Member Since: 17/12/2006
Band Members: I play lead and rhythm Electric (Fender American Strat plus thru a 65-watt Fender Deville) and Acoustic (Taylor 410CE) guitars. I play bass (Fender P) and VERY light keyboards. I sing lead vocals as well as back up harmonies both live and in the studio. And I write lots of songs.
I've walked a long musical road over the 40 years since my first band practice with Bob Hershenow and Tom Akers (still 2 of my closest friends) back in the late 60's. The first time we heard Bob's 12 string mixed with my 6 string and Tom's solo playing was all it took to hook me up for life... We added some vocals and harmonies and went out and played our first real gig at the Bullard High Hootenanny (along with keyboardist Ben Sondheim and drummer Dan Friesen). I've been pretty much playing in the bands ever since. Here's some of the details on what has happened between then and now.
In the early 70's I was one of the original members of SLO town's Fat and Sassy Band. The "Fat Band" was a 9 piece horn band that toured the West for 7 years and became a cult favorite in the San Luis Obispo/Central Coast area. It featured my Fresno sports buddy/singer/writer Chet Hogoboom, monster bassman Leo "Neon" White, Mick Stratton, Smokin' Joe Juarez, Mark Nielsen and later Michael J. Cullen, and myself. We later added Theotis Martin, John Tinsley, Franz Blusk and Greg Preckle as our horn section. During the course of our travels we rocked it up all over the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and extensively throughout California.
I took one of the first "Jon Eben Band"s to the top of the world (Inuvik is above the Arctic Circle!) in the early 80's to Inuvik, NWT and spent an amazing 4 months playing at the legendary 'Mad Trapper' in front af a fascinating mix of Euro/Canadian/Native folks all thrown together in the 60* below chill of the real-life frozen north! I witnessed the northern lights, 24 hour darkness and 24 hour daylight, hosted a radio show that broadcast throughout the Arctic where I actually gave messages on the air to trappers out on the ice, drove 70 miles an hour on the ice road (they turn the frozen McKenzie River into a freeway) from Inuvik to Tuktoyuktuk (look it up on the map sometime!) and toured the amazing Dome Oil Camp there. To leave we drove (with two trucks full of all our band gear) all the way down the legendary Dempster Highway from Inuvik down to Yellowknife, to Whitehorse then Dawson City in the Klondike, and all the way through BC to Edmonton. Now, of course, this whole area has been featured on the hit show "Ice Road Truckers", but back in those early days it was truly a wild and wooly experience.
Later in the 80's I realized a personal dream when I moved to Waianae and played all over Oahu/Hawaii with Jon Eben and Tantalus. I played at the Texas Paniolo Cafe on the North Shore and Fast Eddie's in Kailua as well as Bully Hayes in Pearl City.
Finished a busy decade teamed with smooth country singer Justin McWilliams playing the Bakersfield/Oildale/Kern County area country music scene.
Jon Eben and the White Wolf Band were a staple in the San Joaquin Valley/California music world throughout the 90's. White Wolf was a changing entity that saw most of the great players in the Central valley pass thru at one time or another. Gray Gregson,Ray Haney, Maynard Williams,the great Cole Head,Bimbo Walker, lifelong pal Ben Sondheim, Jeff Bryant,Lolly Jones,Randy Sanders,Dan Volz, Bob Delmonte, Jerry Secor (who played the bass tracks on "My Country") Bob "Bobcat" Goodman, John Koontz, and talented singer Lisa Lynn Morgan are just a few of the "legends" that graced my stage! At one point, the local radio station named a "Valley Dream Team" band and every one of my players was in it! It seems now like we performed at every festival, bar, special event, political rally, radio station promo, rodeo, parade, concert openers etc. that was going on in the San Joaquin in those days.... I ended that decade and entered the new millenium teamed with Coleman Head in the group "Driver/Wolf" (combining Cole's popular "Driver" band and my "White Wolf") at the Lucky Lady Saloon in Clovis.
In 1998 I wrote the "Clovis East High School Alma Mater" for the then fledging Timberwolves of Clovis East in my hometown, Clovis, California. Since those days the "T'Wolf Nation" has become nationally known for their great sports teams. I have had some amazing experiences in my travels, but to stand on the sidelines with the CE Footballers with their helmets raised in victory (or defeat!) facing the singing crowd while the band plays MY SONG never fails to give me a thrill!
Influences: Sports have played a major role in influencing my path. I was a serious schoolboy athlete during most of my early years. My dad Nori Eben was a high school football coach, so I spent considerable time on/in the ballfields/gymnasiums in the Clovis/Fresno area. I lettered in a sport every season of every year from 5th grade through 12th, including 8 straight years in football (where I was a linebacker), wrestling, basketball (shooting guard), baseball (shortstop/pitcher/ and even golf where I was a legit 7 handicapper. Practice habits, discipline, organization, technique, team-awareness, rising to the moment under pressure...all learned on the teams of my youth.
Sounds Like: Jon Eben
Record Label: Jon Eben Music
Type of Label: Indie