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Bios
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HOSS
"I guess if I really thought about it, I started singing around 10 years old. My biggest influence in music came from my father. He has always been a big music person. He enjoyed stuff like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard to name a few. Bluegrass music too. Stuff like Mr. Bill Monroe, Ralph & Carter Stanley, Jimmy Martin and Lester Flatt...Great Stuff ! So, as long as I can remember really, I've had all this great American music around me. Great singers, pickers and a way of song writing I could relate too. Music written about the common man, and a simple way of life. Filled with our country's heritage. That's what I love!"
Soon after that, I stumbled onto my older brothers albums and 8-tracks. Stuff like The Beatles, The Allman's, Cream, Johnny & Edgar Winter, and of course Lynyrd Skynyrd. The first time I heard Ronnie VanZant sing it was mesmerizing to me. The words and melodies were like the country music I grew up listening too, but the sound was rock. Different. Very distinct. His own, their own. I was a "sponge" to music in those days. I used to fantasize about being that guy, that band. (Ya know how you do when your young.) Sometimes I feel like I still do it. **ha-ha** They say the highest form of flattery is to copy, well I guess we do, but I really think it's because we miss it so much! It's what we do.
We have a tremendous amount of fun when we play. Come out to a show sometime, you'll see. I've always believed that if we have a good time, the crowd will too! The music is already there. The "Bible" is written so to speak. We just have to interpret it properly. The "Poison Whiskey Version" if you will. And when you come, please come up and say hello. After all, we're all just one big family...a "Skynyrd Family", and what's more important than family and friends!
I heard a story told one time of how Johnny Cash used to sit his little girls down when they were fighting and say " Family....you can choose love or you can choose hate....I choose Love". Well said Johnny .
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Rob
“I first picked up the guitar when I was 16. It was a cheap Gibson SG copy. I’d plug that guitar into a Fender Bassman amp, turn it up to 11, and throw the neighbors into a full scale panic. Imagine hearing “Cat Scratch Fever” played half assed at a volume louder than the lawnmower you were running!”
“The 80’s and early 90’s found me in a number of bands. I was playing everything from classic to hard rock, and blues to jazz. I learned to play from the greats by learning their chops; Gary Rossington, Dickey Betts, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, and Warren Haynes. Now that’s a credible list of guitar teachers.”
“Playing guitar is more than a hobby to me. For me, it’s a way of life! And I’m still learning. Every time I’m in that “Collins Zone” at the end of Freebird, it’s like Allen is right there, guiding the way, showing me how it’s done!”
1997 GIBSON LESPAUL CLASSIC
2001 FENDER DELUXE STRAT
2004 GIBSON LESPAUL SUPREME
2006 GIBSON SG STANDARD
1997 MESA BOOGIE DC5
1987 MESA BOOGIE 50 CAL.+
2005 FENDER DELUXE
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Kevin
My oldest brother had guitars around and was in a rock 'n roll band as long as I could remember. I bugged my folks forever for a guitar and they finally gave in when I got caught learning on my brother's left-handed Fender Mustang. That didn't set too well for them since I was a righty. That was about age 14- I never looked back. (It's a sickness.)
Playing in various bands and venues in the Northeast over the years, I crossed the paths with various players. Rock, blues, jazz, country, whatever the gig was. There are only two kinds of music... good and bad.
I got my chance to play guitar in Poison Whiskey when another guitarist left during the early stages of the band. Originally I was hired to play bass (and from another state,) so I guess that makes me the Ed King of the group. I play Allen's and Steve's parts. Now I'm Southern by the 'Grace of Guitar.'"
AXOLOGY:
1993 GIBSON FIREBIRD V (THE ALLEN COLLINS AX)
1998 GIBSON KORINA EXPLORER (ALLEN'S OTHER AX)
1990 FENDER STRAT PLUS (THE POISON WHISKEY STRAT)
1960 GIBSON LES PAUL CUSTOM (A LA STEVE GAINES)
1963 FENDER STRATOCASTER (THE GAINES STRAT)
"Someday I'll get an old dobro and play it cross my knee."
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DAN
"Well, where do I begin. I started playing bass when I was about 16. I bought my first bass and amp in the spring of 75. The bass was a Kingston, I later put a Gibson Humbucker EBO pickup in. I forgot what my first amp was, but later that year I bought a used Ampeg B25 for about $125.00. The very first band I played with was the Hawks. The drummer was my best friend at the time. It's probably why they let me join in the first place. I didn't really know how to play very well at this point. They showed me the notes and I practice 3 times a day, every day for 3 months. You see we had gig at this block party in the summer of 1975 and I had to get it together before then. From there it just snowballed and before I knew it I couldn't get enough. The Bands that I have played with are Mantis, Fat City Blues Band, Ocean City Blues, Talker, 10Th Planet, John Hay and The Rhythm kings, Texas son , Lifters, and now here I am with Poison Whiskey."
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"Most of my musical influences have been Blues & Rock for playing. My idols are Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten, and of coarse the famous Leon Wilkeson. I listen to about every kind of music you can think of. Enough of that lets talk about equipment. Right now I play a zebra wood natural & a koa wood natural Kawai FB2 basses. I tried a few different types of basses but the Kawai had the perfect match for my playing taste. I play through a Trace Elliot GP7SM300, one 15", two tens and a horn to give it a little edge. So that's my story . See ya soon."
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KEN
"Performing in a Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I've played in bands that covered some Skynyrd hits, but this band plays all the cuts, true to their live sound. It is a ton of fun and a challenge to recreate Billy Powell's parts, and to be part of a group that does the music justice."
Piano: Roland U-20
Organ: Hammond XB-2
Ken joined the band in the Summer of 1998. Prior to that, he had been seen everywhere from weddings and bar mitzfahs, venues of thousands of people, and small local clubs. Previous experience includes performing with Nik and the Nice Guys (America's #1 Party Band)- sharing the stage with Kool and The Gang, KC and the Sunshine Band, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
"People who are familiar with keyboards know why I still tour with my U-20... especially with all the guitar work going on, you need a piano sound that will cut through. I've got four of them (as they become more scarce, and parts harder to find!): one for rehearsal, one for practice at home, one for on the road, plus a backup on the road. The Hammond goes without saying, but maybe it's time for an XK-2."
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BRUCE
"Joined Poison Whiskey in the middle 90's during the forming stages of the band. I was enticed by the concept of a tribute band to the Lynyrd Skynyrd band because of my love for southern rock music and my experience playing it. I recruited my friend and fellow musician, bass player Dan Prince, whom I worked with previously in the Lifters."
Band History:
1969 began playing at age 14 in first garage band
1973 1st gig at age 18 with band called Willow
1983 1st "southern rock" band (The Cole Younger Band)
1988 Kid Kurry Band which also was a band of considerable notoriety
1989 Renegade, a southern rock and classic rock band
1993 classic rock band The Lifters, locally known for its cover of Jethro Tull songs
1994 classic rock band Aftershock, local area
1995 Rampage, regarded as the area's premier southern rock band at the time
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Stacy
" I'll never forget the first time I saw Poison Whiskey play. I danced to every song - I remember thinking - these guys rock. I had been singing with another band at the time, but heard that Whiskey was looking for female back-up singers. I went to try out with a friend of mine and, as they say, the rest is history. I've been with the band for a few years now and it's been the best years of my life."
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