Central Texas musician turns 70

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It was Nov. 21, 1981. On the edge of New Braunfels, Texas, the Joe Ely Band was playing the historic Gruene dance hall. In the band was a guy named Ponty Bone. He looked out over his accordion at the freewheeling crowd and smiled. He picks up the story:

"We were on stage playing. Of course, we had played there several times by then and we were well known for being a party inciter. And we were playing and we were going long and they were trying to get us off stage."

They included some off-duty state troopers, in uniform, hired by the hall for security.

"And so this one young one is out there with his Stetson on and he's trying to grab the mike away from Joe and Joe's trying to grab it away from him," recalled Bone. "Joe's singing, 'Don't fade away,' or whatever, and the band is just going nuts. And Jesse Taylor grabs a beer. Of course, he always had a beer. He grabs a beer and he holds it over this cop's Stetson. Of course, all the audience that's within, you know, sight starts screaming, 'Do it! Do it! Do it!' And you know, he's holding it up there and it just seemed like forever; it was probably less than a minute. But it went on and the crowd just kept hollering, 'Do it, do it!' And finally, he started pouring that bottle of beer right on that probably $100 Stetson hat that that highway trooper was wearing."

By the time the trooper figured out his hat was ruined, Taylor was out the door and gone. Officers searched the cars of other band members in vain, but days later, as Bone recalls, the Ely Band had to buy the trooper a new hat, apologize and throw in some signed copies of records.

Bone had come a long way that night, from the day when he was 5 years old and his father came to him with a choice to make. It seems the family had been surprised to learn that since the boy’s sixth birthday would not arrive until Oct. 9, after the official start of school, he would have to wait another year to enter first grade. The father was bound and determined that his son would start learning something immediately.

"He came and told me that he had investigated and that there was two teachers that our family could afford," said Bone. "One of them taught violin and one of them taught accordion and which one did I want to start? And I said, 'Accordion.'"

Bone giggles before adding, "And the die was cast, so to speak."

The boy dutifully took formal lessons for seven years. Along the way, he was surprised to discover an “ear” for music. He could listen to a song on the radio and immediately play it on his accordion.

After high school, the young musician joined his brother in Lubbock for college. He never finished, opting instead for days and nights of playing music with new friends like Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, and many other gritty and supremely talented West Texans who would turn first Lubbock, and then Austin into musical destinations.

Everyone encouraged him to keep the accordion strapped over his shoulders and in time, Ely offered him a spot in his new band. Since then, Bone has toured with some of the best known musicians in the country, playing with them on their albums and recording three of his own. He is also a regular at European music festivals.

The party days of life on the road, however, never did speak to the man. He was the one in the early days who did not even drink and often served as the designated driver for the rest of the guys.

"Quite early on it dawned on me, you know, that I had a limited number of breaths left and that, you know, it did not behoove me to waste a bunch of them whining and moaning," he said.

But something else was driving Ponty Bone, as well. It was the same thing that began driving him at the age of five.

"It's all an exercise in learning how to play the accordion," said Bone. "Literally, everything I do: Writing songs, producing albums, this-that-and-the-other, playing this-that-and-the-other job, going to France, whatever; it's all an excuse to play the accordion and get better at it every time."

At the age of 70, Bone uses his instrument to celebrate life with a mixture of Louisiana zydeco, South Texas Tejano, blues, rock-n-roll and even country music. His audiences cannot stand still. They dance feverishly. They will be dancing again as the 70-year-old man this week celebrates his birthday with gigs at four Central Texas spots, including Gruene Hall, the scene of the Stetson hat beer caper almost 30 years ago.