2017 Update

• 01/09/2017

The band had a busy 2016 including an electric appearance at the fourth annual Coxstock music festival at Turtle Lake in Muskoka. This 3 day outdoor music festival was full of peace, good times and a whole lot of love. Mona's Boys will be mixing up their classic rock sounds of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones with some classic love songs for the Valentine's Show at O'Finns on February 11, 2017. In the famous words of Doctor Winston O'Boogie: "a splended time is guaranteed for all".

Mona's Boys will be returning to O'Finn's on May 6, 2017, for a rock and roll party. Opening for Mona's Boys will be the alternative rock band Curfew from Kingston Ontario. We are looking forward to an exciting year of performances.

This marks our lead guitar player Darren Kral's 20th year with the band! And a big thank you to John Van Mil our sound and light man who has been with the band for 17 years.

Stay tuned to the website for more news about the band and updates on shows.

Memories Video

• 03/27/2015

We want to thank all of our fans over the years for their support and for partying with us. It has been a blast! Thank you for sending in your video clips. We hope you enjoy them! Stay tuned - there is much more to come. Click on image below to play video.

Mike Barcomb joins Mona's Boys

• 01/22/2015

Mike Barcomb joined Mona's Boys in November 2014.

Mike brings a wealth of drumming experience to the band, as well as a tremendous sense of personality, humour, and solidarity to the beat.

If you have an event coming up this year and would like us to play please get in touch via the Contact page.

Coxstock Music Festival

• 08/22/2014

Mona's Boys rocked Coxstock Music Festival on 3 acres at turtle Lake in Muskoka on August 22, 2014. The festival was "three days of peace love and good music" running from August 22nd through to August 24. Mona's Boys kicked off the festival with a concert that lasted close to 3 hours, playing hits from Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, ACDC , and the Stones, as well as other classic rock bands.

The night was 45 years, almost to the day, of the Woodstock Music Festival, and so Mona's Boys played a tribute to Jimmy Hendrix. Like Woodstock, the rain and the mud did not dampen the enthusiasm of the fans that attended and camped out at the event!

2014 Update from the Band

• 04/17/2014

On Thursday April 3, Laura Bowker from Bowker Resolutions attended the Mona's Boys studio on Church St in Oakville and did a video shoot of the band singing Dirty Deeds by AC/DC (one take off the floor). Natalie Bazar appears as a guest vocalist on the song. Mona's Boys will be recording some further cover material and an original song in the Spring. Stay tuned for a release date. Click on the image to see the video.

The band is looking forward to the summer months, where they will be playing a private party and a festival in Muskoka.

Also stay tuned for more information on the Mona's Boys 40th Anniversary party at Boston Manor, to take place October 4, 2014. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

We want to thank our fans for their continued support, emails, photographs and encouragement.

Cupids Against Cancer Charity

• 02/08/2014

Friends & Fans, Mona's Boys wish to thank you for your tremendous participation in and support of The Cupids Against Cancer charity event that was held on February 8, 2014 at Boston Manor in Burlington.

Over the last ten years, this event has been held in Oakville and has been successful in raising over $200,000.

This year, with a new format and a new venue, the evening raised $3500. Your attendance, and donations towards this charity helps fund Tip of the Toes Foundation, which assists teens in battling cancer. For more information visit: www.cupidsagainstcancer.com

For more photos and information about the evening, and upcoming Mona's Boys events, please visit the photo page on this site or visit us on Facebook.

Click here for a short video clip from the event.

Tribute to Eric Swan

• 04/28/2013

In Eric's own words.... it all started in Kingston where Eric was born and raised. After several years of Neil Young strumming during high school, Swanee traded the acoustic guitar for a Hagstrom Les Paul copy and a Peavey Bandit. He was now ready for some serious garage rock!

After bribing his way into Queen's University, Eric became a regular at the local Blues Jams. There was definitely a very cool vibe going on in Kingston in the mid 80s and out of this "The Groove Messiahs" were born. This band was a big hit with Swanee on rhythm guitar and back up vocals. The band was fronted by Jim Brebner who was a natural band leader. Kevin Young, who went on to play with Moist and David Usher, was on keyboards. Tim Holy on lead guitar, Jim Carleton on bass and Tim "Ev" Williams on drums. The band focused on a late 60s groove.

After everyone some how graduated from undergrad, The Groove Messiahs disbanded, which made way for the next band "The River Rats". This was a lean, mean, four piece gigging machine. After winning a local Kingston battle of the bands, the band bought its own PA and gigged around the Kingston area for a few years. Eric's cousin, Scott Tingren, was on drums with Stu Johnson on lead and Scotty Dwyer on bass. Eric fronted this band and the favourite venue was always the Toucan.

As all of Swanee's friends started to get real jobs, he was desperate to put this off for as long as possible. That is when the second miracle happened; he got accepted to Queen's Law School!! This was another opportunity to form a new band, "The Bora Laskin Experience". This was a six-piece funk machine. The band frequently gigged with at least one horn player and again played a lot of local Kingston venues. In 1993, the band recorded "Mora Bora For Ya" in Toronto.

