history
White Molasses is a side project of a bunch of (dare I say it!) middle-aged men from St.Albans, West Virginia. All of the members, whether full or part time, grew up wanting to be rock stars in the vein of Ted Nugent, Angus Young, Rick Derringer, Jimmy Page, Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Geddy Lee, John Bonham, Neil Peart etc. Although Disco was king in the mid to late 70's, we forged on in numerous garage bands and played the usual school dances, talent shows, and private parties. We even pulled off a few local (read dangerous) club dates even though we were usually underage. The beer
flowed freely and we all had our crummy part time jobs so that we could buy cheap to average musical gear (although a few quality pieces survived), cassette decks for our junky cars (we had to replace the 8-tracks) and of course, beer. Numerous incarnations arose - Dillinger, Magnum, Deuce, Duck Theory to name a few - and just about everyone played in each other's band at one point or another. College and eventually, responsibility, saw us all go our separate ways. A few remained in the St.Albans area and would occasionally get together to jam or, perhaps, learn the
entire Cheap Trick "In Color" album from start to finish. I played bass and sang in a couple of Frat Rock bands in college (West Virginia University). I was usually relegated to bass as there was always a better guitar player in the band and it was easier for me to play and sing while on the bass. Chris played in several hard rock/metal bands while in college at WVU and he and I briefly played in the same "metal" band (remember this was during the 80's hair band era). I believe
the band was known as "The Edge" at the time. I returned to the St. Albans, WV area in the early 90's after way too much higher education and eventually teamed up with long time friends Mark Coppala, Loren Claypool and Chris Amick to jam on weekends and, of course, drink beer. This team became "Wino Bob" and played mostly at the annual Mardi Gras Party at The Boggess Farm in scenic Scott Depot, WV. A few recordings exist from the Wino Bob days, but not much playing "out" as
Loren had to move on to bigger and better things in Connecticut and then Chicago. Wino Bob limped on for a few years as a three banger, again playing at the Mardi Gras parties and banging out a mix of classic rock and blues. The arrival of my and Mark C.'s children in the late 90's pretty much ground Wino Bob to a halt for a few years. Things changed quickly in the spring/summer of 2000 when Chris called me up and said he had bought new equipment, had a new attitude (life is way too short), and wanted to play again. My brother John dusted off his bass, which had been relegated to playing on a song or two at the parties over the last 10 years, and said he was "back in" the band. I, therefore, had to switch back to guitar (something I had not played regularly for over 15 years) in order to replace the irreplaceable Loren Claypool on rhythm guitar. A year and a half later, we have purchased tons o' equipment and instruments, have practiced to the point where we really can play, and are starting to play out on a regular basis. We're sticking mainly to the blues, havin' a ball, and of course... drinking beer.
Jeff Boggess
February 2002