Friday: Haley Bond soars like a comet into Artown

Haley and The Comet will perform as part of this year’s Artown in Reno on Friday, July 29 at Wingfield Park.
Photos by Nick McCabe, special to Tahoe Onstage

Haley and The Comet. That band name may have a familiar ring to it considering the historic impact of Bill Haley and the Comets in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s time to realign the heavens as there is a new comet on the rise, and her name is Haley Bond.

Haley’s musical roots go back at least two generations with her grandfather being a member of the San Francisco Opera. Her father, Jeff Bond, was a much sought-after musician being a proficient sight reader, drummer, and session player. Her mother, Terri, was a cabaret singer back then, and still sings with Haley today. They met when Terri hired Jeff as a drummer after she had left “Beach Blanket Babylon,” San Francisco’s longest running musical.

Haley’s earliest memories are of being with her parents at their shows. Standing on stages before the doors were opened and looking out into the theater planted the desire to be a performer in her. As early as 3 years old she remembers being outdoors, dreaming up and singing her own lyrics.

In more recent history, Haley has won singing competitions in both Reno and Sparks, and spent time singing in casino bands. Among them was Atomika, where she spent five years. She also spent several years touring in a very successful Abba tribute band, of which half the time was spent in other parts of the world. With a lot of down time on her hands she was frequently writing new lyrics. Currently she is using some of those lyrics on a new album in the works at Jerry Spikula’s Abbey West Recording in Reno.

When I heard her sing, I thought she had an angelic, wistful Kate Bush or Enya sound to her voice, as well as a powerful Florence Welch (Florence and The Machine) characteristic. The recordings I heard have multiple layers of harmonies on them, most of which are done beautifully by Haley herself. Toss in some Beth Hart vibrato and Alanis Morissette passion and you have something very fresh and special.

I recently spent an evening with Haley and the band at Abbey West Recording taking promotional photographs while they worked on a music video. Their sound would be best described as a very melodically oriented Indie or Alternative Rock genre. The album has been in the making for over two years, delayed due to the onset of Covid, but is nearing completion. All of the recordings have been completed, and tapes have been sent to Nashville for mastering by the legendary Richard Dodd.* If all goes according to plan Haley’s album, co-written with Terri Bond, will be available this summer on various streaming platforms.

Several session musicians in town participating in the recordings. They are Jerry Spikula and Dennis Mcgarvey (bass), Jess Conrad (keyboards), Miguel Jimenez-Cruz and Mark Twohey (drums), Lucas Arizu and Paul Zogby (Guitar), plus her mother, Terri Bond (guitar, vocals), and Dale Poune on mandolin. Spikula is also engineering and producing the album.

The new Haley and The Comet band lineup is Haley Bond (lead vocals), Terri Bond (backing vocals, guitar), Jess Conrad (keyboards), Jerry Spikula (bass), Kyle Visco (guitar) and Mark Scholl (drums).

Haley and The Comet will perform as part of this year’s Artown in Reno on Friday, July 29 at Wingfield Park. Updated announcements on both their performance schedule and the CD release will be posted on their website at haleyandthecomet.com .

Nick McCabe, special to Tahoe Onstage

* Richard Dodd’s credits are too vast to list here, but include work for Willie Nelson, The Black Keys, Freddie Mercury, Tom Petty, and many more.

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Tahoe Onstage is an online entertainment and sports magazine covering Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Reno, the Carson Valley and June Lake.

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