PERSONAL BIO
I was born in Huntington, Indiana on August 3, 1971. My family lived in a quiet neighborhood on what has become the now infamous HASTY STREET. When I was six, and my brother TONY thirteen, we moved to central Kentucky to the small town of Berea, which was a culture shock for all of us, TONY and I included. Everything in our lives was suddenly and drastically different, including the style of dress, friendships and relationships. Peer pressures was much greater than what we were used to in Huntington, Indiana.
My interest in music took shape almost immediately after the move in 1978. Although ELVIS had died almost a year beforehand, he had made a huge
impression on me and changed my life without me even realizing it. You can say he put the "fever" in me to play, play, play. His songs seemed to have such a hard thump to them, and believe you me, I felt it.
Naturally, I was into what created that bottom end punch and playing drums became an instant passion to me. I can remember watching THE MUPPET SHOW as a child just so I could see ANIMAL go nuts behind his red double bass drum kit, which coincidently is very similar to the drumkit I use today.
My parents have always had a love for music, and even though neither of them has ever played a note, I felt they have always had music in their blood. I
say this because my Mom listened to country radio as she worked in our home taking care of her two knot-headed sons, TONY and me. My Dad loved HANK WILLIAMS, SR. , TOM T. HALL, CONWAY TWITTY, MERLE HAGGARD and many other classic artists too numerous to mention. He would listen to them on his 8 track player in his car any time we would go anywhere. This is what influenced TONY and helped to mold the foundation for his style of music, I'm sure. My Dad has a heart's desire to be a musician, but sadly he never had the patience nor the time to learn.
I bought my first drum kit at the age 10 from the money I earned from a paper route. It cost $200.00 and I paid for it in $20.00 monthly installments. I have to say my parents and neighbors sure put up with a lot of noise on our quiet dead end street for many years. I practiced daily until my hands would be completely numb.
I've been in several different bands in my life ranging from marching band in high school to hard rock, country, and southern rock. I really feel that this is why my style of drumming is so diverse. Through all of the different bands (dozens), I knew something was missing, but I could not put my finger on it. It wasn't until TONY brought it to my attention that I realized we should be playing together. He had been playing rhythm guitar and singing for years, and had become a seasoned, professional entertainer, which was a far cry from the bands I was working with at the time. So we combined his talent and mine, and we started off to create something completely unique, our own band. The first person we called was WIL ADAMS to play lead guitar and sing. WIL has been a lifelong friend of ours, and we knew he was talented, but we weren't sure how much. WIL has become one of the greatest unsigned talents out there today and we love him like a brother. We were in desparate need of a name that reflected our heritage and what we felt molded us as musicians. I happened upon our old homeplace in Huntington, Indiana, when we lived on a lonely, quiet lane called HASTY STREET and thus the journey began.
The people in my life that I have always felt were my personal heroes have always been my parents and my brother, TONY. I have tried to follow their example of strong family values and down - to - earth work ethics and I feel that I was blessed to be born in to such a loving home.
As far as music goes, I would have to say that I was very influenced by the 1980's and ARENA ROCK. Drummers like TOMMY LEE of MOTLEY CRUE, ALEX VAN HALEN of VAN HALEN and NEIL PERT of RUSH have helped to play a large part in molding my style. I wish I could put myself in the same category as them, but sadly, I feel that I still have a long way to go. As far as bands go, I prefer to listen to all of the above, as well as KISS , MONTGOMERY GENTRY , HANK WILLIAMS, JR. , DAVID ALLEN COE , GARTH BROOKS , ELVIS (of course, I am human
after all) and SHAVER (BILLY JOE) . A wide variety, but then again, so is HASTY STREET . Special heros would be my buddies on the road for their endless pursuit of music - WIL , JOHN , STEVE ,and my true brother, TONY .
I like a lot of drums/cymbals on my kit, and never seem to be satisfied. I always want more, more, more. I use a TAMA 8 piece drumkit, sometimes one kick drum and sometimes two, depending on my mood. Always at least a double pedal by GIBRALTER. All drums and cymbals mount on a GIBRALTER rack. My cymbals are a combination of ZILDJIAN and PAISTE . All REMO
drum heads on kicks and toms, and a coated power stroke on snare. I use AUDIO TECHNICA
and AKG mics , an ALESIS D4 drum module for kick with KAT
triggers, and the cheapest sticks I can find (size 3a wood with nylon
tips). They're bucket sticks from CARL'S MUSIC CENTER in Lexington, Kentucky , at $4 a pair. Killer, huh? Thank God for DWIGHT at CARL'S because he has been a lifesaver. I am also in the process of re-covering another kit of SLINGERLANDS (shut up Jeff).
For more pics of Wess, take a stroll down
I have to say in closing, my life as a musician and everything else I do in life, I owe to my wife PAM and my children JESSI, CODY and AUDI. I love you all.
WESS'S WEB LINKS
Wess has only one link he thinks you'll really need...
MEET THE BAND
HEROES & INFLUENCES
CURRENT GEAR
PHOTOS
DEDICATION
Secondly, the band HASTY STREET , my family on the road, you are the greatest. Thanks for the wonderful years. And always, JIMMY GRAY. You are in my thoughts everyday and I will love you always.
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