Q & A:
How long have you been playing and what got you started?

I’ve been singing for almost 20 years now. Jeff and I always dreamed of starting a band, most of the credit for getting me started as a singer goes to Jeff. When we were kids we used to get together in the summertime after school was out and play drums and keyboards together and talk about starting a band. Jason showed up in the picture and asked Jeff about playing drums in the band and Jeff suggested that I join the band as a keyboard player. During our first get-together they talked me into being the singer. I guess I could sing and we really needed a singer more than a keyboard player!! So that’s how I got started.

Who are your favorite bands and influences?

I’ve never stopped listening to Ozzy(Black Sabbath), Alice in Chains, Slaughter, Skid Row (all the 80′s hair bands), Virgos/Virgos Merlot. My vocal influences would be Layne Staley, Ozzy, Seal(not kidding), Brett Hestla from Virgos and anyone with a great voice!

What do you like about playing with The El Caminos?

The thing I love is that I get to play music, hang out, and have fun with my best buds of many many years, Also I like to put smiles on peoples faces and make them forget about the “rough and tough” of the real world for a while! That’s a great feeling!!

Any random thoughts you’d like to share?

This isn’t really a random thought but I would just like to say, thank you to all of you who come to our shows to have a good time, and be a part of something that I feel is pretty special. The compliments and smiles on your faces makes it all worth it. If it wasn’t for all of you, I wouldn’t be singing right now. I love you all:)

James’s Favorite Websites

Alice In Chains
Black Sabbath

On with the show…

Hello everybody, and thank you for visiting the Camino site, and taking a peek at my little section here.  I am a happily married lad, and I have two young lad’s of my own;  Daylan (2) and Hudson (NB).  I would have to say I’m lucky as hell to have the family that I have!  I’m originally from the great state of Iowa, GO HAWKS, but reside in La Crosse, Wisconsin these days.  Other loves beyond my family and the band would be that I’m a big Iowa Hawkeye and St. Louis Rams fan.  I’m one of the founding members of this little outfit called The El Caminos and thoroughly enjoy playing with these goof balls. I’m the guitar player and I generally stay away from the microphone. You could call it a phobia, I guess. I’ve played with James and Jeff since I was smaller than the guitar itself, and with Casey since early 2010. We have a very tight bond on and off the stage, and I guess people can sense that as we see our excitement pour off the stage and into the crowd every show.

It’s posted on this site in other regions, and you’ll probably see it again after reading this, but James, Jeff, and I were in a rock outfit called Silver Tears. We started that way back when we were in our early teen’s and continued it out until our early twenties. It was our little “School of Rock”. Playing and learning big hair band material was a crash course in lead guitar, that’s for sure. I’m still influenced by a lot of players from that era, and majority of them are still kicking ass today. I recently found an old bio of us for our old management company from Nebraska.  Listing my influences, it went something like this…

“I’m heavily influenced and shape my playing after Jake E. Lee, Warren DiMartini, Butch Walker, and Zakk Wylde”. – from a 1990 something promo piece.

I look back at that now and I laugh as I still am influenced by those guys.  The good thing about the El Caminos is that we can still play some of that big hair music and it’s just as popular today as it was back when we had hair down to our waists.  It’s always fun to be able to play a song live now, that I played 20 years ago in my bedroom full of Kiss and Mötley posters.  Timeless I guess.  However, If you were to tell me back in the day that I would be playing some Country music at my live shows I’d tell you that you were flipping crazy even though I did grow up on a lot of Country N’ Western.  My Mom played it non-stop, as did my Dad.  I can still turn on a Country station today that is playing the REAL C&W music, and sing along to about everything.  Obviously the landscape of Country music has changed, hence that is why it fits right into our style of Rock and goes with the flow of the show.

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How long have you been playing and what got you started?

I started playing guitar when I was 13 years old or so.  Hanging with my buddy Ted, all we did was watched Kiss videos, listened to The Doors, and read Metal Edge magazine.  We decided to start a band, and convinced our parents to get us all instruments.  I had a major love for Ace Frehley so I decided to go with guitar, Ted played bass.  So funny to think back to those jam sessions, YIKES.  We ended up forming a garage band called, Suicidal Priest.  How scary is that, funny thing is we all went to Catholic school.  Not sure where that came from!?!  I ended up asking a neighbor of mine’s boyfriend if he’d be our manager since he had played in a local successful band, plus he looked like Slash.  He agreed, and after the other guys showed no interest in playing at our first practice, I asked him to start a band with me.  He said yes, and then we started rehearsing and recruited Jeff Bahr.  He then got James in the fold as our keyboard player.  However, we didn’t need a keyboard player, so James sang.  I remember on of our first songs… “Dr. Feelgood”.  Oh my, I’m glad we’ve all gotten a little bit better!

