Will & the Bushmen

Will & The Bushmen ruled the Southern college and small venue circuits in the mid- to late-'80s. Their live shows were thrillers full of screaming guitars and smart, well-crafted pop songs. Many times a great live band will disappoint in the studio, somehow trying to bottle the lightning. That's not the case on this first Will & The Bushmen album, Gawk. Maybe they were too young to know how to screw it up, or maybe they just got it right. Remastered and resequensed for CD, with never-released bonus tracks added, Gawk remains one of the coolest rock records made during a pretty creative time in Southern music.

After releasing Gawk, and with new interest and some great reviews, the band were persuaded to move to Nashville to be a little closer to the pulse of what was going on in the publishing/production world. Their new manager was also in Nashville, and the band was soon signed to SBK who released their first major label record at about the same time they released records by Vanilla Ice and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Needless to say, views of the band and those of the label were quite divergent. SBK was convinced to pay for the next album, but license it away to a smaller label to hopefully get a little better marketing effort.

Although the band's third effort sold better, the band was soon released from their contract and soon after broke-up, just in time for their initial vinyl release and their two later CDs to become sought-after used record store items, in some cases fetching more than the original retail price.

In the several years since, between rare Will & The Bushmen reunion shows -usually around Mardi Gras in Mobile-Mark Pfaff and Sam Baylor have been more or less out of sight. Sam works in Nashville, and Mark formed a band, IGMO, that plays around the Nashville area. IGMO is working on a second album. Mark also plays around the South with the Lucky Mother Truckers (with Eric Dover of Imperial Drag) and Rollin' in the Hay and others. Mark works as a session harmonica player too--most recently for Patti Griffin, Imperial Drag, and Abra Moore. Will Kimbrough, though, has since been involved in another band, The Bis-quits, who recorded for Oh Boy Records, and has writing, recording and touring credits with Todd Snider; has toured extensively and recorded with Kim Richey and Matthew Ryan, and toured with Josh Rouse. He is also just now completing a solo record for Waxy Silver which will be out in the early Spring.

	Will & the Bushmen Sound Clips Gawk 1. Numbers 2. All in the Family 3. Feeling Around 4. Academia 5. Faith in Love 6. Bus Stop 7. Neil Young 8. 500 Miles 9. Typical World 10. Like Laughing 11. Dear Alex 12. Walking Alone 13. Even Wheelville 14. She's No Angel