History of Wanted Stranger

 

Wanted Stranger was formed in 1985 from a group of country boys from Bristol, some on the Virginia
side and some on the Tennessee side.  Although we grew up on separate sides of the state line, we
were friends right from the start.  Originally known as "Tony Malone and the Drifter Band", we set out
to make our first recording.  Now, remember the year to which we referred to as our origination date...1985; therefore, our first recording was on a cassette tape.

 

 

Produced in Bristol Tennessee at Crown Records, this cassette consisted mostly of original music written by Tony Malone and we literally had one week of preparation before going into the recording sessions.  Needless to say, the recording was not a big success as we young music connoisseurs had imagined it would be.  Not that the music was bad, the original songs were well-written and had a catchy melody, however in the end, even the best technology could not help us to sound any better.  
We eventually got our music together and began playing every weekend at local pubs and all of the

many lodges in this region.  We later changed the name to Wanted Stranger in

1986 to better reflect the style of music and character of the group.

 

 

During the making of this first recording, the average age of the group was 22 years old.  Chuck Gibson is the original drummer, although he left the band in 1989 to join the United States Navy and continued to serve our country for 20 years with multiple tours of duty.  We consider it an honor and privilege to play with Chuck again after all of these years.   In 1988, Tony also left the group to pursue his call to the ministry and has performed with many well-known musicians from all over the region and on local TV stations.   Tony still pursues his ministry in music and often joins in with Wanted Stranger to bring back some of the old time music by the original band.  Tim Chafin played the piano for many years with Wanted Stranger and he still tries to play with us, as his health permits.  Ron Carrier and Matt Thomas are still with the band as two of the original members.  Ron continued as lead singer and Matt as the bass player until we all decided to take some time off in October of 2000.  

 

From October 2000 till June 2014, Wanted Stranger did not exist.  The band members did not see one another during that time, except for a rare passing at the local superstore.  Without any communication with WSB, each member branched off and tinkered with other music opportunities in many different settings.  Ron had a gospel trio for three years, Matt played with some bluegrass boys, while Tony pursued his ministry of music, and Chuck was still serving our country.   Finally in 2014, at the request of Tony's mother, the band got back together to grant her wish of one last show for her 85th birthday. After 25 years, the original group was together again.  Granted we had a little less hair and a little more weight, but nonetheless, we were alive and together and ready to play.

 

All of us are in our 50s now and continue to revive the dream of Wanted Stranger by playing for community events in appreciation for all of those who dedicate their lives to making our region the best it can be.   The community of Bristol is very important to us because we all live here and grew up in this small town where music has always been embedded into the souls of our families, just as those first pioneers of music that began right here in the same place as we did.