Over the years, Tallahassee has been privileged to have some incredible musical talents call the city home. Among them is a guy named Bill Wharton. Although fans from Crawfordville to Katmandu know him as “The Sauce Boss.”
Wharton – with a sly take on his popular nom de plume – is calling his latest collection of tunes, “With Extra Sauce.” Each track has that unmistakable slinky, swampy groove that’s become as much a trademark as the gumbo cooking he does to close out his live shows. But Wharton also says the new music contains some brand-new sounds: including a homebuilt guitar with a cast-iron skillet body.
“Some people say the poet writes the same thing over and over again. I don’t know what the exact words are. But you do this one thing and you reinvent it when you do a different song. But deep down, every one is talking about love!”
Wharton says there’s another element in his songs. It’s a bit like those temporal anomalies in Star Trek in which old memories reappear and then morph into new memories.
“Remember that time? Remember that?! When they’re happening, that’s what makes you create. ‘Hey, I want to tell y’all about this!’ That’s basically what it is.”
Speaking of memories. No conversation with Bill Wharton would be complete without a story. Like the first time he met Jimmy Buffett and his band after a gig Wharton played in Buffett’s New Orleans club.
“They all stand up and walk across to congratulate me. And they were elbowed out of the way by a covey of young women seeking my autograph. I was having a good night! So Jimmy comes up and he says, ‘Man, Bill! This is the best band I’ve seen in a long time!’ I’m going, ‘Whoa!’ But then he says, ‘You know, everybody wants to be me, but I’d rather open up a bait store and be you.’ And I’m thinking, ‘What is it I have that he needs?’ And it’s what everybody needs. Everybody wants that community and that’s what I’m all about.”
Which brings us to Wharton’s “With Extra Sauce.”
“Brett Crook played the drums on it for us. And Neal Goree played guitar. And Kendrick Jacobs played bass. And I’ll tell you; those gentlemen were smokin’! And we had a real good time at the studio out at my place. And my wife Ruthie has seen me make 18 albums and this is her favorite.”
A rare accolade as Ruthie is also Bill’s toughest critic. “With Extra Sauce” was set for a release party Saturday, April 18th, 5 o’clock at The Pub at Feather Oaks, way out on Miccosukee Road. And Bill Wharton, the Sauce Boss, was so excited, he couldn’t help but burst out into spontaneous song:
“It’s like I got (clap) busted knuckles, I got (clap) walleyed bone, I got (clap) trusted muscles, I got (clap) trouble at home, I got (clap) BAD credit, I got a (clap) overdrawn loan, but (clap) I don’t care ’cause I got (clap) killer tone!”
Need more be said?
