Bobaflex Talk Year-End Tour, Staying Together + More

2016-11-28

Story by Anne Erickson

While on tour, Bobaflex bass player Jymmy Tolland chats with Anne Erickson about music and more

The guys of Bobaflex are road warriors. There’s rarely a long stretch of time when the Ohio and West Virginia-based hard rockers aren’t touring. In other words, Bobaflex know the importance of touring to rock ‘n’ roll—just ask bass player Jymmy Tolland.

“In the current state of rock music, touring as much as you can is the only way to keep your head above water for more than a few months,” Tolland told Audio Ink Radio. “Because we play so many shows, we try to keep them fresh and change things up often. That keeps us from getting bored, and it gives the audience a reason to keep coming back to the shows.”

Bobaflex – which also includes Shaun McCoy (guitar, vocals), Martin McCoy (guitar, vocals), Dave Tipple (guitar, vocals) and Tommy Johnson (drums) – are currently on the road for their last tour of 2016. Their next stop is Wednesday (Nov. 30) at Crowbar in Tampa, Florida, and they’ll keep playing shows through a Dec. 22 gig at Empire Concert Club in Akron, Ohio.

While on the road, Tolland checked in with Anne Erickson to talk about the band’s latest, classic rock-influenced album and how they’ve managed to stay strong for so many years. Find Bobaflex online via www.theofficialbobaflex.com.

Anne Erickson: Bobaflex have been rocking it for nearly two decades. Most bands don’t have that kind of longevity. What’s your secret to staying together?

Jymmy Tolland: I guess the key is to really love what you do. Everyone wants to be in a rock band until you’ve got to change a tire in the snow on the side of the highway or sleep in your van for two straight months. It’s definitely a case of dealing with the bad so you can enjoy the good.

Anne: On this winter tour, you guys are touring behind “Anything that Moves,” which has a great classic hard work feel. Where do you think this album fall in Bobaflex’s evolution as a band?

Tolland: I think that might be more up to the listener than me. This is the first album that Dave (Tipple lead guitarist) and I did with Bobaflex. He and I are both huge fans of blues rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s, which is a style that the rest of the guys haven’t really let influence the previous releases as much. I think we made a great rock record, and I hope anybody that hears it agrees.

Anne: What should we expect from your shows on this winter trek?

Tolland: We’d been off the road for about four weeks, which is a longer break than we’ve taken for at least a year, so you can expect us to be happy to be back onstage. We were all buzzing to get back on the road by the last week at home. When we played our first show in South Carolina, everybody was all smiles for the first few minutes if the show.

Photo courtesy of Cool World Photography

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Anne Erickson
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Posted by Anne Erickson | Features, Interviews, Music, Rock