J O S H
M A D D E N
- LEAD VoCALS / GUITAR / PIANO
Josh Madden is a North Louisiana musician and music teacher. He has been playing in the Monroe area regularly for more than a decade now, performing live at venues around town and a variety of social functions in the region. His musical influences are Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, and Elton John on the piano, and Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Dave Matthews on guitar. With a repertoire of several hundred songs in all types of genres, he is sure to please crowds of all ages! After graduating from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2003 with a degree in Mass Communications, he has been teaching guitar and piano lessons since 2004. He also works at KEDM Public Radio where he has been hosting his show 'The Set List' from 6 til 9pm on Saturdays since 2010.
B I L L
B O L E s
- Bass / BACKUP VOCALS
Growing up in Rayville Louisiana, Bill fell in love with playing the bass when he heard the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. He listened to rock'n'roll and funk and attributes his love of all music to his older sisters bringing home new music from south Louisiana. When he moved home from LSU, Bill was an original founder of Boysengirls, AUX (Kevin Gordon), ZuZu's Petals, Cocodrie, Paul Amy and his Piroque Playboys, Zen Cinema (which opened several Better Than Ezra shows) and Firesteed. He played in the popular local alternative group The Fields, opening for Dash Rip Rock and Cowboy Mouth New Orleans and Jackson, MS shows. He spent several years playing bass for Louisiana Music Hall of Fame Doug Duffey and over 15 years as bassist to local rockabilly and swamp pop legend Kenny Bill Stinson with whom he opened for Jerry Lee Lewis on a sold out Saturday night at the House of Blues in New Orleans. Bill took over for Tillman Franks, Elvis Presley's bass player and local manager) in the Louisiana Hayride Band in 2003. In the Hayride Band, Bill has backed up or played with Doug Kershaw, Hank Williams' daughter Jett, Brady Blade (Dave Matthews), Brad Davis (Marty Stuart, Billy Bob Thornton), Jerry McCoy (Charlie Rich and The Allman Brothers Band), Chris Thomas King (W.C. Handy Award winner, Oh Brother Where Art Thou) and three-time Grammy winner and star of the Louisiana Hayride, the late, great Maggie Lewis Warwick. Bill was appointed to the Louisiana Music Commission in 2005. He has played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival over a dozen times with three different bands as well as venues from the Boston Folklife Festival to the Conga Room in L.A.
M I K E
M A R T I N E Z
- DRUMs
Mike started playing at the age of 11, and had his first band "Ace's High" at 13 yrs old with a couple of neighborhood friends. A few years later, Mike started playing with various Metal bands such as "Kamikaze", "Legion", and several others. Mike was drawn to Rock at first, then went into Progressive Rock, with influences such as "Rush" and "Dream Theater". After that, Mike broke away and started teaching drum lessons for about 7 years. Mike also played in a professional rock band by the name of "Heaven". He did a small tour with them with gigs in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana.
K E I T H
P A T T E R S O N
- LEAD GUITAR / BACKUP VOCALS
General Patterson has been playing guitar since the age of 13, first taking lessons from the jazz great Roland Gresham in Nashville, TN. He then proceeded to wear out all the albums he could get his hands on; trying to copy licks from Santana, Steely Dan, ZZ Top, and all the other usual suspects. After a quick stint in the Navy, the ol' General proceeded on to a tumultuous college career then out into the gigging world. Moving to Ruston, LA in 1984, General Patterson played guitar in just about every outfit in the area, including a five year stint with the great Kenny Bill Stinson. Moving forward, General Patterson became a member of "Howard Shaft", touring the South with the boys and recording a CD with the band. After moving around the country as an archeological field tech, he finally moved back to North Louisiana and fell in with Monty Russell, for whom he has played guitar for 12 years. Opening for the likes of Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, and Blues Traveler; the General has payed his dues... and then some. General Patterson now splits his guitar duties between Monty Russell and Josh Madden and can be seen on occasion gigging with Chris Canterbury, Wade Reeves, and Beaux Atkins. General Patterson plays a Gibson 335, a Fender Strat, as well as a Telecaster, and uses a Gretsch White Falcon for his acoustic duties. He uses old Peavey tube amps (Mace and Artist, as well as a Delta Blues) because, “they were made in the South and Skynyrd used them, so they are good enough for me!!". You can check out his original music on iTunes on his CD's "Shackville", and "Daredevil". Also, look for his new release, "Native American" streaming everywhere.