The Bonedaddys, are L.A.’s original “Worldbeatniks” (since 1984) and one of the very first American bands to be described as Worldbeat. The Bonedaddys still take a “wide stance” stylistically, and claim influences ranging from Charles Ives to Burl Ives and much in-between; with the common musical denominator being a fun, dancable party ambience. The Bonedaddys were formed in Los Angeles by percussionist Michael Tempo and the group’s sprawling, ever-changing roster would variously include singers Kevin Williams, King Cotton, Billy Sheets, Gregg Sutton and now Kaspar Abbo.
Their album debut was in 1988 with A-Koo-De-A!, (although they had earlier written and recorded a song about Bo Diddley with Bo Diddley on vocals and guitar; which was not released until a shortened version of it appeared on their CD “Garage Sale.”) After “A-Koo-De-A!” The Bonedaddys subsequently issued a series of albums including “Worldbeatniks”, “To Jam Is Human, to Gig Divine”, Jungle/Jungle, and Garage Sale. The Bonedaddys have now released their 6th album “waterslide.” The all original songs on “waterslide” are designed to move butts of all persuasions and feature soulful vocals by front man and tunesmith Kaspar Abbo and King Cotton (named after Elvis’ favorite brand of bacon) who are accompanied by the twin guitar attack of Marcus Watkins and Phil Gough, with Jay Work on saxophones and propelled by bass (Rick Moors), drums (Casey Jones) and percussion (Mike Tempo.) The 13 grooves on “waterslide” are a merry-go-round of styles and range from funk, rock, blues mambo, soca, Latin, rock-steady and psycho-billy two-step to an afro-surf twang meets spaghetti-western instrumental. “waterslide” is a gumbo stirred up in light refracted through a prism called Los Angeles. For The Bonedaddys, Worldbeat has come full circle to include an expression of American roots music.