Meet the Creators
Joe Bristow
Joe Bristow of Kansas City, MO was born and raised in Leavenworth, KS, with many of his neighbors and classmates being military families from the base in town. He grew up seeing many of them come and go with being redeployed around the world. Because of this, he developed a true compassion for the affects the military had on kids.
Joe is a local Kansas City, MO business owner by day, but his true roots are embedded in creating music, to include comedy music writing. He is a multi-talented musician with playing classical guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, as well as he sings. In addition, Joe has an MBA.
For The Bonk Song, Joe is the voice behind the mischievous, yet fun and family loving character Grandpa Harold. His talents also lent to playing all the musical parts such as guitar, drums, keyboard, and probably takes most pride in playing the jingle bells!
Julie Rossi
Julie Rossi of Kansas City, MO has been a lifelong native, with living in the nearby small towns. Julie comes from a large farm family with grandparents like Grandpa Harold and Grandma Carol. Christmas was always a festive celebration with 27 first cousins. Her grandmother always made it special with food and presents for all, even when money was tight. In the 2010s, Julie owned a bakery called Grandma’s House in honor of the incredible bakers in her family.
Julie is a US Army veteran, having been stationed at Ft Jackson, SC and Ft Belvoir, VA. As a 2 ½ ton truck mechanic, and sniper trained for war games, she learned how to hold her own, and it gave her confidence to go after her dreams. Besides being a mom to a very talented 19-year-old daughter who plays bass guitar, her other greatest pride came from having served in the military.
Like Joe, Julie is a business owner with an MBA. She met Joe at a courthouse auction, with slowly becoming friends over the years. When Julie found out Joe wrote comedy, she immediately knew they had to collaborate. Hence, how The Bonk Song came into being!
Julie was wrapping Christmas presents during the early 2020s when her wrapping paper roll ran out. All that was left was the brown cardboard tube in the middle. Of course she had to blow into it like a horn, then began “bonking” on things like the counter, and whatever human or animal happened to be walking by! She thought to herself, “why is it that everyone I know does the same thing”. Julie asked friends from Japan, to India, England, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, and more. They all said they do the same to include sword fight. She knew she had to write a Christmas song about it!
When she mentioned her vision and initial lyrics to Joe a couple of years later, he went “bonkers” about it and said, “absolutely you have to do this, and I’m happy to help!”.
Joe had already been recording music with Andy Oxman, owner of SoundWorks recording studio in Blue Springs, MO. Andy was a genius on the sound board, and he came up with ideas for The Bonk Song that Julie and Joe hadn’t even thought of yet. It was Andy who pushed Julie into trying to sing the Granny C part although Julie’s only experience was that of an award-winning shower and car superstar. He worked his magic and Granny C came to life!
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Jamie Gumm
The duo was fortunate enough to find a local professional singer Jamie Gumm who had exactly the southern “twang” they were looking for to represent the lead singer Charlie in the song. Jamie sings not only in an all-female band, but she also regularly sings at a theater in Branson, MO. She fit right in with the sound they needed.
Joe and Julie plan to continue with building up the virtual band “The BeBoppers” comprised of Grandpa, Granny C, and Old Sam (their best friend they met while in the USO during WWII). They are creating future dance songs, cartoons, and music that promotes their love of military service, families being playful and happy together, and for grandparents down to the grandkids to enjoy the same music and videos.