Hot House

This band of musicians and Dallas Fire Department firefighters (except for the drummer who was a butcher) is still playing the Dallas music arena at venues like the Hard Rock Cafe and gatherings such as the Plano Balloon Festival.

On duty I was a firefighter and paramedic, but at these shows I left off my bunkers and mounted my rythm guitar and helped with the singing while the band would perform hit cover tunes and originals for as many as 30,000 festival fans. Nothing like a band of rock stars who could give you CPR if you "crashed" in front of the stage.

Ironically, the last show I played with HotHouse was as the opener for the Bill Tillman Band. Bill played in hit bands in the 70's (Blood, Sweat & Tears,) and his Bill Tillman Band was the first live band I ever watched perform in a club.

Zen Yo Yos

This was a rock band in every since of the word. Zen YoYos climbed the Dallas music scene "ladder of success" with regular bookings at venues like Club Clearview, Trees and Club Dada.

With a solid guitar sound and a steady following of loyal fans. We chased the record company A&R reps all over SXSW in Austin, played the historic La Zona Rosa, then later became active in fund raising efforts, working with local artists, musicians and comedians to raise money for various charitable causes.

Zen YoYos released the album "Planet Earth, again?" in 1995. Now available on CD Baby and iTunes.

Big Picture

This 1995 Deep Ellum band was the conceptual idea that became Zen YoYos. We had an "all seeing eye" and a pyramid... what else was needed? Except maybe a KISS record.
...as described by Beau Beard, bass player for BP & ZYY (he's the one on the right in the above photo of Zen YoYos.

Fijit

When I joined the remains of a band called Bonehead as the lead singer and rythm guitar player in 1993, I didn't realize I was in for such a ride. These guys were quick to line shows at local clubs, we chose a name that pretty well described our disposition, and then we got to business learning our show in only a few practices. The rythm section was particularly tight and good at jammin' for long periods of time when I fixed my broken guitar strings . Eventually I replaced the saddles on my Fender Strat and was able to join in on the improvisational nature of Fiji.

Fijit released one EP demo on tape.

The Governours

My first band! OK, we thought we were the Beatles, but before we realized it we performed a handful of shows at our high school. It was a great way to meet chicks... in theory that is. Truth is most musicians spend more time with their instruments than their boy or girlfriend.

Top photo:
Russell Mull, drums & vocals
Trey Garitty, guitar & vocals
Robert Kraft, guitar & vocals
Brent Rogers, bass & vocals