Biography

Banjo Bones sings themes of the present in a voice of the past. With lyrical content that covers from the introspective to the esoteric, Banjo Bones combines elements of roots music into a genre defying style that borrows in equal portions from blues, jazz, country and folk. Whiskey infused philosopher, frustrated poet and wannabe cowboy, Banjo Bones takes listeners on a journey filled with the musical landscape equivalent of Death Valley, as told by a pallet of characters that would be perfectly at home in a Fante or Bukowski book.

Banjo Bones (aka JL Espada) was one of the founding members of post-punk band Samsara, based in Washington DC in the early part of the 1990s. After recording and releasing a regionally successful EP (recorded in the legendary Inner Ear Studios, home of underground favorites Fugazi), Espada turned away from the music industry in 1996. He eventually found his voice again through the alias Banjo Bones, and since relocating to Sacramento, CA in 2011, has released several works, including the EP Failed Ambitions (2012), and the popular single Snowy Mountain (2013). A full-length CD of new material was released in March of 2015.

Although the Banjo Bones releases feature full-band orchestration, his live show is a solo interpretation of his songs. Sometimes wildly different from the releases, the solo interpretations are considered by some to be the definitive version of some of these songs.

In a music environment cluttered with overproduced, empty-minded flavor of the month, Banjo Bones makes an honest and humble attempt to keep the musical story-telling tradition alive. And he’s riding his 6-string pony to a music venue hear you, so stay tuned…