Ponty Bone

Ponty Bone
Born
Harry DePonta Bone

(1939-10-09)October 9, 1939
DiedJuly 13, 2018(2018-07-13) (aged 78)
NationalityAmerican
EducationTexas Tech
OccupationMusician

Harry DePonta "Ponty" Bone (October 9, 1939 – July 13, 2018)[1] was an American accordionist who led his 1980s band, the Squeezetones, to international popularity over a twenty-year period.

History

[edit]

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Bone began studying accordion when he was five years old. Later, he also learned to play trumpet. Ponty attended Texas Tech in Lubbock.[2][3]

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 an appearance on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits, as part of a "Squeezebox Special" episode, with Queen Ida and Santiago Jiménez Jr.[4] 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 2001 album Fantasize (on the Loud House label) has been described as drawing from Tex-Mex, rock, blues, R&B, zydeco, and Caribbean music to create a whole new style.[5]

In January 2012, Bone was a featured performer on Larry Monroe's Texas Radio Live show broadcast on KDRP from Guero's Taco Bar on South Congress Street.

Death

[edit]

Bone died of progressive supranuclear palsy on 13 July 2018. He was 78.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ponty Bone, masterful Texas accordion player, dies at 78 - Austin Music Source". Music.blog.austin360.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Ponty Bone Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  3. ^ University, Texas Tech (1960). "La Ventana". 35. hdl:2346/48700. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Squeezebox Special with Queen Ida, Santiago Jimenez, Jr. and Ponty Bone, Austin City Limits, 1987
  5. ^ "Fantasize - Ponty Bone - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Ponty Bone, masterful Texas accordion player, dies at 78 - Austin Music Source". Music.blog.mystatesman.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
[edit]