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Stan Whyte

Stan Whyte was born in Ottawa,....NO, not Canada! Illinois, in 1951.
 
He attended college at SIU - Edwardsville and Sangamon State University in Springfield, majoring in Journalism, Communications and contemplating the universe.
 
 Stan spent 4 years in the Army ay Ft. Detrick, Frederick, MD in the field of satellite communications, where his instructor, became his eventual wife, April.  ( She kept him after class to clean the blackboards...nudge, wink )
 
Stan took 2 years of ballet, and 3 years of piano, before finally settling on guitar at age 11.
 
His early influences were The Beatles, Byrds, Kinks and Ventures, and a very good friend, Glenn Harris, who owned the first electric guitar Stan ever saw up close...a Gibson Melody Maker.
 
Stan's current influences are Lucinda Williams, Tom Petty, The Smithereens, The Hellecasters, and Jake Shimabukuro.
 
Stan plays an American Standard Stratocaster, Takamine Acoustic/electric, Strat 12 string, Pono and Applause ukuleles.  His amps are a Roland JC-120 and a Fender Blonde Blues Junior.  Effects often include an Ibanez Tube Screamer, Vox Volume/Wah, and Boss Digital Delay.
 
Stan plays only D'Addario strings on his acoustics and electrics, and Aquila strings on his ukuleles.
 
Stan has been married to April for 22 years ( 10 of the happiest years of his life-as he often jokes) and they have a lovely son, Aaron, and one ugly son. 
( Just kiddin' about the ugly son )
 
Best Advice he was ever given about music..."F*#* it, just go for it."
 

Dan Davinroy

I was born in Belleville, IL in 1965
I graduated from SIU-Carbondale with a Bachelor's in Sociology and History.

I was influenced by The Beatles, Three Dog Night, and Dean Martin while growing up.

World was turned upside down when I first heard The Doors early in high School. Listened to other classic rock like Gypsy, Nektar, and Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

Current interest lies in alt country bands like Son Volt, Drive By Truckers, BR-549, etc... and post modern rock bands like Kings of Leon, Mothers Hips, Southern Culture on the Skids, etc...

Started playing guitar at age 18. Song craft began evolving at around age 24. Late by rock standards.

I live in St. Louis with wife Lydia, daughter Elsa, and cat Scully. Fish have no names.

 

Joe Wachtel

Joe was born in 1968 in East St. Louis, IL
Joe graduated from SIU-Edwardsville with a Bachelor's in Music Education.
Joe recently earned a Master's of Music at SIU-Carbondale.

First musical influence - The Monkees
First real rock record - The Beatles Let It Be
First drum set - Apollo kit I got for Christmas when I was in third grade
First wave of influences (grade school) - Monkees, Beatles, The Knack, Iron Butterfly
2nd wave (high school)- Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Lynyrd Skynyrd
3rd wave (College) - REM, Replacements, Husker Du, Camper Van Beethoven
Now - Elliott Smith, Built to Spill, Cotton Mather, Beulah, Apples in Stereo,  Myracle Brah, Radiohead, Beck, many more too numerous to mention.

Played drums for about 30 years (damn)

Joe lives in Steeleville, IL with wife Lori and boys Joey and Danny and dogs Rosie and Chester.

 

Bill Beyer

Bill was born in Belleville, Illinois August 26, 1954 at a very young age.

There was always music in the house where I grew up.(Yeah, I know, all musicians say that) My earliest memories are sitting in front of the record player listening to my parent's 78 rpm records. I loved polkas the best! And having a teenage brother, KXOK, the St. Louis top 40 station, was always on. My parents, seeing that I was interested in music decided I should take music lessons. They bought me an accordian. I played the accordian from 1st grade to 4th. I hated it but did well...and then came The Beatles...and there went the accordian.

My musical influences were, of course; The Beatles, The Turtles, The Hollies, Bob Dylan and The Tijuana Brass.

Later influences were: The Guess Who, Wishbone Ash, Yes, Pink Floyd, Supertramp and 10cc
My bass influences were: Paul McCartney, Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad), Barry Oakley (Allman Brother's Band), Jack Bruce (Cream), Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper) and Jim Kale (The Guess Who)

 I have a bass guitar and a amp...My motto: "Just plug me in". I've been playing bass for 36 years, playing the same Rickenbacher since 1976. I also own a Peavey electric Stan Whyte lookalike, a Epiphone flying "V" and a Guild accoustic 12 string. I'm not going to mention the Casio keyboards.

 I've been married to the lovely and most talented Margaret (Meg) Seibel since 1978...do the math...We have four children:Bill Jr, Megan, Daniel and David.
 Bill Jr.is a very good drummer, currently playing with his brother Daniel in a band called Last Minutes Notice, Daniel is becoming quite a bass player. Megan is serving in the U.S. Air Force in Germany and is the mother of the adorable Katelyn Marie Carrico...yes I'm the  grandfather of the band...and she is expecting a boy in September. And David is our Junior High honor student and graduate and budding animator. Oh, and how can I forget Rex the wonder dog!

 The best advice I was ever given about music: "Don't quit your day job". Lucky for me, I don't have a day job!