PureVolume

Members: Paul Deslauriers, Paul Buonassisi, plus various rhythm sections over the years...

We also have a bunch of songs, including covers of great blues classics, available for your listening pleasure at the following link: my space
As well as more stuff here: IAC

Co-founded in Montreal, Canada in 1992 by guitarist Paul Deslauriers and pianist virtuoso Paul Buonassisi, these boys were deemed by some critics at the time to be one of "Canada's hottest blues-rock bands". After a year of extensive touring in eastern Canada, selling out clubs and woo-ing festival goers everywhere like at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the band relocated to Vancouver to branch out and create a larger and more diversified fan base.

Their official recording debut came in 1994, when they gave us "What A Way To Make A Living" and then "Bone-ified" in 1995; two independent gems that sold out two complete pressings each, just off the stage, without any official form of distribution! That's pretty good by Canadian standards...

A definite highlight for the band was kicking off their 'Bone-ified Tour' opening up for one of Canada's top bluesmen, Colin James, on his cross Canada jaunt in the summer of '95. They followed that up in May of '96 by snatching the 1st runner-up position in Demo Listen Derby, the highly esteemed contest held annually by Vancouver's no. 1 rock radio station 99.3 The Fox. Paul Deslauriers picked up further honors by receiving the Best Guitarist award.

The band also contributed 2 songs to the Vancouver Seeds XI CD and appeared on the televised Demo Vision / Project Discovery. That same year, Deslauriers received further industry recognition for his song writing skills, picking up the best Rock/pop/alternative song award in the 1996 Write-On Song Contest for the song 'Thin Prayer'. He won another in the best blues-rock category for his song 'Bye-Bye Baby'.

Black Cat Bone's independently produced video for the song 'Mr. Fiction' was also a regular on Much Music's Indie Spotlight, thanks to numerous 'write-in' fan requests. Director Bruce Sweeny also used the song in the soundtrack for the film 'Dirty', featured at the 1998 Vancouver International Film Festival. Also, in 1995, the Godfather of blues himself, Bryan Lee, invited both Paul's to play on his then upcoming album 'Heat Seeking Missile'. They were even chosen to play as Bo Diddley's back-up band, oh ya, these guys were the shizdaat fo shizzle, or whatever...totally crunk! Yes, yes that's it!

Tragically, in December 1996, Black Cat Bone co-founder Paul Buonassisi suffered serious injuries in a near fatal car accident which left him unable to continue his work with the band. Paul Deslauriers has since toured with international acts like Garou, Amanda Marshall, Johnny Ferreira & the Swing Machine, France D'Amour, The Dawn Tyler Blues Project and currently fronts his own blues-rock power trio called the Paul Deslauriers Band.

As for Black Cat Bone, although they did reunite in the summer of 2004 for a handful of shows, the band is not currently active nor touring. However, both albums have been re-issued under Deslauriers' own Big Toe Productions, commemorating each album's 10th anniversary. Bone-ified is currently available online at CDBaby. Robert Johnson and Clapton/Mayall fans will surely appreciate the covers like 'Walking Blues', 'Rambling on my Mind', and the totally re-arranged 'Cross Road Blues'. If you click the link below, you'll be able to hear more audio clips from the album.



At the time of the band's demise, they were working on a follow-up album and expanding their sound, as heard on the award winning song 'Thin Prayer'. There's a wealth of unreleased Black Cat Bone material in the vault. Great music is timeless, and if the fans want, the vault can and will be opened. So check back often with the band's official site for new releases, and up-to-date info on Black Cat Bone.