I can't remember not singing ...
with my sisters while we did the dishes, chorus all through grammar school.
1975
I love John Lennon. I like The Beatles, but I always tried to emulate Lennon.
My favorite singers are Robert Plant, Burton Cummings, and Paul Rogers (those are the first three that come to mind, anyway.)
I've been singing my way through bands, jamming with anybody, since I was twenty. I've only been with one other serious original band besides JOHNNY SMOKE. That was in Reno, Nevada; the band was called Damage.
Around 1989 I thought I was giving up singing, jamming, trying to be part of a band. Then in 1990 I met my brother, John Yeara:
John Yeara pulled me back into the music scene; got me to start looking for something again. He's still calling me to jam a show with him somewhere.
I placed ads, answered ads ... I can't tell you how many. I got with a band called Bias. Ronnie, Scott, and I were a good writing team. Other than that, it was really just a way to keep my chops up. After that I was with a cover band for a while ... that fizzled.
I placed an ad. Now, when you place an ad, the calls start coming and soon you have 20,000 post-its around the phone. This drummer called and left his number; I put it on a post-it. He calls again, we're talking, and he asks if I've ever heard of JOHNNY SMOKE. Well, it turns out I met with Don Mancuso six months earlier. We exchanged tapes; but I went back to that cover thing. I told Joe we should get together and jam. And now, here I am about to release a second CD with a band called JOHNNY SMOKE.
Another friend of mine asked me to go see a show; he knew someone in the band. It turns out, John is singing. His voice was a little hoarse, so I asked if I could sit in and sing a couple of songs. Later, as I walked off the stage, The Two Debs yell out "Get his number!" Then John says into the mic, "Don't take off without leaving your number."
