John Wilkes Booze

John Wilkes Booze found its way to 1999 like a quartet, however the noisy garage area spirit group from Bloomington, IN would eventually expand right into a six-piece who found themselves like a continuation of Indiana’s art-punk continuum which includes, amongst others, the Gizmos, No Children, and MX-80 Audio. Originally an off-shoot of pop-psych indie rockers the Difficult Forms, the group started with an extended name, because the John Wilkes Booze Explosion, and highlighted Seth Mahern managing vocal responsibilities, Chris Barth on bass, Jason Groth on electric guitar, Aaron Deer on body organ, Mark Grain on drums, and Eric Weddle on electric guitar, saxophone, and consumer electronics. After a short hiatus early in 2001, John Wilkes Booze came back using a shortened name and a larger concentrate. In 2002, they announced Five Pillars of Spirit, some EPs focused on unsung heroes the music group wanted to champ. The series ultimately included tributes to Melvin Truck Peebles, Patty Hearst, Marc Bolan, Albert Ayler, and Yoko Ono. The wondering series got the group a great deal of press and a much greater number of displays for 2003, with JWB playing nearly 60 gigs by the finish of the entire year. On the way, drummer Grain and guitarist Groth had been replaced by Offer Pershing and John Dawson, respectively. Early in 2004, Wipe out Rock Superstars released a condensed edition from the Five Pillars of Spirit EP series as an individual disc. The next year a vinyl fabric only record, Heliocentric Views from the John Wilkes Booze Pts. 1 & 2 , found its way to March, and a fresh CD, Telescopic Eye Glance the near future Sick, premiered by Kill Rock and roll Superstars in August.