Bone was a Salt Lake City, Utah-based rock band that enjoyed a 20+ year run. Lead guitarist James "Cookie" Young, Bassist Preston Kofoed and Keyboardist David Stone comprised the nucleus, with a slew of accomplished drummers through the years, including Monty Wade, Dan Beal, Tony Moon, Jon Herron, Mark Dansie, Harpo Skank, (one for the All-Name Team) and Rett Christensen, along with stints that included talented female lead vocalists. The band played all over the Wasatch Front and beyond and developed a dedicated following and fan base.
Another pair of those drummers included Jack Mathson and Johnni Kennicott. More on that to follow...
Cookie and Preston orchestrated a couple of brief reincarnations of BONE, one which included keyboardist Grady Garrard, but the duo ended up joining and jamming with the Utah All-Star Band for about a decade.
Desiring to include songs hot off the charts (and not simply a wealth Classic Rock and "Oldies" selections) in their sets, as they had in the original Bone band, the lead and bass guitarists, who have played together for more than 35 years, decided it was time to form their own band.
Both Mathson and Kennicott came back to drum, at times simultaneously, and Mark Madia, who had always had an open invitation to sing a few with the band, was recruited as the new frontman.
Toi Nielsen, who had shared the stage with Stone, Young and Kofoed, had recently relocated back to Utah after 30 years of teaching school in Seattle. She was surprised the guys she played with in the late 70s to early 80s were still rocking! Toi joined the band as a keyboardist and vocalist. Speaking of vocals, everybody sings leads and harmony vocals.
The band was booked as "The Renewal Bawlers" for their first gig outside of Utah, the Renewal Ball in Evanston Wyoming -- the hometown of Mathson and Madia. They played under the name "Jacques Rock" for a few gigs, but that moniker was also short-lived. Some very cool and creative band names were suggested by all members, but a quick check online would confirm another band, company or organization had already laid claim to the potential names.
Johnni's son came up with "The Glass Frog Band," and surprisingly enough, the group performed under that name for well over a year. Having been booked through the end of May 2015 as The Glass Frog, as of this writing, The Glass Frog Band is the band's current name, but beginning in June, they will capitalize on the notoriety and legacy associated with their historic rock 'n' roll roots and will once again be known as "BONE."
Mathson will step in for Kennicott as the full-time drummer, but Johnni will still play some gigs as a backup when Jack is unavailable. And Grady Garrard has replaced Toi Nielsen on keyboards.
The band has established a number of complementary social media presences, but since all will be changed reflecting the band name change, we'll wait until we've had the opportunity to retool our Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube pages, maybe adding in Twitter & Instagram accounts, along with some musician and band affiliations, before listing them publically. Our Facebook page under The Glass Frog is linked below.
Can't wait to socially share and get to know more about you, too!
