History Of The BoneFish

In 1988, a guy named Darel came to Edisto Island, performing in a Beach Music duo.  The locals fell in love with his talent, and soon he became a resident.  After leaving the duo, he became a solo performer - singing, and playing guitar and keyboards.  Not long after, he met a guy named Ben.  A telephone man who played guitar, Ben always had the dream to be a musical performer, and he had even been in a few garage bands.  These two guys became very good friends, and then along came another local guy named Dan - who could sing, and play bass.  The three of them started rehearsing together.  Jack Broome, a local real estate agent, joined up as a vocalist, and local Islander Chuck Roper joined in on drums.  During the year of Hurricane Hugo, 1989, the original group was born.  Called "Indigo", the group used that name because of where they rehearsed - up in the loft at Indigo Farm (the original white barn is still there on the property, off of Hwy. 174 on your left, as you come to the beach).  They performed many private parties before Hugo struck that year, and Darel - who was playing at Dockside as a soloist - dragged the boys in there with him one night, reportedly against their will.  They became a hit.  The band finally got the BoneFish name at the 1990 Lion's Club New Year's Eve Party.  They started a "Name The Band Contest" before the engagement, and many names were turned in - some were silly, like "Five Guys That Sing (And One That Won't)"; some were funny, like "The Shrimp Dicks".  Some were politically incorrect, like "Hooking Flipper".  A new member at that time, David Salter (rhythm guitarist and vocals) - actually won the contest, with the name"The BoneFish".  Edisto Island's First Home Grown Band was born.  Eric White, a one-time member of "The BoneFish", was also a graphic artist for the local newspaper at that time - he came up with the "fish" logo - and artwork - that is still used now on all of our BoneFish products (thank you, Eric - we miss you).  Norman Fox replaced Chuck Roper on drums before the 1990 New Year's Eve gig, and that version of the band remained for almost 18 years.  Darel left the band in '93 to take care of family business in Virginia, and returned in 2000 (though he showed up for at least one gig every summer during his absence).  Jack Broome left in '93, also - he and his family are in Oregon now (we miss you, Jack!).  Dale Hall - another local, played guitar for a time (thanks, bro!), and Bob Sesco played and sang with the band for several years (Bone-brother 4ever!).  Vera Lynn, a lady who could pull off some great Janis - graced the band's stage for awhile (thank ya, honey!).  Other people the band would like to thank:  Paul Nance (he filled in for Norman in 2006); Everett Smith (when David Salter retired in 2008, he filled in when needed);  Keith Wyndham filled in for Norman during his Italian honeymoon in 2008.  Now that Norman and Dan are officially retired from The BoneFish, they've been replaced by Jimbo Chleborad on drums, and David Cooper on bass.  We are grateful to have these guys.  There's our history, as best as we can remember.  Thank you for reading, and come see us play!