Collin Baker

Welcome to the site!! I'll attempt to make this short (but informative) because if you started reading the bio's starting with Stephen's you are probably tired of reading.

I was born April 6, 1982 and I was raised in Trigg County KY. Family was important where I grew up so as the youngest of all my family I was exposed to many different styles of music through many older relatives. Plus my family is pretty musical. My Dad is probably the best musician/music teacher I have ever met, he was a successful band director for many years and is a very distinguished trombone player. My Mom plays the piano "the wrong way" pretty good and loves music of all kinds. My brother Paxton is a notable trumpet player and continues to play in community bands in Memphis TN.

As a little kid I remember Dad listening to music and showing my brother and I different stuff, but my earliest memory of hearing a song and loving what I heard comes from when I was probably no more than four years old. A cousin took me for a ride in his car and The Rolling Stones song "Satisfaction" came on, and, for some reason, it sounded great. I started to sing along and move around in my seat. It was turned up loud and that is what I probably what caught my attention. But that is my first memory of being "moved" by music.

Dad also went back to being a band director around this time so during marching band season I was lucky enough to be a tag along at competitions. I remember being in a parking lot where marching bands were warming up (again, I was 4 or 5) and I heard the loudest, most dominating sound I had ever heard. I had no idea what the sound was and I begged my Mom to take me over to it and show me. She did; it was a drumline warming up. I watched half scared, but fully changed forever. After that, Dad's band kids would ask me what I was going to play when I was older and, without hesitating, I would reply "DRUMS!"

A few years later I found my Mom's old record collection and I started playing all the old 45's from her childhood. She had Elvis and Fats Domino. The first genre of music I fell in love with was oldies. I could only listen to them for so long and pretend to be playing along. By the end of my third grade year I made up my mind to be the next Jerry Lee Lewis so I began piano lessons. My family took me to Memphis to see Graceland. That was cool, but the greatest thing I saw was on Beale Street when I saw a street band playing and a crowd of people gathered around them and I wanted to be able to do that someday.

My piano lessons didn't teach me to be the next Jerry Lee Lewis, but I did learn an appreciation for classical music by studying Bach. I continued them for a couple of years and in the sixth grade I joined the beginning band playing trombone. In the seventh grade I finally started percussion and my parents bought me my first drumset. (A Maxwin by Pearl, it was royal blue and I wish I still had it!)

In high school, music started to click for me. I was really short, small, quiet/shy, and not very athletic, so my dream of being a great baseball player diminished. But I was getting better and better at music. So I guess it worked out. I started making honor bands my freshman year and on, so I got into music pretty seriously. I studied privately with several percussion instructors and by my junior year I was an All-State timpanist. (Drew & Billy were also All-State Percussionist, plus my Dad and Drew's Dad were in the same All-State band back in the day. Small world!)

I was very fortunate that two of my longtime best friends went to the same Church as I did growing up. The three of us were dreamers and ambitious about music, we loved music more than most kids. Phelps and I drew our future band's tour bus designs in our seventh grade science class so we had been planning on getting together and forming a band for sometime. Phelps was the big thinker who organized everything and made everything happen. Nate's Dad is a great guitar player and he taught us how to play in a band, Nate was also the school superstar and gave whatever we did some sort of coolness. Both of them were not bad musicians as well. That was the first band I was in and we were called Vintage Walk. We were a Christian rock band. After playing for a year or more together we figured out we needed talent in the band. Dustin,the most talented man I know, joined VW. All four of us went seperate ways for college, work, and music and a year after graduating high school we called it quits.

I attended Murray State University. I arrived there in the fall of 2000. It is a relatively small university. Back then all music majors and friends knew each other and, although my brother was a biology student, most of his friends were music majors. I met Stephen when I was still in high shool through visits to see my brother at college. I met Drew, Billy, Jon, and Lindsey and I quickly found out that these guys (and girl) are great musicians among other great musicians in the music department at MSU. I really felt out of place just going to school there. Luckily there was a guy there who was friends with all these people and was a former percussion major himself named Clint. Clint was an instructor with the marching band and in a rehearsal that didn't go so well for me, (I think it was my second day of college/band camp) he pulled me off to the side. He told me he knew who I was and that he remembered watching me play while I was in high school. Pretty much he took me under his wing and said, "you drum well, I've seen it, so do it!" Later, after rehearsal he told me his life story and how intimidated he was when he first started school. We've been friends ever since.

I remember the previous bands that Clint, Stephen, Billy, and Drew were in and they were amazing college bands. Then an "All-Star" band formed from the best of the best. The original Murr-Vegas All-Stars. These guys were entertaining, talented, and totally just having fun playing music. Everybody in town knew who they were and knew they played great. In fact I wanted to be a part of it when they first started. Since I was friends with Clint, I tried to convince him to let me play auxiliary percussion with them, but it was never brought up past that. Then some time went by and it came time for Clint to pursue another dream. He called me over to his house to cook for me and some other friends and we got into a huge discsussion about music and drummers. At the end of the discussion Clint asked what I thought about maybe playing with Murr-Vegas when he left. Basically, Clint got me the gig. I was honored, shocked, nervous, and scared to play with these guys, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. This was like a dream come true.

My first few gigs were pretty rough, due to nervousness, and I had no chops. Plus, I had not been in a band in three years, and soul music - what was that? I was a rocker man! Thank goodness I joined this band. It has made me happier. I have grown musically. I appreciate more music now. To wrap up, I want to thank everyone in the band. It has been rough at times, but it has been great therapy from everything else bad. Let's keep playing.

I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music in December of 2005. While at Murray State I studied percussion and music theory among many other topics in music. I was part of the Kentucky Inter-Collegiate Percussion Ensemble, MSU Orchestra, MSU Wind Ensemble, MSU Percussion Ensemble, Marching Band, Jazz Bands, MSU Brass Choir, and gave my recital in April of 2004.

Alright, this wasn't short but I was told to do what I want... Thank You for your time.

CB

I would like to thank the following: God, Mom and Dad, Taryn, Paxton, Curtis, Dustin, Phelps, Nate, Everyone in Murr-Vegas (past and present), Shane, The Grove, Drew, Dr. Tom, Danny S., Andrew M., all cousins, aunts, uncles, Grandmother, Pa-Paw

back to bios