Two nights of Bonneville at Duling Hall, with special guests Shelly Fairchild, Tenia, and Rita Brent

meet BONNEVILLE

Sometimes an artistic journey is a road back in time, to a place where you can see and feel the most genuine version of yourself. If you manage to honor those roots and embrace the wisdom of the past, you may find the most authentic and purest form of your art.

The road for Bonneville has been leading to such a place. And it’s where we pick up the journey for band members Jeff Hayashi and Wes McGee. Both have had a lifelong, deep, and abiding love of music. And both have traveled a long and sometimes bumpy road in search for the best and truest expression of that love. Their retro-soul, R&B sound embodies that fearless reflection of their artistic and family roots. The energy in their music expresses the joy of those revelations.

For Wes, the time machine reveals childhood memories of his father’s well-traveled and meticulously maintained Gibson 335 guitar, which sat by the door in a worn and weathered case. It was a sacred, off-limits object, but irresistible to Wes, who stole moments to open the case and strum the strings. He grew up hearing artists like Journey and Phil Collins, and was emotionally gripped by the sound and the stories in the music. “It helped to sew the tapestry of who I became” says Wes, “listening to these people and understanding their tones”. At an early age, Wes began forging a deep connection to music.

But a debilitating injury suffered by his father would change the tone. It pushed practical matters to the fore, and put distance between Wes and his creative urges. “In college, I did what everyone told me to do”, says Wes. He began his professional life in IT work. It took time, but his true calling would emerge. Influenced by a crush on a girl, he tried his hand at acting and rediscovered his artistic nature. Soon, he had a revelation: “I don’t

have to be anyone else except who I wanna be”, say Wes. These days, his creative pursuits are numerous, with success as a writer and an actor with recurring roles on several TV shows. But music is his first love, and Bonneville is the vehicle to revisit those early influences. A trained and versatile vocal talent, Wes handles lead vocals for Bonneville.

When guitarist and songwriter Jeff Hayashi bought a Gibson 335 guitar identical to the one owned by Wes’ father all those years ago, a sense of “this is meant to be” was brought to their musical collaboration. Like Wes, Jeff was captivated by music in his childhood and heavily influenced by his father, a jazz/rock drummer who was to be his first and only guitar teacher. Having learned the major chords by the age of 11, Jeff would be truly self-taught from that point forward. And it seems both the teacher and the student flourished. “Jeff pulls songs, rhythms, and melodies out the air like nobody I’ve ever seen”, say Wes.

Jeff’s musical time travel is embodied in his love of old & rare guitars, as evidenced by his purchase of the Gibson, one among a large collection of guitars. His favorite is a 1957 reissue Les Paul Black Beauty, a key component of the retro southern blues sound that is Bonneville’s acoustic signature. For Jeff, Bonneville has been a long time coming, and his collaboration with Wes gives him the artistic space to make the music that he has long wanted to make. Wes’ vocal talents provide an example. “There’s a freedom, like shackles being removed”, say Jeff. “I feel like I can write whatever I want, and Wes can sing it.” Bonneville is for Jeff, as it is for Wes, a return to his past to find his true artistic voice. “For the first time in my life”, says Jeff, “I am writing and playing the music that is closest to my soul.”

Bonneville’s musical journey continues as the pair experiments with new sounds. But the thread running through it all is a connection to the music of previous generations. It’s not a strictly retro sound, but it echos the shared musical passions of the previous generation for both men, and harkens back to the time of hand-crafted, “analogue” music. It’s a beautifully imperfect sound that is informed by deep roots and a deep artistic passion. It inspires belief in Bonneville’s unique journey, and it makes you want to go along for the ride.

Doors – 7:00pm | Show – 8:00pm

Listen to their latest single Roll Me and watch live performance of Get up n’ Get Down with Shelly Fairchild to get a sneak peek at the show you’ll be seeing at Duling Hall on March 10th.

Our friends at Saltine Restaurant serve a food menu from doors to showtime and provide a full bar with signature cocktails throughout the entire event.

Duling Hall is an Independent Venue that welcomes all music lovers.