Frank Zappa fans will recognize Ike Willis from his tenure with Zappa. The vocalist and guitarist performed and recorded with the late musical icon from 1978 through 1988, other than during a short break in 1981 and ’82.
Willis is best known for portraying the title character Joe in Zappa’s opus “Joe’s Garage” (Zappa Records, 1979) and as the central character/narrator in “Thing-Fish (Barking Pumpkin, 1984). He also appears on no fewer than 18 additional live and studio Zappa releases, including “Broadway the Hard Way” (Barking Pumpkin, 1988) and “The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life” (Barking Pumpkin, 1991), both which include live performances from Zappa’s now legendary final tour that imploded before ever getting to the West Coast.
Willis first met Zappa while attending Washington University in St. Louis. Willis joined the concert committee and volunteered so he’d get a backstage pass and have the opportunity to meet Zappa during his show at the school. That led to musical collaboration with Zappa until he stopped touring in 1988 as well as a life-long friendship.
Before Zappa’s untimely death in 1993, Willis made a promise to his friend and mentor to continue to perform Zappa’s music. Willis has done so with several Zappa tribute bands including Project/Object, with whom he has appeared on the Sellersville stage.
Willis has also written and performed his own music with his own bands. He has released two albums of original material – “Should’a Gone Before I Left” (Enigma, 1988) and “Dirty Pictures” (Muffin, 1998).
Although Willis is known to East Coast audiences from performing with Zappa before his death, with Project/Object and others, this will be the first east coast tour with his band, the Ike Willis Project. He is excited to start the tour at Sellersville Theater.
In a telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles, Willis discussed the history of the Ike Willis Project, the challenges of the music business, this tour and his upcoming book.
“After we lived in Portland (Oregon), we moved to the Bay area for 3, almost 4 years,” explained Willis. “That is when I formed the Ike Willis Project… in 2004. We did gigs up in the Bay area – San Francisco, (Lake) Tahoe, Santa Cruz… We were playing in resorts and casinos – all that stuff – since ’04.”
Willis continued to play in Zappa tribute bands including Project/Object, Ugly Radio Rebellion, Pojama People, Ossi Duri and ZAPPATiKA during that time as well. His celebrity among Zappa fans made it easy for him to find work with numerous Zappa tribute bands. It was much more challenging to find success with his own band performing his own music.
“We finally got a booking agent that believes in the project and is able to book the band outside of LA. The LA music scene is still horrible. It’s still pay to play,” lamented Willis.
“This is going to be my first real solo tour with the Ike Willis Project, or with any Ike Willis band, for that matter. It’s very exciting,” said Willis. “Denise (Willis’ wife) and I (have) been trying to get this thing off the ground since we were in college.
“My main market is the same places Frank used to play, from the Midwest out to the east coast and New York. So basically, it’s like a homecoming for me. Plus, we’re playing at the same places I play with Project/Object. When I found out that Sellersville was first on the list I was overjoyed.”
The band consists of Willis on guitar and vocals, Andi Thomas – “that’s Denise, of course,” he said; “that’s her stage name,” on background vocals and percussion, JP Cervoni on lead guitar, Shane Keys on keyboards and vocals, Bob Byrnes on bass and Duane Waider on drums and vocals.
Willis said that the band will be performing his original material that’s on “Dirty Pictures” and “Should’a Gone” as well as some new original material that hasn’t been recorded yet.
“And, of course, the Frank favorites that our fans know and love.”
After the tour Willis will return to Los Angeles, where he and his wife are house hunting. They hope to be settled in their new digs by the end of the year so Willis can begin to record his newer material with the band.
He also is looking forward to continuing work on his book about his experiences with Zappa. The book will include interviews with Willis’ friends and family as well as Zappa alumni including Ed Mann, Bobby Martin, Don Preston, Denny Walley and Ray White, among others.
“I’ve got all the chapters and interviews set up on my computer,” he said. “As soon as we get into our new place I’m going to finish writing the book.”
Willis said he has been offered assistance from Bob Zappa [Frank’s younger brother], who wrote the books “Frankie and Bobby: Growing Up Zappa” (CRZ Publishing, 2015) and “Frankie and Bobby: The Rest of the Story” (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2017).
Opening the show at Sellersville will be Grammy Award-winning guitarist Micki Free.
