Eddie “Bones” Connell is best known for his 27 years as Lighting Director for Toby Keith. He is also the man responsible in many ways for there being a Lighting Director of the Year Parnelli Award, having lobbied for that role to be recognized. He, quite deservedly, has been also a recipient of that award as well. Since the sad and untimely passing of Toby Keith, Bones has been working various gigs in a range of roles and is open to new opportunities in the industry.
How did you get into the industry?
Long story or real story? I was skating back in ‘82, roller skating, and they had an airband contest. The judges were the actual live band set to play the next night after the airband contest. They picked us to win and they said, ‘Hey, we’re having auditions for somebody to run followspot and to basically be a roadie’. There were three of us who said we would be there, but I was the only one that showed up, so I got the job. I made $45 a week working for the band Eclipse. We did a few gigs around Jacksonville, where I’m from, and we did a gig at Daytona Beach Spring Break on the Pier. That was for eight weeks, so to say the least, I was hooked. That’s how I got into it and just started learning and doing lights from there.
What was your next step?
Well, I got booted for asking for a raise basically. I worked with a few different club bands and finally got with this band called Stiff. They were doing Top 40 Metal Rock around the whole country. Three of those guys ended up getting a record deal through a guy named Stevie Blaze who was the lead guitar with Lillian Axe. They were an ‘80s Glam Band and I went with them a few years. After that I went to Pantera. My good friend Sonny Satterfield, he used to be my followspot operator back in the day, and he got out with Pantera and he asked me to come out. So I left Lillian Axe and went and did that for a few years, and then the Toby Keith opportunity came up. I was torn because I didn’t really like country music, but it was a gig, Pantera took a year off, so I had to find a job. So I took it and everybody was fantastic and Toby was great. We rode the bus with him the first year or two until he hit it big. He basically said, ‘I’m a very loyal person if you’re loyal. Take care of me and I’ll take care of you.’ And that’s basically how it went for 27 years. I never looked back.
I never worked for a real lighting company until I lived in Dallas, and that was at Samuelson’s. And the only thing I did there was when we built the Steel Wheels tour for the Rolling Stones, for which I was basically stuck in the paint shop. Then when Samuelson’s got bought out, Vari-Lite offered us a gig over there to be on their line and learn all their lighting stuff. But I was in the touring world, and that’s what I wanted to do. I got really lucky with Toby Keith. Now I’m out with Brent Clark as lighting tech on Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. And last year I was front of house camera for the All American Rejects. That was fun actually. I absolutely loved running the camera. It was a completely different thing because when you’re running lights, you’re used to tapping your foot. You can’t do that on the camera platform. It was definitely different and a lot of fun.
Were there moments or jobs that you think really set you on the course of your career?
I would think being with Lillian Axe and then of course, Pantera. Those guys were so fantastic to work for. And when I got the job opportunity with Toby, Sonny said, ‘you should do that’. I’m glad to see Pantera is back out now and kicking ass; with Sonny back out there with ‘em. He’s enjoying the hell out of it and he’s doing a fantastic job.
What’s been a memorable experience you’ve had over the course of working?
I don’t really have one thing, so to speak. As far as one tour or the other tour, they were all fantastic. On Toby Keith, we had a big budget for a long time when we were with Ford Trucks, and we had different variations of trucks on the stage. We had a transformer truck that opened up and we had a big, huge drum riser as a truck. Toby would come flying out of there, out of the back and stuff like that. There were different variations of it, I mean, working with those guys was cool. And working with Seth Jackson, we were together a long time with Toby up until the end. He and Nate Alves were the designers pretty much the whole time for Toby Keith. It was mostly Seth I worked with mainly.
Who were some of your mentors?
I think it was really people that I looked up to, not so much mentors exactly. There were some guys early on that I really watched. Like LeRoy Bennett from his work with Prince; I just thought that was amazing. And I watched him for years. Patrick Woodroffe, Cosmo Wilson, absolutely. What Cosmo’s been able to do. It seems like he’s worked with every metal band that’s ever been out. I’m so jealous of that. Just watching their work. Brent [Clark] has been a big inspiration this last tour; what he is doing with what he’s got. It’s hard to explain, but it’s not a ‘smoke and lights just flying everywhere’ show. It’s a layered, scenic theatrical type show Brent has designed, which has really impressed me. The one other thing I would mention are all the lighting techs that have been out with me over the years with Toby Keith. Alex Gagnon and Carter Hopkins, both fantastic to work with and at their jobs.
What’s the best piece of advice you got and that you would share with others?
Learn as much as you can about everything and be nice. I mean it, learn everything you can. I think that was one of my downfalls. I didn’t learn everything I could, because I was in a luxury situation that with Toby, and we didn’t tour a lot. We would do like 45 shows, but he paid us for the year. So, I would go home and play softball and pickleball. I didn’t go out and try to do other jobs and that’s got me to where I am right now. Honestly, I thought we were going to be like Willie Nelson and continue on until we’re all 90. So, yeah, learn everything and be ready for whatever happens. If you’re that motivated to get into it, learn it, learn it deep down. The other thing is you won’t know the answer unless you ask. I’ve told people that for years, if you don’t ask for something, you’re not going to get it. You need to ask for help or advice. When you are out there on the road you have got all these different people, with all different experiences to learn from if you ask. Some people have attitudes, but some people are fantastic and they become your lifelong friends. You may not see each other again for 10 years but then when we see each other, it’s like no time has passed. That is what I love about this business and what I love about touring.
