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J. R. Schmidt - Bass, Vocals
I was born into a military family (my dad retired as a Lt. Colonel from the Air Force) so we moved a lot when I was a kid. Originally from East Peoria, IL, I attended school in OK, MS, VA and Ottawa, Canada. I graduated high school in Warner Robins, GA, which is about 15 miles outside of Macon.
My musical journeys began as a trumpet player in the 6th grade. Throughout my school years I played in concert, marching and jazz bands. My influences as a trumpeter were Herb Alpert (and the Tijuana Brass) and Al Hirt, the later I was lucky enough to meet in Oct. 1991 in New Orleans - what a treat that was! I also studied 2 years at Arizona State University as a music education major w/ a performance minor. At ASU, I really got into some jazz players like Chuck Mangione, Bill Chase and Maynard Ferguson. I was able to see Chuck and Maynard perform "live" while I was there. This is also where I studied music theory, composition & improvisation w/ some really great teachers. My main instrument was still trumpet (and flugelhorn), and I put together a quintet playing classic jazz instrumentals. I'd started playing bass in my senior year of high school and worked to improve my skills on that as well.
After college, I returned to Macon, GA and played several years in various local bands. At first I worked as a trumpet player, but switched to bass as my main instrument around 1979. Occasionally I'd get to play my horn, but it's been years now since it's touched my lips. As a trumpet player, some of the bands that influenced me the most were Chicago (my favorite!), Blood, Sweat & Tears, Lighthouse (from Canada) and The Ides of March. On bass, I started w/ Black Sabbath and Peter Cetera (of Chicago) - what a mix! And I played along w/ everything on the radio - some favorites being The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Little River Band, Foreigner, Journey, Yes, Toto, Loverboy, Styx, Heart, Boston, The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. These are really just a few of the bands I studied closely, trying to absorb as much as possible.
But when the chance came to play full-time "for a living", I had to leave most of these groups behind. I found myself in a band doing country music and some classic rock and blues. While at first hesitant, this turned out to be a great thing as it opened my eyes to a whole realm of musical styles that I'd never explored before. We played "hard-core" country music, classics as well as contemporary, and some R&B stuff. But all of us were former rock 'n' rollers, so even the ballads had an "edge". And was also the first time I got to play some original music and in one group (The Macon Country Band) we were doing about 2 hours of our own stuff which led to opening concerts for some country artists like Jack Greene, Becky Hobbs and Billie Jo Spears.
My next adventure was an ill-advised move to Tyler, TX when the whole band (and families) relocated there in 1987 and then proceeded to self-destruct 2 months later. I spent 2 years traveling w/ a local band until finally able to make the move to Nashville in 1989.
Nashville - I love it! I've had some great experiences here. My first gig was Vince Gill's annual golf tournament/benefit where I got to play w/ Buck Trent (Hee Haw), Tommy Cash (Johnny's brother) and others. I did a D.O.D. (Department of Defense) tour to the Far East, visiting Japan, Okinawa, The Philippines, Guam and Hawaii. I've worked w/ some great players and being versatile has really come in handy - I'm glad learned to play "everything" (advice to others?). And then, somewhere along the way, I got turned on to the blues......
Another style of music I'd never really studied in depth before, the blues filled a need I didn't even know I had. Something new and exciting, it somehow feels like "coming home". I can't really describe it, but it's what this bank Jack is based on. Although we do all kinds of music, blues (especially "electric blues") is the heart of what we're trying to do. We're drawing on all of our combined talents - "dedicated to the music, committed to having a good time" and looking forward to the future. And yes, there are songwriters among us just itching to express ourselves - something we'll start doing soon.
So best wishes to all, and stay tuned - the best is yet to come......
J. R.
