The Steel Guitar Forum

How it started - my first band in the late 1970's...with my first Sho~Bud



How it is now - my last band gig from the summer of 2020...with my second and still one & only Sho~Bud



Band promo poster from the mid-1980s...second from left



BTW: I sure had a lot of hair back in the day...where did it go?

The Badlands Band of Logan Co. I’m the Les Paul player, my Emmons is behind me on the stage.

Then and now-ish. 1978 with my MSA Semi-Pro. 2019 with the Derby.

With Fred Wilkes and the Millrats a few years ago:



2016, with singer/writer Tom Burgess at Ocean Mist, Rhode Island

My performing in a band may have actually peaked in 1968.

Like a lot of teens in the 60's we had a band that performed regularly for dances in our small town.
We were getting paid pretty good money for teens at that time.... $75 a night.
However, we were spending $50 renting massive amplifiers ...4x10 speakers and matching head.
Not sure how good we really were..BUT..we were loud.

I still have the red colored Harmony Rocket guitar that my father bought for me.
It wasn't until many years later I realized what a financial sacrifice it must have been to buy it for me.

We had a comic book artist do some pics for us. He did two for $50, which we thought was a helluva deal with how great they came out. I play fiddle, steel and keys in the band.






Christoper Elliott in Norman, OK, if anyone is curious. I love these so much I had him do my sons. Drew one of my boys as Spiderman flying through the city and the other as Harry Potter playing quidditch. A seriously talented and really nice guy.

Non cartoon band pic

Michael Greer wrote:I still have the red colored Harmony Rocket guitar that my father bought for me.

That was my first electric guitar, too. It's long gone, but about 15 years ago I got nostalgic and replaced it. 4 knobs - so cool!

My first was a Teisco made guitar with the million piece laminated neck. Cool guitar--cost me like 30 bucks new from a mail order catalog. Got a single pickup Kay Speed Demon later--much better guitar.

Dave

[/img]

Top picture is a band from Bristol, Fl that I've been sitting in with for a couple of years. We play OLD Country, when country music was real country music.

Bottom picture was December 26, 2020 with just some friends that got together and played at Royce Reagan's Annual Jam Session in Marianna.
There was a wide range of music genres from the local community. It was dang cold for here, hehe. Overall, it was fun!!!

Jill Martini & The Shrunken Heads

The band I was playing steel with at the VFW Club Columbus, Ga.

Does this count as a band photo. It’s more of an informal thing in my kitchen. I’m the one playing the... ah, nevermind.

what was it like growing up as triplets, Fred?

1991
Sierra band kenosha wisconsin.iam the one in leather black coat

What great fun perusing these pages!

Here are just a few from me...

An iteration of my first working band, The Oso Family, pictured here in New Almaden, CA, 1974. I'm the one with the Tele, and our pedal steel player, Whitney Eisenwinter is the guy on the left next to Penny:


The Reynolds Sisters and the New Oso Band, playing at the Broken Spoke, Austin Tx, circa 1977. Barely visible on the far right is John Ely on Pedal Steel:


Our lounge duo on the road, circa 1987, Tulsa Sheraton (we did not travel lightly!):


These days, playing for fun:

Marc Muller wrote: Wow, can only imagine the size of the road case for that moose head!

Ha! That's about the only thing in that picture that came with the club (not shown, our PA system). Needless to say, our Dodge van was tightly packed .

- Slim

Don R Brown wrote:what was it like growing up as triplets, Fred?

Serious identity issues. I’m never sure who I am.

Hey Fred,
Love that single cutaway Gibson Melody Maker!
Lee

Lee Warren wrote:Hey Fred,
Love that single cutaway Gibson Melody Maker!
Lee

1959 single pickup. My dad bought it used around ‘66. It sat unused for many years and I stole it from him in ‘79 when I was a senior in high school. It was my first guitar. Other than a paperback set of Lord of Rings I think it’s the only thing I never let go of in all that time.

I got to looking for old band photos and realized I had quite a few going back a lot of years. Reminded me of some stuff I'd forgotten, and some other stuff I wish I could forget. LOL..

1976'ish.. Crossfire, my second band. I'm bottom right in front of my Marshall Half-Stack. I didn't know pedal steel guitars existed..



<hr>

Probably early 80's.. Most likely Decatur, TX with the Pat Horner band. I'd seen a pedal steel or two by now, but wasn't interested...



<hr>

Late 80's maybe? Trisha Lynn Band. I'm the dude with what I was told was the 'Producer Look'. I'm doubling on steel and guitar by that time, the steel guitar bug had bit. Utility guy... Of note, that's ex-Dwight Yoakum drummer Davy Crockett (RIP) in the middle with the long hair, and ex-Space Opera (google it) guitarist Scott Fraser (RIP) far left.



<hr>

Morris Price Band, Fort Worth, TX, probably around '94 or so. I'm far left. There's a Sho-Bud Pro I just out of frame, utility guy once again.



<hr>

Jerry Sires Band, Austin, TX around 2000 maybe, not sure. This photo looks like a geriatric jail break.. Steel guitar only by this time (I'm 3rd from the left).



<hr>

Blue Clear Sky, George Strait tribute band 2011 or so. San Antonio Rodeo, rotating stage...



<hr>

Fingerpistol, Austin Tx around 2015 maybe. I'm on guitar and this is my bud Neil Flanz on steel. Neil is a character, SO glad we became friends. He's a treasure and still playing with Fingerpistol around Austin.



<hr>

Houston Marchman Band at the Rustic in Dallas, TX 2016 or so. Of note, John Fannin, long-time guitarist for Rusty Wier, and later Jerry Jeff Walker, far left.

Bill, that's a fantastic journey through time. Wish I could hear every one of those bands! And it's great that you still have pics of so many of them!

Thanks Don! Yeah, it was kind of fun to sort through and collect all those photos. Lots of great memories.