Heavy Cessna

The members of Heavy Cessna met on the job between the years of 1984-2006. All the members are Certified Cessna Mechanics working at a undisclosed location. After years of talking shop and crankin’ pistons the band was formed in the summer of 1987. The band has been through 10 members in all. The original founder Willie “Acid Eyes” Turner was tragically killed in a lawnmower accident in the winter of 1990, but the other 3 members, Skip”The Skipper” Johnson, Fred ”Tornado” Wagner, and John ”Rags” Rittman kept the dream alive for a solid 2 years. Rags took the mic and the show went on, but due to the unforgettable aero mechanics strike of 1992 the 3 members got over worked with little or no time to rehearse or gig, ending in depression, excessive drinking and suicide for “The Skipper”.The winter of 1993 would turn out to be a turning point for the band with Rags teaming up with drummer Billy ”Mr.Bondo” Williams and guitarist George ”Fingers” Friendman. The trio wrote some of the biggest songs to date for Heavy Cessna with a 1 hit in Japan off the album Nacho Friends. With a 1 hit came stardom beyond belief for the trio. The band lived in Tokyo, Japan for 3 years gigging and recording but after Mr.Bondo became addicted to Opium the band parted and Fingers and Rags returned back to the States and back to the grind at the “undisclosed location”. Rags once again spent no time down and recruited the likes of drummer Jim ”High Tower” Tillman and guitarist Gary ”Oilpan” Hodges. This trio would turn out to be the longest standing to date for Heavy Cessna (1996-2001).With this much time under their belt they too put out one of the biggest hits for the band, Chupacabra written by Gary ”Oilpan” Hodges. Chupacabra went gold in 1999. With high pressure from the record label to put out another gold, the band spent 2 years in the studio trying to come up with what was “expected” but with the stress came the dismiss of Oilpan. The band never put out the recordings. In 2002, Rags threw in the towel to take on a management position at Boeing and passed the torch to his cousin and current lead guitarist Wayne Bigrock. Wayne and High Tower went through numerous bass player auditions for 2 years with no success. High Tower eventually followed the likes of Rags and moved to Texas to start a Cessna parts and supplies outlet.In the Spring of 2004 current drummer “Jiffy” became the assistant to Wayne Bigrock on the job and the two have been playing together ever since. The two wrote a few “jingles” for radio commercials and small time pornos under the name “Pilot for Hire”. The two eventually met up with current bass player Lefty Gagger at a pilots and mechanics convention in 2005, Heavy Cessna was back and in full force. In late 2006 the band became a 4 piece again and added current guitarist Nunyo. The band went straight to the air with a worldwide tour and is releasing its first album in 9 years under the title Live from Nowhere. The new album should be in stores by the time you read this. The band continues to record, gig and work together at the “undisclosed location” to this date. CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO!!!