Slobberbone is an American alt-country band from Denton, Texas, led by singer-songwriter Brent Best, Cody Garcia, Tony Harper, and Brian Lane. Best continues to tour as a solo act, performing both songs by Slobberbone and The Drams, and songs from his solo record, but also reunites with both bands for shows with full band line-ups.
thumb|Jess Barr and Brent Best at Dan's Silverleaf in 2005
History
Slobberbone formed in early 1992 in Denton, Texas, where the band played for beer and had their first gig at the Park 'n' Go, a beer store in Denton. The best-known line-up consisted of singer-songwriter Brent Best on guitar and lead vocals, Jess Barr on lead guitar, Brian Lane on bass guitar, and drummer Tony Harper. The band members met after attending University of North Texas, where they lived in a house together and played local shows in Denton. Bassist Brian Lane joined the band in 1996 and guitarist Jess Barr in 1997. They eventually signed with the Austin-based record label Doolittle Records (which eventually merged with New West Records). Their name is a reference to a dog's chew bone.
Jeff Cole from Doolittle Records produced the first two Slobberbone records.
In early 2005, the band announced that it was calling it quits because Lane was moving to Florida. Slobberbone played a series of shows for their farewell tour.
In 2009, the band (with the 2005 lineup) reunited for a series of shows. At the end of 2009, the re-formed band, with Lane returned to Texas from Florida, announced that they planned on recording a new album in 2010 before going on another tour.
Brent Best
Best was born on September 1, 1970, in Austin, Texas, although his family moved to a nearby small town in Texas shortly after. When he was young he played in a band with his friend, singer-songwriter Kevin Kerby, from his teenage years onwards. Best was able to co-write with Kerby, and produced the first self-released Slobberbone record with him. The record, which began in April 2010, took five years to make and was crowdfunded. The record was well received. Grady Don Sandlin played drums and Ralph White (Bad Livers), Petra Kelly, Scott Danbom (Centro-Matic, Sarah Jaffe) and Claude Bernard (The Gourds) also contributed to the record.
Recognition
Stephen King mentioned the band's song "Gimme Back My Dog" in his novel Black House. He also listed the song as one of the top three greatest rock and roll songs ever in his column in Entertainment Weekly. Although never publicly confirmed, the album Slippage could very well be Slobberbone's nod to King. The word "slippage" is important in Black House.