When the nebulous they say rock is dead, they?ve clearly never heard Fortune Child play. The Jacksonville trio – lead guitarist Buddy Crump, bass player Jon Ward and drummer-vocalist Christian Powers – have been busy melting amps across Florida with their confident psychedelic take on rock’n’roll, ever since a chance encounter brought them together.
Buddy: I?d waited almost two years. But from the start, I knew, if I ever really want to start something serious, [Christian] would just have to be the guy. He’s got this husky Paul Rogers blues voice with a touch of RnB and it sounds great.
Christian: And it immediately clicked. We pulled Jon into the fold and the rest is history.
It was a case of perfect timing, as in the liminal space of the early pandemic years, it was easier to come together, write, jam, when band members weren?t out touring or playing gigs. By that point in their lives, they were already experienced veterans of local clubs and stages.
Buddy: I started playing guitar when I was nine. I used to get a ride to school and the girl that I would ride with was in the guitar club. I wasn’t. She had to stay, so if I wanted a ride home, I’d have to stay with her. And so one day [the teacher] was like ?there’s an extra guitar over there?. So I just grabbed it and fell in love with it. Went on to play bluegrass in bands and at festivals. Then I started breaking strings, bending them, listening to [Led] Zeppelin.
Christian: I was gigging in a band by 12 or 13. We became like the little dancing monkey band when we were young because we were playing like CCR [Creedence Clearwater Revival] and [Black] Sabbath and The Who and stuff around town and all these 50-60 year old guys were getting really excited, like ?you got check out what these kids are playing?. This was in high school, we would play three or four gigs a week until two in the morning. And the guitar player and I, we were on the swim team, so we had to wake up at five in the morning to go swim. Yeah, it was ridiculous. Like I can’t believe our parents allowed us to do that.
Jon: I grew up learning classical piano and I studied jazz trumpet in college, and over the years I switched into playing bass and keyboard more. I don’t play trumpet much anymore, it’s a very brutal instrument. I?ve toured with a gospel band before, had weekenders away playing corporate bands.
Christian: I played drums with The Dewars (great musicians) – we would never know where we’d end up, just hopping on a tour leg with one band, then the next. But the way we do it now, it?s been incredible.
Undeniably, with a 12-date tour of some of the most picturesque towns in northern Spain and southern France, culminating in a sold-out show in Anglet, where we had this conversation.