Who are your favorite bands and influences?

Kiss, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Tesla, Tom Petty, and Old school Country.  Favorite band of all time though has to be KISS.  Huge fan of theirs.  They literally scared the crap out of me as a child, but I now have there memorabilia littered throughout my office.  As for influences (see above) I’d have to say Ace Frehley, Zakk Wylde, Richie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, Keith Urban, Joe Walsh, Phil X, Jimmy Page, and this other lad out there call Joe Bonamassa.  I could sit and listen to those guys play on an acoustic with 3 strings with the worst action for hours on end.  They’re all great guitar players, but they OWN the guitar when they play it, very in control and could play perfect in their sleep.  Maybe not Ace after a bottle of liquor, but he is ACE, he can do whatever he wants.

What do you like about being in the El Caminos?

I get to play with my friends!  At the end of the day, these guys are my brothers, not just guys I have to go play a show with on the weekend.  I love that.  We’ve been doing this for so long, that it’s effortless.  We all have the same mindset, we pour our heart and soul into every show, and that is what I love.  Nobody takes it lightly.  We are playing cover songs, and we respect the original artists, but we still go out and put our heart into it as if we wrote them.  We get just as big of a thrill seeing everybody responding to it and singing it back to us, as if we wrote the damn song ourselves.  It’s just FUN, and that’s about as simple as it gets right there.

Any random thoughts you’d like to share?

Random thoughts or rants?  Let’s see… I am not a fan of complainers or people that have negative attitudes.  Anytime you’re feeling like your life sucks, and it isn’t fair, think of the others that have it far worse then you.  Things can always be worse, always remember that.  I try and stay positive, and project that to others as well.  Life is a lot more enjoyable when you’re happy and have a smile on your face, trust me.  Since this is a RANDOM section, it may get updated on a regular basis!  Oh one more… I don’t get why people that ride bicycles think they have to be in the same line was cars at stoplights??  If you can’t keep up with traffic, get the hell out of the way.  Does that sound negative?!?  IF so, it wasn’t, I still have a smile on my face

Jason’s Favorite Websites

Kidding me… Of course.  If you don’t go and visit this site here, I will hunt you down and shave off your mustache… even if you don’t have one. Alright, as for other things that I’d like to share with you are some of my favorite musicians, bands, and gear.  Check them out below!

ENDORSEMENTS:
Jason proudly uses Steve Clayton products!!

MUSIC:
Gibson Guitars
Marshall Amps
Vox
Fender Guitars
Joe Bonamassa
Zakk Wylde
Phil X

SPORTS:
St. Louis Rams

WORK:
Clients From Hell

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

Q & A:
When did you start playing?

I started playing guitar when I was 15 years old! I picked up the bass guitar a little later when playing in some other bands with buddies! I still play guitar, sing and write songs for my band, Porcupine!!

Do you have any favorite bands or influences?

My favorite bands are The Doors, Echo and the Bunnymen, Love and Rockets, Syd Barrett and Swervedriver! Adam Franklin from Swervedriver was and still is one of my favorite guitarists! These are the bands that taught me how to play and helped me develop my originality as a player and songwriter.

What do you like about playing with The El Caminos?

The band members are great guys and very talented musicians! They are also my close friends! We get along well and we have a good time playing together!

Any random thoughts you’d like to share?

I love sushi! It’s my favorite food!

Casey also plays guitar and sings in another band called Porcupine:

Porcupine just released a 45rpm record on Big Action Records, a small indie label from Minneapolis, MN.
Find out more about it here: Big Action Records
Also find more info and listen to music by Porcupine here: Porcupine’s Bandcamp Website

Casey’s Favorite Websites:

Porcupine (Casey’s other band)
Porcupine’s Bandcamp Page (listen to Porcupine here!)
Fender Guitars
Mastery Bridge
Orange Amplifiers