is self-made music to jam and rock to; a 13 part tapestry of sound meant to culminate the music career of Wes Henry from Knoxville, TN. All instruments and production by Wes Henry on Lucky Speedrunner Records, whose focus is avoiding a scientific or overthought approach to the recording process. Material was sourced in the same artistic vain as how the Grateful Dead served their favorite songs from before and during their time, and often literally featuring from the Dead's songbook. Other selections from punk and hard rock genres tend to slow up and take on new vibes. Those from easier and softer genres tend to gain more edge in their reinterpretations. Original music and songs are also among The Cooler Etiquette catalogue.

Wes started playing guitar after a Marcy Playground concert was cancelled and his friend’s parents’ consolation to the poor boys was to take them to the music shop so they could pick something up to comp the price of their tickets, but so they would have something to do for our planned evening. My friend got We’re Outta Here, The Ramones’ final show on VHS, and I got AC/DC Live Plaza de Toros, Madrid ‘96. Finally seeing Angus Young blew me away. I had been lying about playing guitar but leaving his house the next day, I knew I had to get serious about it. The AC/DC catalogue proved frustrating for me as a beginner, but I was really into Nirvana at the time, which was much more encouraging, with the prominence of the power chord. I used Nirvana’s Unplugged In NY to build all of the chords there were to learn, and from there began jamming those AC/DC songs. After a couple of years, I got my 1st band experience with Monky Jackit in 2000. We started with a punk rock version of Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance), Hollywood Babylon, and an original riff that our bassist had that was a poppy 90 second almost street punk fusion. Our first show we covered Green Day’s Worry Rock as well as At the Library, Dega (featured here as the 2nd song on TCE012 “Pumphouse Sessions”), and perhaps another number that is fleeing me as I write this. The next time, we had a handful of originals and a handful more covers up our sleeve, but I broke the snare drum trying to be Kurt Cobain diving into the drumset at the end of Love Buzz. That was the last time we performed as Monky Jackit. The flyer for that show said: “LIVE! ONE TIME ONLY!” just to entice people not to miss it, but it turned out to be a premonition.

The Monky Jackit lineup morphed into The Exitz, but with the bassist and guitarist switching positions. The result made for less pop-punk vibes and a much more hardcore punk sound. This was exacerbated by the addition of a new and sole-focused vocalist whose raw sound was suited to fit the new sound like I never could’ve. As any sexually active 17-year-old would, I quit the band to pursue other interests at the time and wouldn’t play in a band again for almost 4 years, when the vocalist and I would reconcile and form an improv hardcore band that did not have a bass player, but an incredible drummer to compensate. After that, I experimented with home recording for a couple of years until fatherhood came into my life. This wasn’t by any means a death sentence, as the following year brought many jam sessions to my apartment although they along with my home recordings were hushed due to their setting. This was when I learned Warren Zevon’s Desperados Under the Eaves and the As Above/So Below concept (LSR005/006) began its formation.

In 2009, I repartnered with the guitarist from The Exitz to form 3rd and Delaware, which was more metal influenced with our punk tendencies laid over it. I was on the bass for that project, he played guitar, the singer rejoined, and we had a new drummer who could lay down the metal backbone we were now enveloped in. The venture short lived, the guitarist and I found ourselves alone with the vision, so this time back on guitar and vocal duty and him drumming, we found the seed to Casey’s Trunk. His style was sloppy but the beats were undeniably fun and very loose while being really groove driven. We shared songwriting duties like Lennon/McCartney and other times like Garcia/Weir. We put our eggs in the same basket and started playing with a bassist as a trio in 2011. The material featured on LSR012 Pumphouse Sessions is primarily my contributions leading up to the start of Casey’s Trunk. We played many shows and had so much fun fancying ourselves a band’s band. We made an album called Tea For Two after the drummer moved and the drummer from 3rd & Delaware stepped back in. We had a 2nd guitarist a couple of times and experimented with swapping instruments some and I accomplished many things as far as live performance goes that I had wanted to try and do.

After the Trunk dissolved, I found myself with myself, so I worked on what is hereby presented (though not chronologically) on LSR011, Wes Mantooth & the White Star Chili Dawgs with Jerrod Cooper. Jerrod had kind of takin us halfway under a wing during the Trunk era, and was generous enough to not only help me lay down, but also lay down GarageBand drums for an EP of solo material. After that, the bassist from Casey’s Trunk and I joined Jerrod in Love You Dead, showcasing Jerrod’s own material in a very rad West Coast laden sound that really helped me along during a difficult time.

Again short-lived, I was without prospect until 2015 when I was asked to join Plumb Tard, an alternative country band based out of Oneida. This was some of the most fun I’ve had in music: I played acoustic rhythm guitar alongside an incredible lead guitarist/vocalist/songwriter, fantastic drummer, wild bassist, great keyboardist, and we were all encouraged to be a spectacle. I only played a few shows with them, but the last one was the biggest of my life: opening for David Allen Coe at a larger venue downtown. Playing in front of 1,000 people is way easier than 10! We quit on top and that was it for me for the next several years, save some home recording I don’t deem worthy of release.

When the coronavirus exploded in 2020, as I slowly navigated quarantining and an unsure world, I began building a setlist that would grow into this project. It stewed for 2 or 3 years before I finally made the move to press the red button and lay it down. Check out the Discography tab for more breakdown about each album, and thank you for listening!

The final installment, “WHITE 13”, featuring material that came to me between conceptualizing in 2020 and starting the project in 2023, is here!

This full length effort pays final homage to Bob Weir (pre-mortem) in the form of covers of Playin’ In The Band and Sugar Magnolia, as well as the final track which was played by Furthur several times. Also this collection includes performances of Screeching Weasel, Bryan Adams, GWAR, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, and The Misfits.

VAULT SERIES, VOLS 1 & 2!

Volume 1- Wes Mantooth and The White Star Chili Dawgs

Featuring and produced by Jerrod Cooper (SpeedShifter, Oversat, Love You Dead), this solo work was done on the heels of Casey’s Trunk, a punk/metal project dissolving in 2013. I wanted to lighten the mood of my music and lay down some stuff that the band wouldn’t have played. There are 5 tracks from the original EP and a track that I finished from the B-reels by adding lyrics to; showcasing Jerrod’s songwriting as well as acoustic lead guitar. (Take Too Long; Love You Dead) This album is dedicated to his memory and kindness not only in recording and playing the drum parts for this one, but also in his encouragement in my musical efforts.

Volume 2- Pumphouse Sessions

Produced by Fred Moore at Pumphouse Studios in Walland, TN, this is the original material that I had leading up to playing in Casey’s Trunk in 2011/12. Zack Foss plays drums on all tracks except “Dave Novarro” (Wes Henry) and “Friends In High Places” (Fred Moore), as well as guitar on “Friends in High Places” and the solo on “Henry Crowe”. These are the songs which either I wrote exclusively or penned the lyrics for (Friends In High Places music by Z. Foss), save for the Groovie Ghoulies cover. The production is hotter than the rest of TCE catalogue due to the legitimacy of the studio.