Park Bench Trio: The Power of Three
By Chris Manson July 31, 2003 Issue

The guys from Park Bench Trio probably went to see the movie Three Kings and were disappointed that it wasn’t about Albert, B.B. and Freddie. Greg Ward plays a mean guitar. Stephen Simmons thumps away on the electric bass. And unlike, say, Phil Collins or Don Henley, Rick Williams can handle both the lead vocals and drumming at live gigs.

The heavily blues-influenced band will return to Harbor Docks Aug. 7 through 9, following a successful string of appearances earlier this month.

Park Bench Trio’s CD Bitch Road includes mostly original tunes, but their shows are heavy on other people’s songs. Willie Dixon’s tough blues I’m Ready showcases Williams’ belting and the tasty guitar styling of Ward. The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Sin City makes a surprisingly smooth transition to country rock—there’s a great line in that song—“It seems like this whole town’s insane…”

Albert King’s Love Gun becomes a full-fledged rocker, showing the blues great’s profound influence on the band. “Albert King has always been our hero. He's gritty and smooth and he always yelled, ‘Whoooooooooo!’ right before his solos,” Williams said. He and the band wholeheartedly recommend King’s Years Gone By as well as Hard Again, by their other blues hero, Muddy Waters.

Dharma Lee, the twangy ballad that climaxes Bitch Road, gives Williams an opportunity to share his pain. Ward adds some nice slide guitar touches to the old standard Back Door Man, while Williams machine-guns it on drums.

Ward mentioned Warren Zevon as a favorite. Later, the band destroyed the song Zevon made famous but didn’t write, A Certain Girl. The trio’s rendition was pure fun, as they kept upping the tempo. “Excuse us if we’re too loud,” Williams said to the crowd as a young lady displayed PBT CDs and T-shirts near the stage. They launched into the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses—credit must be given to Williams for resisting the temptation to twang up his vocals.

Ward proves himself a first class blues guitarist on the Freddie King song Play It Cool, and the whole band shines during a dirge-like rendition of In the Jailhouse Now. Williams’ yodeling attempts were the perfect augmentation to this Jimmie Rodgers classic. “That’s too slow,” a guy sitting near me said, completely missing the point—the Park Bench Trio do their favorite songs their way.

“We sold our souls in 1998. Started a blues band in Athens, Ga.” Williams said. “I didn’t start singing until I was 20.” He didn’t so much find his voice as it sneaked up on him. “It just came out of nowhere through a combination of courage and stupidity.”

The Park Bench Trio has been knocking out music fans for two years. “When our other blues bands came to a close, we started writing. It was rough going at first, ‘til we went to a power trio. Before we knew it, we had a couple of sets of music.”

They came to Destin last August, at the invitation of some friends working here. “We love Destin. Next season, we’ll probably do this gig and a couple others,” Williams said.

Blues provides the backbone for the group’s repertoire, but their influences are as varied as the audiences they attract.

“The Who comes out when we’re jamming,” Williams said, giving a nod to drum legend Keith Moon. He mentioned Kris Kristofferson’s 1972 album Live from the Philharmonic as a favorite—Kristofferson’s Border Lord gets the once-over on the group’s CD.

The band’s short list of essential albums also includes Peter Wolf’s recent Sleepless and the 2002 Warren Zevon compilation Genius, along with older stuff like Pearl Jam’s Riot Act and Who’s Live at Leeds. A couple of fairly obscure titles made the list, too—Sweet Tea by Buddy Guy and Bloodkin’s Community Gospel Rehab.

Ward and Simmons are originally from Savannah, while Williams traveled all the way from Rock Hill, S.C. to meet up with his bandmates at the University of Georgia in Athens.

“We’re getting more serious now. In the fall, we’re gonna do some real tours on the West Coast. We know a promoter in San Francisco,” Williams said. “We've tossed around the idea of handing management duties over to some of our friends in L.A. so we can really start touring nationally.”

Park Bench Trio looks forward to more fun on the road before heading back our way. “At the Florabama, a bachelorette party tried really hard to hire Stephen as a stripper. They kept holding dollar bills up and going apeshit. I think it had something to do with these drinks they serve there called bushwhackers, because we’re not really the Chippendale beefcake types. Lethal cocktails, really!” Williams said. (Top)

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