BRIAN BOONE

The Bio Page – The Brian Boone Story – Then and Now

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Born in March of 1968, I started playing guitar when I was about two and a half or three years old. Being raised by my grandmother and grandfather, who also played and was very musically inclined, I was destined to become a musician. I started out playing old country and western songs from artists like Hank Williams, Sr. and Hank Snow (if anyone can remember him), and the late great Johnny Cash, who was my favorite artist in my youth. Actually, the very first song I ever learned to sing and play was “Folsom Prison Blues”.

In 1973, when I was five years old, I became a professional, getting paid for the first time. I performed with a local country band, April Wine, at a fair in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania. My step dad was the guitar player and he called me up on stage to perform “Folsom Prison Blues”, which was a real surprise to me. I was very excited, and handled it well. They gave me five dollars for doing it. Now, to a five year old, that may as well have been a thousand. At that time, five dollars bought a lot of candy. So, as it was, I got the ‘bug’ right then and there. I have been performing basically ever since every chance I get.

In August of 1979, I went to live with my aunt and uncle in a small community called Bradford Park (Baden, PA), in Beaver County. I attended the Ambridge School District, from which I graduated in 1986.

I went through a real bad experience in 1981, where I thought that my music career was over. I cut my fingers on my left hand (my guitar playing hand) extremely bad. The doctor, Jack Faila, told me that I probably wouldn’t play guitar again. But, after a summer of recovery, I proved him wrong. The school offered guitar classes, and I took as many as they would allow me to. I was back in business by 1982.

During my high school years, I played with several ‘garage’ bands. They never really went anywhere, and none of them played any shows. Right before my senior year, I formed a band with my neighbor, Paula Marcink, called Project One. Project One was the first ‘serious’ band that I ever was involved in. We actually had the chance to perform at a block party that was organized by Paula’s parents who owned a little bar in Conway, PA called Marcink’s. We got paid by people ‘passing the hat’ and had a lot of fun doing it. We thought we were rock stars!

Jumping ahead to the late 80’s and early 90’s, I worked with one of the area’s best bands, G-FORCE (The Granati Brothers), on their road crew. Here is where I learned how to be a ‘real’ musician. While learning the behind the scenes of the music business, I also learned what it takes to be a national performer. After the G-Force experience, which lasted for about four years (on and off while I was doing my own thing, too), I moved on to working with some national acts such as Winger, Kixx, Badlands, the Romantics, Cheap Trick, and Wayne Newton (yes, “Mr. Vegas” himself) just to name a few. These were experiences that I treasure to this day. I learned so much from all these people that I could never explain it all in words.

In the summer of 1993, I formed a duo called “Blaze and JJ”. We performed all over the area in local clubs and hotels. And from there, it became “Blaze and Friends”, to Blaze, to just good old Brian Boone, and the Brian Boone Duo for awhile, too.

As of now, I am doing a solo, and occasional duo, acoustic act. I play the music that you want to hear, and taking all of your requests. A motto that I use is simply “if I know it I’ll play it, if I’ve heard it I’ll fake it, but if I’ve never heard it then neither will you”. I am performing several nights a week, and show no signs of slowing down in the near future. It seems to be working out fairly well.