What do you do when the fourth song about drinking beer in the back of your truck to the key of A comes on the Nashville station? Well, if you are like me, you either switch to AM 650 or you plug in your Nexus or iPad and jam to some Daniel Bonte tunes for a bit!

My friend Billy Ulrich (Post Trauma) got with me a few days ago, and laid the news on me that he was now playing with Daniel Bonte and The Bonafide so I headed right over for a listen, and I’ve been rockin’ with them ever since. The new EP, titled “Enough” is far from enough for me. Let’s hear some more!

Now before you start in on me about California boys making country music, well, just don’t… do some research… It may have been a while since the left coast sent us anything that really rivaled Nashville, but don’t let that discourage you! I know a lot of people in the Music City that could get a few lessons from these guys.

First off, they make the music fun to listen to (and I imagine it’s a blast to play with them, too). Second, it’s not all about teenage girls and trucks. Don’t get me wrong, I do like that “Something ‘Bout a Truck” tune, but we really only needed one of those (sorry Luke, Luke, and all you other cats).

Second, the musicianship is beyond reproach. Sure there are a couple 1-4-5 three-chord rockers, but there’s a lot more than that. Yeah, they know all 11 notes in the Western scale, and how and when to use them. They also swap up the mixes so that we get the right flavor to go with the songs. Everything from rockin’ LesPauls and Tele’s through Marshall and Fender tubes, steel, piano ( I think that’s Billy’s bro, Kenny), well treated percussion that fills the air just right, and the vocals.

Oh, the vocals! Do you love that Nashville Autotune sound? Yeah, me neither. Bonte’s baritone is strong, and in key. By gummit if there is any autotune used, you won’t hear it; trust me, I’ve tried to pick it out -having played with autotune since 2001 and can spot it a mile away. What you will hear is real singing from the abdomen (not the nose) from whispers to shouts, the guy nails it. Then they layer in sweet harmonies in just the right spots. Yeah, the country industry should be taking notes.
From the start the record has your attention. OK, any song about Lynchburg’s famous Jack Daniel’s Whiskey is bound to get your attention, but this one really rocks. A little tongue-in-cheek humor comes into play in “Talk to Me” – another upbeat, fun song. Then some summer lovin’ in “moments” with it’s rolling beat, smooth jazzy single coil guitars and simple love-song lines feels like a splash in the river with a nice mint julep waiting on the banks with that pretty lady. Wrap the record up with “Enough” – a broken-love song with a great sound and even some digeri-doo and you have a disc that you’ll spin over and again. The whole thing is a breath of fresh air compared to the stale junk coming out of the country radio stations.

//Bo-na Fide adj. : real or genuine LAW: made or done in an honest or sincere way// Orange County’s newest country band, Daniel Bonte & The Bona Fide are leading the charge to bring original, organic Rock Country  to Southern California.  Their sound has evolved from years of solo and collaborative songwriting, live performances, jam sessions after a double-shift, late nights with Jack Daniels, heartbreak, and feel good “Moments.” It’s not your ordinary country and that’s fine by them. If you like rock & roll, soul, blues, and the stories of country music then the Bona Fide will get your stamp of approval.

Raised in the heartland, Daniel grew up listening to his father’s rock & roll tapes nice and loud. His mother’s love of rhythm & blues, soul, and the classic voices of Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin truly inspired him to be an entertainer. But there was something about the stories of country music that fueled his desire to write songs. Now with a Bona Fide band, and the inability to put down his pen, nothing will stop him from going after his lifelong dream of playing music around the world.

A couple notes that Billy dropped me:
-We recently released a video for our summertime single ‘Moments’
-We headlined House of Blues in March
-We’ve recently founded a conglomerate of other local country bands called ‘California Country’ to help grow the local country music scene
-We’ve been hired to play on the Country Splashdown in October

Congratulations, guys! Keep RoKKin’!