Ponty Bone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ponty Bone is a Texan accordionist who has led his 1980s band, the Squeezetones to international popularity over a twenty year period.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Bone began studying accordion when he was only 5 years old. Later, he learned to play trumpet also. Ponty attended Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Early in his career Bone became a member of the Joe Ely Band.

By the mid 1980s Ponty Bone had formed his own band, Ponty Bone & the Squeezetones. The group's early style ranged through Russian gypsy dances, reggae-blues, Tex-Mex polkas, and Cajun boogie. In 1987, early in their career, the group made their singular appearance on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits, as part of a "Squeezebox Special" episode. ^[1]. Longtime Squeezetones bassist Wash Hamilton passed away in early 2008.

With his band, Ponty has shared the stage with such artists as The Clash, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, King Flaco Jimenez, Linda Ronstadt, and Ronnie Lane.

Bone's album, "Fantasize" (on the Loud House label) has been described as drawing from Tex-Mex, rock, blues, R & B, zydeco, and even Caribbean music to create a whole new style.