Ay, There's the Rub (and Sauce): Baney's Bangin' BBQ is a sweet success story for Jones

Feb. 25—Greg Jones, creator of Baney's Bangin' BBQ sauce, has heard it before.

He knows that for years, when people in Pulaski County talk about BBQ, they talk about Johnny B.'s, made popular by retired postmaster John L. Perkins, and his son, John B. The sauce is in stores from here to Chicago. It's been served at local restaurants. Johnny B.'s even had its own location in town for a time.

Jones doesn't mind that — after all, Johnny B. is family. But he's got his own spin on BBQ, and it deserves its own place on the shelf.

"Johnny B. is my cousin," said Jones. "Once I got started, people were like, 'What are you doing, trying to be like Johnny B.?' And I said, 'No, we're family. We want everybody to succeed. We want to do it together.'"

The Perkins family turned out to be "big helps" to Jones for any questions he had about the BBQ biz; "They told me they would always be there if I needed guidance with it at all," said Jones.

So truly, BBQ sauce is in the blood for Jones, whose day job is with the City of Somerset Wastewater Department. Born and raised in Somerset and a 1987 graduate of Somerset High School, Jones started making food at an early age and has been working on sauces for close to 15 years. Give credit to his mother, Mary Jones Lasley, for helping young Jones get a feel for the kitchen.

"People ask me still today what got me into cooking," he said. "I remember when I was a little kid, I always followed Mom around the kitchen, always nagging on her leg, tugging on her leg, wanting to learn. Even before the BBQ came around, I was always cooking something, whether it be in the oven or on the stove. I just always enjoyed cooking, and it all originated from following my mom around the kitchen."

While Mary inspired the love of making BBQ itself, it's his great-grandmother Dora Jasper who gave the brand what would become its name.

"My great-grandmother, as far as I can remember, that's where the name originated from," he said. "I think it came from (the fact that) they had chickens as I was coming up, and you know you have the banty rooster, so I think it kind of originated from that. Once I had to come up with a name for my sauce, I wanted my name of course to be on it and I thought, 'How about Baney's Bangin' BBQ Sauce.'"

But before that point came, the adult Jones (a.k.a. "Baney") made the sauce as more of a hobby and a way to make family get-togethers all the more delicious.

"I always loved to grill out and barbecue, and I always wanted to have the best BBQ in town, but I wanted to try to make my own sauce," he said. "I always piddled around with sauces until I got them where I wanted them. ... If we were having a cookout, everybody wanted me to make the sauce."

Encouragement from friends and family led to Jones thinking seriously about marketing his product beyond his own kitchen.

"But I never did take it to heart until a couple of years ago," he said. That's when he met Luke and Jenn Bates, owners of ProTrade BBQ Supply and Hardware.

"They did a favor for me, and they were going to a cookout that evening, and I said, 'Well, I used to make a pretty good sauce, so let me go home and make a jar for you,'" said Jones. "They took it to the cookout and the next day, Luke was telling me that everybody enjoyed it and said they wanted to buy it."

And so a couple of years ago, Jones made the effort to get Baney's Bangin' BBQ sauce out into the public and available for retail. Baney's offers both a sweet sauce and a spicy option, a mustard sauce and a dry rub.

The product is available at different locations around Pulaski County, including ProTrade BBQ Supply and Hardware, Paul's Discount, the Mole Hole, and Serendipity at the Orange Door.

Jones would naturally like to expand further, possibly even to major retailers like Kroger, though it's difficult as "I'm doing it myself — I manufacture, package, and sell it myself. I do it all. With having a full time job, sometimes it gets a little strenuous. I don't want to get in too deep, too fast."

Jones thanked Sandy Ellnor, owner of Sassy Spoon Catering, for providing a space for the sauce to be manufactured. "It has to be made in a commercial kitchen," said Jones. "I use Sassy Spoon Catering to make my sauces and rub."

What make's Baney's different, said Jones, is the taste; "It's more of a Memphis-style sauce," he said. "It's sweet but yet tangy. Not too much, just enough tangy in it, just enough pepper in it to explode your taste buds. It's between thick and thin. It's not runny and it's not too thick."

The sauce comes in a 16-ounce jar with a picture of a rooster on the front — for "Baney," naturally.

One thing that will help get the Baney's name out there is the upcoming Somerset Smoke Show Grilloff Competition, to be held Saturday, April 29 at Foodstock in Somerset. Baney's is joining ProTrade in sponsoring the event, which will see representatives from major grilling companies come in for demonstrations and marketing as part of the festivities.

"The Smoke Show was an idea that crossed my mind, so I went to ProTrade and I mentioned the idea to Jenn," said Jones. "I said that Owensboro, Danville and different areas have a BBQ competition downtown, and I don't see why we couldn't. Jenn said that would be awesome.

"We both came up with the idea we would call it the Somerset Smoke Show, and of course, she has all the grills and smokers and everything at their facility that they sell, so she was like, 'We'll reach out to Traeger and Green Egg and Weber and have them come down,'" added Jones, referring to major grill-making companies.

So the two combined forces. Jones spoke with Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, and then went with Bates to see Leslie Ikerd, City of Somerset Director of Tourism, at which point the idea became connected to the city's already-existing Foodstock food truck festival.

"I wanted my product to be a big part of it, and hopefully it will open bigger doors (for the sauce line)," said Jones. "I'll have my booth set up down there with my sauce there."

For more information, visit the "Baney's Bangin BBQ Sauce" page on Facebook.

Jones, his partners at ProTrade, and the City of Somerset all have high hopes for the first Somerset Smoke Show, but no matter how it turns out, it shows the progress Jones has made with with a product that was once just something he made for friends and family. It's been a wait, getting from the cookout kitchen to the big stage downtown, but like sauce making that smooth downward pour from the mouth of a bottle, the result should be something to savor.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Jones. "It's going to be an awesome event. think we already have hundreds that are saying they're coming. It's going to be something not just for this April, but for years to come. It's just going to get better."