Just as Swanee thought his gigging days were over, in 2001 he met up with Coxy who was looking for another vocalist after Pete Culverhouse left the band. Together, Swanee and Coxy fronted the band for 12 years, keeping the spirit of classic rock alive. Mona's Boys entrenched itself as a local classic rock favourite in the Oakville area and had as much fun as a band can have! From regular appearances at O'Finns, through to ten years at Cupids Against Cancer, and headlining the Caledonia Canada Day festivities in front of four thousand people at Kinsmen Park in 2007, this line up of Mona's Boys had a tremendous amount of fun.

We complete this tribute by adding that Swanee was diagnosed with cancer in August 2012. He rehearsed with Mona's Boys at their studio on Thursday nights up until two weeks before losing his battle to cancer on April 28, 2013. He is remembered as a trusted and true friend, and an extraordinarily talented musician. He honoured his fellow band mate Coxy by passing on his cherished custom Fender Stratocastor and "Porsche 911 Pedal Board".

Tribute to Pete Culverhouse

• 10/09/2012

Pete Culverhouse grew up in Kapuskasing Ontario. Pete spent his early years perfecting every single Johnny Cash song he could get his hands on. In his high school years, Pete became an avid Beatles fan and worked on his George Harrison lead guitar licks. Without Pete Culverhouse there would not be a Mona's Boys. He put the band together, and wrote the music and lyrics to 90% of the songs that Monas Boy's wrote and recorded in the 1970s. Pete taught Coxy to play rhythm guitar, and the band, although a little rough around the edges, played through until 1980 when Coxy headed west in a VW van for a few years. Having graduated from Trent University with an Arts degree, Pete now had to find a day job. Pete basically taught himself computer programming, and after several years in the computer industry, Pete ultimately opened his own web design business.

After Mona's Boys disintegrated in 1980, Pete switched from lead guitar to bass, and joined a local Toronto rock band called "Flashback". Pete gigged with Flashback for five years. In 1986 when Coxy returned from out west minus the VW van and with a law degree, he and Coxy hooked up once again and together with Eric Jonassen on key boards, Pete Lawson on lead guitar, Coxy on vocals and rhythm guitar, and Pete Cox on drums, Mona's Boys was reborn. In 1988, Pete Lawson left the band and Brian Young joined as lead guitar player. The band gigged full time from 1989-1994 in the GTA with regular appearances at Flicks Nightclub at Yonge and Eglinton. Pete and Coxy fronted the band. Pete was known for his tremendous bass playing, great harmony vocals, his satiric whit, and classic one-liners. In 2001, Mona's Boys recorded a CD "Fantasy", at that time Pete Culverhouse remarked, "The critics are unanimous, it's the best one they've ever done." In 2002, Pete retired from rock and roll and moved to France with his long time love, Lana Holmes. Pete did not give up music. He practiced and wrote music at least two hours a day while living in France. He ended each session with "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley. Pete was a kind and gentle soul. He embodied peace and love, and lived simply and happily with Lana at their home in France. In December 2012, Lana called Coxy from France to say that Pete had lost his battle with cancer and that he "loved Mona's Boys and treasured the years that he had with the band".

Where is Pete Cox?

• 01/01/2010

At the age of 13, my parents moved our family to "the cottage" where the nearest neighbors in the wintertime were miles away (uphill). As part of the agreement for me moving up north, I was enrolled in hockey and received a drum set that I set up in the heated garage that was detached from the house. I spent many, many hours drumming to all sorts of 60's, 70's, and 80's music, but "The Who" was my biggest inspiration. After all, someone needed to take over for Keith Moon and you just never know!

Unfortunately, I never did get that call from the boys in "The Who" but I did get a call from my brother, John, "We need a drummer and you are in!" At the time, I was hacking around with a high school band but I didn't have a lot of seasoning as far as playing "live music" like the other gents in "Mona's Boys". However, being a teenager and having a strong attraction to female groupies, I thought that the idea of playing rock and roll in a band in Toronto sounded pretty damn awesome. Like one of the members from the fictional band "Scum of the Earth" said, "You don't get a lot of screaming teenage girls at a cello recital."

I was willing to practice hard. Coxy, Cully, Lawson, and Eric the Half-Bee fortunately had a lot of patience with me as I learned the finer art of keeping a steady tempo, not playing too loud in small rooms, and indulging me with the occasional moon type fill. Sometimes it was hit or miss whether I came back on beat. The more we played though, the better we got.

I managed to finally leave high school and attend York University where Mona's Boys started playing regularly at places like "Flicks" at Yonge & Eglinton in downtown Toronto and "Butt Rhetlers". In fact, I remember one time we set the record at "Flicks" for one night bar profits. I think the record still stands.

We started getting regulars out to our shows, people we didn't know, so that was definitely a sign that we were doing something right! Our fans were big drinkers too, which was great for the bars, but bad for beer flying on our equipment. Not the preferable reason for having sticky fingers!!

I have amazing memories and lifelong friendships from the days of playing with Mona's Boys! I had to leave the band when my wife and I made a lifestyle choice and moved onto a lake in Muskoka. Three kids and a couple of dogs later, I now play with a local Parry Sound band called "1331", and I am still having a blast playing music and being a part of a band!

Occasionally, I have the opportunity to get back and play with Mona's Boys, which is always a great pleasure. We play some tunes, talk about the old days, and fondly remember our friends Pete and Eric.

Mona's Boys make cover of Rolling Stone

Not many Ontario-based bands have made the cover of Rolling Stone but these guys are really good!