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Willis Brownstone – A Brief History

In early 1998, Waco, Texas’ newest band, Willis Brownstone, had its first official band practice, but the only music they could play together were songs by 311, such as "Feels So Good", "Hydroponic", and their favorite "Homebrew". They quickly learned new cover songs for the band to play by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Tom Petty, but it wasn't too long though before they started writing their own tunes. The first song written by Willis Brownstone was a song they appropriately named “The Song with the Pause”. This song would also be the first to be removed from their repertoire, after writing many more new songs like “Strutz”, the very first to be recorded, and Kreflo which soon followed. The initial line up for Willis Brownstone was Caleb Jones on lead vocal, Joshua Roberts on guitar, Ryan Patrick on bass guitar, and Matt McDaniel on drums. Their first show in December of 1998 at the Crooked Path in College Station, Texas, would feature this early Willis B. line up. The band would eventually rearrange to end up with Caleb on bass guitar, Ryan switching to guitar, and the vocals now being taken care of by both Ryan and Joshua. The first Willis B. recordings were all tracked at the local college which all four guys attended, leading to their first CD, “W.B.E.P.”, which they sold at shows for $5. The band quickly became popular in their hometown, bringing an uncommon but welcomed new funky sound to local venues. The band welcomed a new drummer, Jose Diaz, to the band in the year 2000, and again a year and a half later with Jeremy Bryant. Joshua Roberts called Jeremy one afternoon asking if he could fill in for the band for a while. Jeremy agreed, not realizing his first show with the band would be that same night. After only two hours of practice, Willis B. and their new drummer played a four hour show, and the band decided immediately that Bryant was the drummer they had always been looking for. Willis Brownstone recorded their first live CD in 2002, titled “Ragic Pilf”, and two years later, they went on to record their first studio album, “Summer Salt”. Both CDs were selling well, and the band was moving forward, playing better shows at bigger venues, and building quite a fan-base. In early 2005, the band would welcome Martin B. Manry to the band, sitting in at most live shows on percussion. However, at the end of 2005, Willis Brownstone decided to start exploring some new options and musical projects, leading to the band playing only a few shows a year since. In the following two years, Ryan and Joshua both recorded solo albums, and in 2007, Willis B. released a new two disc CD “Without Hesitation”, containing over two hours of live recordings from the bands last few shows of 2005. Willis Brownstone does not play a lot of live shows anymore, with Joshua and Ryan pursuing their solo acts, and both Jeremy and Caleb busy playing with different projects as well. The future of Willis Brownstone has always been and will always be impossible to predict, but the music the band created will be around forever.