a very entertaining band to watch… Recently I used several members of the band on a KQED TV production entitled “Hello, Columbus.” [which aired nationally on PBS]. They perform very thoroughly under unusual shooting conditions, but I guess with a name like Lonestar they should have an agreeable affiliation with shooting!””

— “Man on the Street” Mal Sharpe is an icon of broadcast and TV production. “Hello, Columbus” won a Grammy that year.

FAITH PETRIC: “I have known Mylos Sonka and Lonestar for over ten years…. The music they perform is of cultural and historical importance. To hear it live, performed by such top musicians as comprise Lonestar will enormously inform and enrich the lives of all who hear them.”

— Faith Petric, SF Folk Music Center and Sing Out! Magazine, 1987

TONY RICE: “This is wonderful music. There’s various groups that try to play it, that have all the chops but not the feeling and the understanding of it. You guys are the real thing, and it’s real good to know that this music is being done the way it should be. It’s a great band.”

— Tony Rice at Paul’s Saloon, San Francisco

BILL HOOL: “I appreciate hearing musicians having a good time working things out. Too slick I don't think is all that fun (though your ‘slick’ sounds good too). Watching you guys interacting with the music and each other while having fun provides a really enjoyable experience. I could go for more. I don't think musicians on your level can do too much on-the-spot improvising, rearranging, redoes, and noodling around—you are at that level. The audience feels a part of something being constructed by great artists.”

— Bill Hool, one of our greatest fans

BARBARA MARTIN: “I know these guys—they are great players. Check ’em out!”

— Barbara Martin, Western Swing Monthly

PAUL LIBERATORE, MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL: “What comes through … is a genuine love of this brand of authentic Americana. For fans of western swing, the complete CD will be something to look forward to.”

— Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal music critic, reviewing the Retrobates EP release.

MITCH WOODS: “This is the best band in the County!”

— Mitch Woods (Mitch Woods and the Rocket 88s) June 2011, Presidio Yacht Club, Sausalito

CAROLYN MARTIN: “To Mylos, Thanks to you and your fabulous Lone Star Retrobates. You guys are wonderful and super talented… a great band!”

—Time Jumper and Texas Western Swing Hall of Famer Carolyn Martin, July 2011

JOSE SEGUE: “Louis Jordan with Stetsons and steel guitar—They play cowjazz, honky-tonk, bop, swing and whatever else they can get away with as long as people are hittin' the dance floor.”

—Jose Segue of Hickswithsticks.com

“Thank you for making the Country Western Dance and Firehouse Chili Cook-off a HUGE success. Thank you so much for playing… everybody loved you!”

— Abby and the Bodega Bay Grange Hall Committee

“Just an over the top performance. I believe you guys do this every other night, and it sure shows. You guys are consummate professionals. I know that I speak for everyone who attended last night when I say that you guys were awesome! Please pass the praise and thanks of Fairfax Lodge 556 to your band-- for an unforgettable night of music!”

— Michael Paynter, Larkspur

Posted on the Lonestar Retrobates’ Facebook Wall: “Wow you guys are so good I felt like I was in a movie. Pristine accomplishments! Great Show. You’re bound for the Waldorf Astoria I think”

— Beebee Simmons, a Bay Area TV producer

“YEEEHAWWW!!! Here come those Retrobates again!! …Join Marin's premier Western Swing/Barnyard Boogie band for dancin' & a-carryin' on…”

—Local “Music Vibe” Online Events Calendar

“You guys are definitely the band of my dreams. Love ya!”

—Pollyanna Jitterbug Jones, posted on the Lonestar Retrobates Facebook wall

“I hate country music, but I love you guys!”

—And bless their hearts, this is one we get real often at the bandstand.

“The Lonestar Retrobates - This fantastic Western Swing band is a must see act. But be prepared: you will have to fight your way onto the dancefloor wherever they play, because they know how to swing! They'll be playing Sunday June 19th at 19 Broadway.”

—Miracle Mule Newsletter #2 June 15, 2011

“For a rip roarin’ good time join The Lonestar Retrobates when they play on the third Sunday of the month. See them on the 20th starting at 3 p.m. at 19 Broadway in Fairfax. They play barnyard bebop and swingin’ cowboy jazz. Johnny Cuviello, Bob Wills' drummer at 94 years young, lives in Milpitas and he often sits in on a few songs about every other month.”

—Larry Carlin – Carlton’s Corner June 2010.

“Emily sounds like she comes from Memphis Tennessee or Macon Georgia on her rootsy debut CD, “Songs from Alabama Street.” The young multi-instrumentalist plays guitar and banjo and sings in a laconic drawl that’s as homespun as a gingham bonnet. She’s been mentioned in the same breath as Gillian Welch, Neko Case and the Be Good Tanyas. On the strength of the seven engaging original songs on this auspicious first album of acoustic Americana, she deserves to be in that company. Click to read the entire review.

—Paul Liberatore, “That Was 2011 – The Year in Review,” reviewing the 10 best local albums of 2011.