William Tonks is an American musician based out of

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. He is most known as a dobro player, songwriter, and singer.

Background

Tonks was raised in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

before moving south to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

at the age of nine. His sister gave him his first guitar in Savannah, which he learned to play the instrument on. His inspiration to play the guitar came from watching the Beatles movie ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help! ( ...

''. He began to take classical guitar lessons in Savannah, but towards the end of lessons he would work on rock songs with his teacher. Later on, in college, he formed his first popular band, Penguin Lust.Youngerman, Susa
"William Tonks"
''Southern Distinction'' February 2012

Musical history

Tonks' first major musical act was that of Penguin Lust, a band he was the front man for in college at Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee. They played rock/Americana/reggae style music at local venues, and later recorded an album. Tonks and his dobro

Tonks then moved to

and became involved in the band Gravity Creeps, recording an album with John Keane. He at this point began to write more music and was introduced to the dobro, which he taught himself to play. Over the years, he also has been a member of bands such as Redneck Greece Deluxe, Workhorses of the Entertainment/Recreational Industry, The Hot Burritos, Barbara Cue and Bloodkin, all local bands around the Athens music scene. More recently he has played in groups such as Romper Stompers, with

Todd Nance Todd Nance (November 20, 1962August 19, 2020) was an American musician. He was best known as the original drummer of Widespread Panic, a band he was a member of until his departure in 2016. He struggled with chronic illness for the remainder of ...

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

and MrJordanMrTonks, an Americana style music group. He has also performed on albums by

Jack Logan Jack Logan (born February 8, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter born in Greenville, Mississippi and raised in Lawrenceville, Illinois. He began recording, however, after moving to Winder, Georgia. He created two comic books in the 1980s, st ...

, another Athens musician. In 2007 Tonks released his debut solo album, Catch, with Ghostmeat Records. It features Athens musicians such as

John Neff John B. Neff, CFA, (September 19, 1931 – June 4, 2019) was an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. He was notable for his contrarian and value investing styles as well as for heading Vanguard's Windsor Fund. Windsor ...

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

. The album has several original songs as well as covers. Tonks’ most recent project is “Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra” with noted

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

bass player

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

featuring violinist

Robert McDuffie Robert McDuffie is an American violinist. He has played as a soloist with many of the major orchestras around the world including those of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minnesota, Hou ...

. The project has performed in venues all around the world such as

Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located downtown in the city's entertainment district, it is home to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Toronto Defiant. Opened in 1982, its circ ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and in the United States. The tour resumed in 2022, with a show at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York City. Tonks, McDuffie, and Mills have also worked together on “A Night of Georgia Music,” performing a set of songs by Georgia artists or relating to Georgia. The show was augmented by

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

Sea Level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

on piano. A performance of the show filmed at The Grand Opera House in Macon, Ga aired on Georgia Public Television in July 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonks, William Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American alternative country singers Americana musicians Ambient musicians American country guitarists Musicians from Athens, Georgia Musicians from Montclair, New Jersey Songwriters from New Jersey