Catching Up to The G Top Band
Texoma blues with a heavy dose of honky-tonk harmonica
Texas’ red dirt is apparently no match for the blues. From its earliest days, blues music has had a place to evolve in the Lone Star State. From Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lead Belly to Lightnin' Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, and Freddie King, the history of the blues runs deep in Texas.
Even today, we have a talented faction of blues musicians in the Texoma-area, including Lone Star Mojo, and the group we photographed as the opening act at a recent Maylee Thomas show — G-Top Band
G-Top band is well-known in the Wichita Falls area and TheFUSE has been remiss in not making more of a priority to see them sooner.
Ronnie Hendricks plays lead and rhythm guitar and serves as the main vocalist for G-Top Band while his bandmate, Bruce Lyons, also plays both rhythm and lead, and sings a few numbers, too. Bruce is known for heading the Bruce Lyons Monthly Jam at the Iron Horse Pub.
We heard both the expected blues standards and original music from G-Top Band, all great, especially for lovers of the electric blues, but the most inescapable impression left by G-Top Band was that it was an incredible night of honky tonk harmonica, courtesy the man they affectionately call “Kiwi.”
It’s been said that people are more interested in experiences recently, and this is one. If you’d love to visit a desert roadhouse and walk in on a scene like something out of a movie, with a blues band chugging away while a nasty harmonica carries the ride, just go wherever G-Top Band is playing and order a beer. It’s authentic and heartfelt and worth seeing.
G-Top Band also features Kenny Reynolds on bass, Mike Gillisse on drums, and vocalist Nikki Gillisse.
We actually enjoyed G-Top Band so much, we decided to drop in on them for a few minutes when they played at the Cruisin’ for a Cure event in Henrietta, Texas later in the weekend.
Have you seen the G-Top Band perform? Tell us about it in the comments.
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