Boneanchor profile picture

Boneanchor

About Me

Bio

Electric guitar. Drums. Singer. Since 1992. Many shows. Many haircuts.

In the press

“Their most artistic project to date ... Mangum's voice has never sounded better, and he sings the songs with a new, torchy sensuality ... Illmensee's jangly, jagged pop hooks recall the Cure without being overtly retro. it's hard to figure out the reference points in Boneanchor's dark, slinky, groove-rock. And that's part of the allure.” – Kate Bredimus, Richmond.com

”Boneanchor scrapes across the stygian floors of of a rock and roll ocean ... Elvis is there. Prince, too. Johnny Cash has a little table in the back corner. A whole gang of bluesmen are sitting right up front. And it's hard to tell if Boneanchor wants to shake hands or fight ... if you get a chance to get in the room with them, you'd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to walk away affected.” – Jason Olsen

“Never discount the power of the fontman in rock 'n' roll – especially when he's given the do-or-die mission of converting a crowd of skeptical bar patrons into true believers Think about it: Do you have any doubt that even an unkown James Brown could sway the most rigid crowd? Elvis Presley? David Lee Roth? Not for a second – these are the type of larger-than-the-stage personalities that music legends are made of ... it's the outlandishly satisfying frontman behavior of Wrenn Mangum that keeps the suspicious minds at bay.” – Ryan Muldoon, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Want to know more?

You may have known us in the past as Frog Legs or The Wild One. Some even know us as Donkey Balls. We answer to all those and more.

Read the short history of Boneanchor here »

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 15/02/2006
Band Website: http://www.boneanchor.net
Band Members: Morgan Huff (drums)
Tom Illmensee (guitar)
Wrenn Mangum (vocals)
Influences: We write and perform original songs, but here are some tunes we have had fun playing in our recent shows:

Bobby Vinton
– "Blue Velvet"
Forever associated with David Lynch. Beautiful and creepy all at once.

Ramones
– "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"
The coolest band ever. Heard on Leave Home circa 1977.

Madonna
– "True Blue"
Slowed to a dirge. We do this like the Jesus and Mary Chain might have if they were playing "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes.

Blondie
– "Dreaming"
For a time, Debbie Harry was our Marilyn Monroe.

Danzig
– "Sistinas"
Ghost of Elvis. A Danzig song that even your mom would love.

Hank Williams
– "Your Cheatin' Heart"
"When tears come down like falling rain". Kind of like Mogwai doing a country weeper.

The Sparkletones
– "Black Slacks"
A great rockabilly song that we knew off that legendary Robert Gordon and Danny Gatton "The Humbler" recording.

Little Willie John
– "Fever"
Classic song that you probably know from either Peggy Lee's jukebox single or Madonna's Erotica years. We put a stamp on it that would make The Cramps smile.

Elvis Presley
– "For the Heart"
From the King's 1976 From Elvis Presley Boulevard session, which he recorded at home in his famous 'Jungle Room'.


Sounds Like: A rock band. Boom boom. Thwack thwack.A reviewer once said we sound like "the split millisecond a watermelon hits the ground".Our old band was called Frog Legs (1993-98).


Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Review of Boneanchor show on 1/17/09

Boneanchor at The Triple (Richmond, Va) on Jan. 17, 2009Boneanchor played to a full house at the Triple this weekend. It was a return engagement and the Triple was standing room only on both occasio...
Posted by on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:37:00 GMT

Dustbin: Frog Legs at Buzzfest 1997

Here's another video clip from the dustbin. Our first band, Frog Legs, performing "Threshing Floor" at the Richmond, Va. Buzzfest, 1997. That's Jay Smack, local radio DJ doing the fine introductions ....
Posted by on Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:40:00 GMT

Dustbin: Tom recording Song X in 1994

To kick off 2008, I'll be diggin up a few old videos from the band dustbin.A good place to start is with this clip of our original band Frog Legs recording an instrumental song Tom wrote called, 'Song...
Posted by on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:39:00 GMT

Video clip from 10/17/07

Another night in Richmond. Clip from Easy Street on 11/15/07, playing "Rock n' Roll Ain't Dead".
Posted by on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:56:00 GMT

Video of Wrenn at Ultimate Elvis contest

Wrenn doing 'One Night of Sin' at the Ultimate Elvis contest in Hampton, Va (June 2007). Thanks to Hank from the Dregs for posting on YouTube!
Posted by on Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:01:00 GMT

Boneanchor in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Anchorman: The Legend of Wrenn Mangumby Pete Humes, Richmond Times-DispatchWrenn Mangum isn't the man he used to be.The man he used to be sang funk songs dressed as a geisha. Rapped about flatulence i...
Posted by on Sat, 26 Aug 2006 10:25:00 GMT

Boneanchor article at Richmond.com

The Scene: Boneanchorby Kate BredimusFebruary 12, 2004Richmond.com... right now bandmates Wrenn Mangum and Morgan Huff are focusing their energies on Boneanchor, their most artistic project to date. T...
Posted by on Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:09:00 GMT

A short history of Boneanchor

The life of a band::: 1990 :::Joseph Boone, Morgan Huff and Tom Illmensee meet in Chestertown, Md. and form the Brain Chillins. Often painfully loud, the Chilins concoct a hyper mash-up of Hendrix, 80...
Posted by on Wed, 04 Jan 2006 17:54:00 GMT