New Hampshire cover band Banshee has been rocking the Granite State music scene for seven years. That they have fans among blues aficionados and originals rock bands says a lot about their ability as musicians.
The rhythm section of Banshee was on hand last Friday afternoon to discuss what makes the band tick. Bass player Bill “Sweede” Morrisette modestly said that Banshee is just a fun band to play in. He seemed almost unaware that a lot of bar bands patrons have formed an enthusiastic following around the four piece.
Morrisette was nicknamed “Sweede” because nicknames were popular in his younger days, and, when his band mates in previous decades had found out he was of Swedish descent, he found himself with the sobriquet. Sweede been with Banshee for the seven years they have been together, having formed Banshee with drummer Bill Wenzel and lead vocalist Joey Principe. A founding guitarist had left in the past year and was recently replaced by Jeff Johnson. Sweede describes Johnson as “a fabulous guitar player. If you like Eddie Van Halen, you’ll love him.”
Initially, Banshee was formed strictly for fun. Drummer Wenzel lives right by Lake Baboosic in Merrimack where there are party barges going by his house regularly. That party spirit was what prompted Wenzel to want to start a band.
“It’s all classic rock, done tastefully,” Sweede said. “We even get funky with a Stray Cat Strut song.” Driving classic rock songs by the likes of Aerosmith, Z.Z.Top, Led Zeppelin and Ozzie Osbourne, though, make up most of Banshee’s set list.
“We try to keep it high energy,” Swede said. The guys in Banshee are mostly self-taught players, but Sweede, at one point in his career, had joined a program called Berklee After Hours, and he stuck with it for two years. His band at the time had a manager that suggested the players attend the Berklee program to help the students gain experience with working professionals.
“I’ve been playing for over 30 years,” Sweede said. “Banshee is a New Hampshire based band. We really don’t want to go crazy. My drummer’s a self-made millionaire. My guitarist is an engineer for Raytheon. Myself, I’m a self-employed carpenter.”
According to local fans, there are many highlights to enjoy at Banshee shows. Sweede, though, enjoys jamming in the middle of the Z.Z.Top song “La Grange.” “We get jamming on the second half of it, because it’s rather a short song, so we drag it out a little longer,” he said.
“People love it. People love dancing to it,” Swede said. “Jeff will throw a riff. He’ll stop. The drummer will keep the beat, and I’ll throw a riff to back him up and then he’ll throw a riff back at me and I’ll throw a riff to back him up. Then he’ll throw a riff back at me. Turns out to be a lead and a bass solo type thing. That’s pretty much the one to have the most fun on.”
Sweede said it‘s a matter of keeping up with each other during the high flying, high octane action on stage. “He’s playing a six string guitar. The four string bass isn’t going to be able to tag it exactly,” Swede continued. “But the timing is there. He goes a hundred miles an hour. I’ll just do something to accent it. But the beat remains the same so the people just dig it.”
Swede most likes the Banshee live experience. “The response of the people, I would have to say,” he said. “It’s always nice when we get applause. People seem to really like us a lot. That’s very satisfactory. I like to sound good. I like to do it right. I like to not have any clams. I like my starts. I like my ends. I like to have everything go pretty much note to note. But being in classic rock, sometime you have to add a little pizzazz to certain things. We add our little touches here and there, and it just enhances the song.” He said people sometimes said they like their twist better.
Banshee tackles the lengthy, complicated Peter Frampton song “Do You Feel Like We Do “with Johnson singing into the voice box. “He can speak with that thing as good as I can now with my cold,” Swede said. “He’s an amazing little guitar player. We’re all comrades. The camaraderie of the band is really the best. There’s no muss, no fuss, no kid shit.” Sweede added that because the band members are all middle aged they don’t run into the issues suffered by younger players, like fighting over a song because a band member’s girlfriend doesn’t like it.
Drummer Bill Wenzel was also a co-founder. Wenzel put together the band simply because he enjoyed playing. “I just do it for fun, basically,” Wenzel said. “I’m 55 years old, but I love it. I just love playing.”
Wenzel, though, takes everything he does seriously. “We have good equipment. We go all out,” Wenzel said. “We have a full professional PA system, professional lights. We have three front men sing, all good vocalists.”
Wenzel, too, is enthusiastic about the recent addition of guitarist Jeff Johnson. “Jeff is a fine guitarist,” Wenzel said. “He was from the Rhode Island area.” Johnson replaced Dave Bertoloni who had some other music interests he wanted to pursue. “Jeff’s been great. Jeff is a great asset to the band.”
Wenzel commented on the band members sharing musical interests, which helps keep him focused. “We’re a classic rock band. We’re not the grunge type band,” Wenzel explained.
Banshee put a lot of effort into the show aspect. The lights, the sound, the crowd applauds and dances. “I’m in another world when I’m playing.”
Wenzel uses Banshee to get away from his day job, running a heating and air-conditioning business. “I do pretty well,” the drummer said, and the band is my fun. I enjoy the practice. I enjoy the playing. I love the music. Last night I went out to an open mike. I just love playing.”
Banshee will play a motorcycle rally on May 4, Wendesay night from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Chapanga’s in Milford, New Hampshire, and May 7, Saturday night they’re playing at the Wilton American Legion Post 10. At 9:00 p.m.
Awesome Band! Thanks again Bill