Brother Eustace

During the winter of 2013-14, John Bacon had the urge to pick up his guitar and create music again. Years earlier he decided to take a break from the Punk Rockabilly and Hard Rock scene and start playing covers. This is where the story of Brother Eustace begins to take shape.

Bacon had met Burton Joyner, who was playing and signing at familiar music venues around Lexington. The two immediately hit it off and became a covers duo with Joyner singing and playing acoustic guitar and Bacon playing anything from a banjo to accordion and even a toy xylophone.

Joyner was no stranger to the music scene as he's "been singing since I was born." He started writing poems in elementary school and while growing up he took piano lessons, played in the school band and sang in church.

At 15 he picked up the guitar and has been writing and singing since then. His first band with Bacon was called Corduroy Sedan, which played cover tunes and mostly songs that Joyner had written. Joyner then started a rock group and got Bacon to play bass. He did, but he also yearned to get back on guitar, so Bacon left the band. After that Joyner started a folk group that ended when the fiddle player/singer left for medical school.

Meanwhile Bacon took another break for the music scene, but the creative spark within him refused to be extinguished.

Bacon would give Joyner a call wanting to start an original group. Joyner was on board at the very mention of the concept. The two got together and came up with a bunch of songs based on Bacon's guitar lines and Joyner's vocal melody and lyrics. Thus the Lexington, Ky.-based neo-soul/rock band Brother Eustace was born.

Originally they were going to call it the Gemini Project or something with Gemini in it because both Bacon and Joyner are Gemini's. Joyner came up with "Uncle Eustace," which means "fruitful." John came up with "Brother," and they decided to go with that.

From the duo the band grew to a five-piece as through Joyner the remaining members fell into place: Sean McCormick on drums, Aaron Gosper on bass, and Chris Weiss on keyboards.

"I knew Sean and he knew Aaron so it gelled pretty quick," Joyner said.

McCormick, 50, has been playing music for 40 years and has a music business degree from Berry College. He played professional with Hard Rain Blues Band in the 1990s. McCormick says he is influenced by jazz, blues and all forms of rock and roll with an improvisation aspect. Along with Brother Eustace he also plays with a church worship band and Triage.

"I know Burton from church and that is how I came into the band," McCormick said. "I brought Aaron and Chris into the fold."

The band combines old-school rhythm and blues with elements of gospel, funk and rock. Imagine if Jimi Hendrix played lead for Sam and Dave, with Wilson Pickett or Ray Charles on keys and Rosetta Thorpe playing rhythm guitar. Add in the organ and piano, and you get a warm, organic feel to the music.

"Our sound is a call and response between the rhythm and the vocals," Bacon said.

In early 2017 Adam Fister replaced  Chris Weiss on keyboards.