Mr. David Viner

While employed selling merchandise for the Von Bondies during their U.K. dates with the Kills, British acoustic bluesman Mr. David Viner caught the band’s attention by performing his own material. The musicians responded by adding him to the bill as an opener for the tour’s remaining shows. An identical sequence unfolded when he handled merch on the Soledad Brothers’ British run, after which he joined them onstage as second guitarist for the second half. Von Bondies member Jason Stollsteimer then signed Viner to his own In the Act label and brought him to Detroit to cut the self-titled debut album. Stollsteimer, Von Bondies colleague Carrie Smith, and musicians from the Kills, Soledad Brothers, and Pearlene all contributed to the sessions, and the finished record was issued jointly by Dim Mak and In the Act in summer 2003.