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| MY STORY |
| I started playing guitar when I was 13. A friend taught me a few of the regular chords. I decided after 2 months that playing guitar was really hard work! 12 months later�I picked it up again. My memory is a little fuzzy about events that took place 30 plus years ago (did I really say that???). At some point, when you are starting a band, all the players get together to try out some tunes. We quickly found out; who the masters of the 6 string were�and who were not. I removed the E and B string, and a bass player was born. In high school I had a folk group called �the four� (for obvious reasons). There were four of us. Jerry Moore was on vocals and guitar, myself on 6 string and vocals, Paula Huston and Carol on vocals. We did the usual obligatory �Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley, and other roots type music of the 60�s. Phillip Loose (lead Singer), Rick Sweet (my guitar master), Bill Surber (a one handed drummer) alternating with Ron Spratt, Jerry Toms and moi (on bass), formed my first band. We were simply called��the 21st Revision Of The Organization Of The Funky Vine Street Blues Group�. Oddly enough, we were a rock band. Due to a difference of opinion (again that fuzzy thing I was talking about�) I left the band roughly at the ripe old age of 20 to delve into other genres of musical expression. I bounced around from one style to another. I was the only white kid in an r&b band, I played and sang in a jazz-fusion sextet (some time, ask me about the congo player), and there were a host of other ventures that only left me frustrated (fuzzy, very fuzzy). I did what no player should ever do. I gave up!!! I let my equipment be repossessed. I quit!! Then one day an offer to go on the road and run lights for a show band was made and after much thought�, and bill collectors becoming very rude� I left town. �Samoy� was the most professional venture that I have ever been associated with. I left them after about a year. I came home to get my bearings and promptly fell in love with, my now, wife. It took 22 years before I was to buy new gear. The Smiling Rhinos were holding a cattle call at the right time in my life. (Lucky for them I still have it). I hold copyrights to a few projects. Most recent is a project that Mark and I collaborated on at the Mustang Recording studio in NKY run by a local fellow by the name of Gale Watson. (see: Marks Bio) The end??? |
| MY GEAR |
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| I won�t bore you with the gear that I have used thru the years so�I currently play a five string Variax 705 bass by Line 6. I use DR �high beam� strings. I run my bass thru a Line 6 Pro XT Live pedal board. My amp is currently powered by a Yorkville /Traynor 400B head with a BBE Sonic Maximizer. I plug all of these toys through a Monster Power PRO 2500 Professional Power Center. Depending on the size of a gig, I use a 4x10 SWR cabinet on my side of the drummer and a single 12� cabinet on the other side to give balance to the mix. I sing thru a Sennheiser 600/800, series mic. Until recently, I used only Hohner special 20 harmonicas, but I now use Lee Oskars exclusively. |
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| The Smiling Rhinos bassist, harp blower, & harmony vocalist JERRY WESLEY |