John

I started playing bass at fifteen. My Mom bought my first bass from a pawn shop and she paid for my lessons. The first song I learned was Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley." At sixteen I was in my first garage band "Griffin". And we played some parties around town. Then we played a battle of the bands at the local skating rink. We took home third place.......out of three bands. LOL! I started playing the Hollywood clubs when I was eighteen. I played at the Roxy, Whiskey, and the Troubador. It was the late '80s when I was playing in "Wild West". We were doing the "pay to play" thing back then. You know, thats where you dole out a thousand dollars to the "promoter" (or thief) to play with some band you never heard of on a week night..... In '93, when I was playing in "Arch Rival", I got the opportunity to audition for Gary Richrath's solo band, "Richrath". (In case you dont know who Gary Richrath is. He was the guitar player, song writer, and a founding member of the multi-platium Illinois band REO Speedwagon.) Well, I made the band. And I found myself out on the road touring the United States in a forty-foot Eagle 15 tour bus! It was a dream come true. We played all over the U.S., playing shows with bands like: Jefferson Starship, Kansas, Pat Travers, Marshall Tucker, BTO, and so many others. It was awesome playing on stage with Gary, playing his songs, in his band. When we were traveling, Gary would tell us about REO's early years. The tours, the girls, the recording studios. Did you know that they even had their own jet? And before I knew it, two fun years had passed. In that time, we did two national tours, played well over two hundred shows, played in front of thousands of people and toured in style. It was a great time in my life. But all good things must come to an end. So, after that second tour, Gary decided to call it quits and live the quiet life off the road. Not a bad career though, over thirty-five million albums sold, numorious tours, and over thirty years of rock 'n' roll. REO was Gary's guitar playing and song writing. His unmistakable style and tone. Oh, that '58 Les Paul gold top. So I came home, got a real job and I started jamin' with other great guitar players like: Gene Allen (Lizzy Borden), Tony Avalon (Frankie Avalon's son), Ken Snyder & Darwin DeVitis (Cut Throat), just to name afew. From '97 through '02, I played in the band "Cut Throat". We released two CDs, shot a couple of music videos for the songs "Bullet" and "For Your Love". Released the "Cut Throat Live In Hollywood" VHS/DVD. And in five years, played so many shows I lost count. And many of the shows were with other national acts. Visit the Cut Throat website @: cutthroatonline.com or here at myspace. My current band "Nineteen Nuckles" just finished up recording a couple of songs so you can check us out here at myspace as well.