Coming back to the future musically isn’t as hard as one would think. Local veteran musicians Hanby Carter and Rob Williams have in hand the perfect formula to keep the creative juices flowing. Carter and Williams’ formula derives from their band Joe Buck, Jr.
Formed in the mid-‘90s as Joe Buck, now currently known as Joe Buck, Jr., the band is the 21st-century version of Carter and Williams’ zest for pure rock and roll music.
For Joe Buck, Jr. to seriously spread its luxurious sound, bassist Carter and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Williams brought in Leslie Williams, Rob’s older sister, on lead guitar; Neil Landini on drums and Tom Beekman on keyboards. Having been in the game for 29 years, Carter and Williams’ contemporary vision was jumpstarted thanks to the younger Landini and Beekman’s updated insight. Leslie Williams has been playing guitar most of her life, but Joe Buck, Jr. is her first band. If you were wondering if younger brother Rob was taught guitar by big sister, well, you would be right.
Both in their mid-40s, Carter and Williams have seen every angle of the music business. They first started playing together while students at Trinity Episcopal School circa 1982-’83. At Trinity they formed the band Stalingrad with fellow cohorts John Smith and Steve West. The quartet then changed their name to Contoocook Line and toured extensively, supporting their widely acclaimed album “Oliver's Garden.”
Coming out of the era of pre-Warner Bros. R.E.M and the heyday of college radio, Contoocook Line followed that vein and was building momentum. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, rock and roll doesn’t always work out. Smith went one way and Carter and Williams went on to further educate themselves and took real jobs. It was at this point, however, where the beginnings of the songwriting process formulated for Joe Buck and Joe Buck, Jr.
Whatever became of Contoocook Line drummer Steve West? Well, he went on to be the drummer for a little ole band called Pavement. Maybe you’ve heard of them. If not, I take it you have been living on the moon for the past 17 years. The talent Contoocook Line possessed was enormous, and has forwarded nicely onto Joe Buck Jr.
While talking with Carter and Williams the other day over tea in the Reedy Creek neighborhood of our fair city, of course, the “remember when’s” rang out. Recording, for example, was the highest topic of our conversation. It isn’t like it used to be, obviously. As Williams stated, “back in the ‘80s, you played everywhere for nickels, borrowed money from dad, and somehow got enough time in a 4-track studio to record an EP on vinyl to sell at shows and shovel off to college radio stations.
“Nowadays, if you’ve got the stuff, you can be an Internet sensation the minute you drop a track or album you recorded yourself for the World Wide Web to hear.”
Carter and Williams may have had fond memories of the zaniness and heartaches that were the ‘80s process of being in a band, but reveled in how easy it is now. Recording and rehearsing in Williams’ house in Midlothian has never been easier, thanks to their good friend, modern technology.
Joe Buck, Jr. may have the do-it-yourself capabilities, but the band is a model of maturity when making consistently correct musical decisions. As Joe Buck, Jr. has been around the block a few times, their first album as a five-piece, “Songs One Day We’ll Used to Know” was engineered and recorded properly. What I mean by that is that it was done at Richmond’s own Sound of Music Studios and engineered by the great John Morand. Right there, you know the album is going to sound enticing, before you even give your ears the pleasure of “Songs One Day We’ll Used to Know.”
Joe Buck, Jr.’s sound may have been described as “alternative” 10 years ago, but what is alternative now? That answer could go on and on. As Williams puts it, “we are a ‘90s band.” That was in reference to the clear straight ahead sound of well-crafted rock and roll songs of that time. Think Uncle Tupelo, My Morning Jacket, Golden Smog, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, or even the Replacements, when you think of Joe Buck, Jr.
It’s good to have Joe Buck, Jr. back. It is as if their rugged sound conjoined with consistency never left. Joe Buck, Jr. is a professional musician’s kind of band—precocious thinking with a detour into the nuts and bolts of the garage.
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