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Like many other musicians my age and younger, my musical interest was sparked by The Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan show I was in 1st grade, I got my first guitar soon after. Though I’ve been playing guitar for over 40years I’ve never considered myself a guitar player, more a singer/songwriter. I’ve been in bands since about the 3rd grade playing pool parties and school fairs or where ever we could get a gig (all Freebies). By junior high I was writing original music (not real good) and playing in a power trio called Bryant, inspired by Grand Funk, Hendrix and Cream, we never left the basement. By high school our group of musician friends had grown and I was playing with much better players, we had a group called Quarter Tea with Andy James on Bass/vocals, Andy Coombs on drums (Andy Coombs went on to play with Dave Edwards from the Look and then Orange Lake Drive), John Haggerman and Dyke Price on guitars and myself as the front man, we played mostly school dances and private parties (again Freebies). After high school I joined a band from Holly, Michigan called West Wind, with good friends Jack Boyd on bass, Keith Bielby and Dennis Duncan on guitars and Steve Gould on drums, my stint with the band was short lived, I landed a job as a switchman/brakeman on the Grand Trunk rail road and worked there for almost 4 years, great job, then in 1979 my childhood friend Dyke Price called and said he was putting together a country band and needed a singer, I knew one country song (good time Charlie) I passed the audition and was soon learning and loving country music, we were doing all covers Merle, George, Conway, Willie and Waylon etc… , besides Dyke and myself we had Lynn Beasley on bass/vocals, Danny Odell on pedal steel and Steve Carie on drums, my first paying gigs were with this band, though short lived it was a fun learning experience. The group disbanded and Dyke and myself continued on first getting old friend Jack Boyd on bass/vocals then Ron Course on drums/vocals. Ron was a well respected drummer having played with some of the hottest local groups in the area (Danny Zella and the Zeltones, White Heat, Bliss and Coloradus), Ron taught us all a lot, the big things like meter and dynamics, we had a good group and were soon working nonstop, back then we were playing five or six nights weekly, we caught the ear of a local booking agent Paul Wade and his side kick the wonderful Bill Clayton, both great guys, they had us on the road right away, playing through the Midwest and from Canada to Florida, Dyke left the band in 81, we hired a young guitar player named Jimmy Dormire, he had been playing with southern rock groups Ivan Buzzard and Desert Skies, Jimmy really rounded the group, we started getting asked to be opening act for some major artist like Hank Williams Junior, Charlie Daniels, Johnny Paycheck, The Bellamy Brothers, John Conlee, Leroy Parnell, Confederate Rail Road, Porter Wagoner, Gary Morris, Pam Tillis and many, many others. In 83 we hired a 5th piece good friend Ross Pooley (Pharoh, Orange lake drive) Ross was and is a very talented guy playing saxophones, flute,keyboards and vocals. In 85 Jack left the band (a very sad day), Bill Simpson took over on the bass, (Bill had a killer voice). Jimmy left the band in 86 ( another sad Day) and went on to play with Clinton Gregory and then Confederate Rail Road (he’s still with them today), Mike Eversole took over on lead guitar, we knew Mike from a local group called Travis, a very good guitar player. Ross also left in 86 and was replaced by Joe Stockwell (the Nomads, Straw Dog, Coloradus, Cash Money, Nite Flyer) on Keyboards and great lead vocals. Bill left the group next and was replaced by Dennis Mitchell,(Night Crawler, Coloradus, Nite Flyer, and currently with Tommy Steel and the Steel Canyon Band). Ron Course left the band in 96, I really hated to see him go, we’d been through a lot in the 17 years we’d played together, I learned a lot from Ron and he was a fantastic musician. We went through several drummers Joe Fredricks, Bruce Parker, Benny Rappa (Ted Nugent, Blackfoot, Big House), Benny was not only a great drummer the man could sing, and was an A-one song writer, he passed away a few years back and is truly missed by many. Paul Brewer played with the group for about 8 years, and left to play on his boat, Joe Fredricks is back in the band and better than ever, Steve Shell replaced Dennis on Bass in around ‘97, Danny Crabtree, replaced Kieth Bielby who replaced Mike Eversole, Dannys been with the band for a year now and is a smoking player, Joe Stockwell and myself have been together 22 years now, and the band still plays every weekend .
