Hey there! Welcome to my little section of the Caminos website! Glad you could make it!! We hope that you make yourself at home on out little corner of the web! Kick off your shoes, grab a cold one and enjoy!
I’m currently listening to these CD’s/Albums: (Updated – 02.17.2012)
**Jake Owen – “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” – Alone With You is my favorite tune this album…so great!
**Lamb Of God – “Resolution” (Chris Adler is one bad ass drummer, and the rest of the band follows suit)
**Van Halen – “A Different Kind Of Truth” – Alex Van Halen.
**Paul McCartney – “Kisses On The Bottom” – very nice. Some great musicians on this recording.
Jeff and Casey’s other band, Porcupine, released a “split single” recently!
This is a vinyl 45rpm SINGLE!! Pretty cool stuff!! Porcupine has a song on one side and a band from Germany called “Metal Ghost” has one song on the other side! There is also be a download card included with the purchase as well. Porcupine has included another exclusive song on the download card.
Porcupine has another single and a full length album is on the way this winter/spring!
Click here for more about Porcupine!
Here’s some fun Q and A:
How long have you been playing and what got you started?:
I started playing drums way back in 5th Grade when I was just a little guy. I’ve always loved music. Even before I started actually playing music, I have great memories of riding in the car with my parents and certain songs would come on the radio and strike me as awesome! Some of them have stuck with me as favorites from back then: “Back On The Chain Gang” -The Pretenders; “Rhinestone Cowboy”- Glen Campbell; “Hungry Like The Wolf” – Duran Duran, “Let’s Go Crazy” – Prince; “Cum On Feel The Noize” – Quiet Riot; “I Love A Rainy Night” – Eddie Rabbit. I used to “borrow” my sister’s copies of some Prince & The Revolution and Van Halen music too! So I was also a huge fan of those artists right off the bat. All that music was great but the turning point was when I got my first Kiss cassette. That changed me forever. I came home from a shopping trip with a copy of “Destroyer”. That was it. I was all in. The timing was right at school to pick an instrument and, of course, it was drums or nothing. A practice snare drum and sticks were purchased (Thanks Mom and Dad), clothes hampers were flipped over and organized into drum kits and the stereo was cranked so I could “play along” with Kiss and AC/DC. When I hit junior high school it was Motley Crue, Ratt, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and etc… You get the idea.
Who are your favorite bands and influences?
My favorite bands are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath with Ringo Starr, John Bonham and Bill Ward as their drummers respectively. I could also list many more bands that have contributed to my inspiration and learning in different ways: AC/DC’s Phil Rudd was the best teacher I could have had in the beginning. I basically learned to play drums by playing along with “Back In Black” and “Dirty Deeds”. You can’t beat Phil Rudd when it comes to playing a steady/no frills rock beat. He’s the king. Kiss’s Peter Criss wasn’t far behind in the initial inspiration department. I think I wore out a copy of “Destroyer” by playing “King Of The Nighttime World” too many times! After that, I was into all the “hair metal” for a while; Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison and Bon Jovi. Then someone told me about The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. My life was complete… until I found, Miles Davis, The Police and all sorts of other things. I’ve even started to branch into country music and have gained a huge love and respect for it. Johnny Cash; Willie Nelson; Waylon Jennings; Glen Campbell and I’d have to say that Keith Urban is my favorite country artist at this moment. Most recently my favorites are: Mastodon, Black Country Communion, Sade and Peter Gabriel. My musical tastes continue to grow and widen as I get older!
What do you like about playing with The El Caminos?
The best thing about playing with The Caminos is that the guys in the band are my best friends! We get to play music, hang out and make people smile, laugh, dance and have a good time! It doesn’t get better than that! Playing music with my friends makes playing music 10x more fun and easy! We all love a lot of the same bands and music and we all can get on the same page quickly and easily in a live situation! We can almost read each others’ minds? That’s a little scary to admit but it’s true! I guess that’s what happens after playing together off and on for 20 years!
Any random thoughts you’d like to share?
I like to travel. Is that actually random? I guess it is. I like going to Hawaii. Someday I might go there and just not come back…
Jeff’s Favorite Websites:
Porcupine (Jeff’s Other Band)
Porcupine’s Bandcamp Page (listen to Porcupine here!)
Chandler Limited (great recording gear! check it out!)
Zildjian Cymbals
Soultone Cymbals
Vic Firth Sticks
The Caminos
If there is a common “happiness” thread through all people; rich or poor; young or old; every walk of life; it would me music. Right? Who doesn’t like music? And along with music goes entertainment! Who doesn’t like to be entertained? Put those two items together and you have The El Caminos. The band was put here to do just that: Play music and entertain people! They feel it’s their mission to make people smile, forget their cares for a little while, help people let loose, enjoy themselves, sing along like no one’s listening, dance a little (or a lot) and just have a great time in general!
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