Ponty Bone

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

History

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.^[1]

Early in his career Bone was 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, the group made their singular appearance on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits, as part of a "Squeezebox Special" episode, with Queen Ida and Santiago Jiménez, Jr.^[2] Longtime Squeezetones bassist Wash Hamilton died in early 2008.

With his band, Ponty has shared the stage with such artists as The Clash, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, King Flaco Jiménez, 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.^{(Citation Needed)}

References

External links

• http://www.pontybone.com