Portland, Oregon songwriter Greg Thelen plays guitars and keyboard with his band, and is also half of cello/guitar duo, Sweeter Than Later. Greg's music roots go back to being mesmerized as a kid listening to Fats Domino, Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, and Elvis on AM radio. He learned swing tunes on the ukulele and polkas on the accordion, and grew up with a dad who was a popular square dance caller (all that nerdiness would come in handy later when computers were invented). He started playing guitar as a teenager when he flipped out over the Beatles and Bob Dylan, and quickly joined with friends to form Portland party band FCP. He played lots of solo gigs in the Lake Tahoe area during his ski bum days. More old history has Greg playing in rock (Rock Creek) and jazz/blues (Indigo) bands around Portland in the 1980's.
After a decade or so spent working in a school and being a good dad, Greg got back to writing and in 2007 released a solo album of his tunes--Enough Thunder--and put a band together with friends Don Schei, Gary Slone and Don Baker to play shows. In the fall of 2009 Peter Ford and Jim Pitts took over the bass and drum spots, joining in with Don Baker, who plays electric guitar and sings, and Greg-who sings and also keeps an eye out for airborne vegetables.
Don Baker learned to play guitar at the age of five, and grew up playing in the family band with his father. He spent a large part of his twenties and thirties in local bands of various genres, ranging from Bluegrass to Jazz and everything in between. In 1995 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee and began work as a contract guitarist, playing for songwriters in a number of independent studios, including the Sound Kitchen, and Terry Ballard Studios. Don also gigged or toured with Terri Clark, Sam Moore, Rita Coolidge, Michael Sands and the Casino Cowboys, and the House of Cards.
Peter Ford: raised in the mid-west on rock n roll and country music, Peter has played a variety of instruments, including piano, bass, and guitar, in a variety of places, such as Grand Rapids, Denver, New Orleans and Portland, where he now makes his home. Locally, Peter has played in groups with Michael Allen Harrison, and Vern Collins and Cross Country. He currently leads various groups of small children in songs that are easy to sing.
Jim Pitts has been playing drums for over 51 years. His mentors where he grew up in Southern California were jazz greats Shelly Manne and Jake Hanna, both of whom taught him what it means to be a professional. Jim has done session work in LA studios, played with members of the Doobie Brothers, and has had air play with "Got Three Days" with the band Jungle Jim And The Swing Set during the big swing scare back in the 90's (pheww, that was a close one-that crap almost caught on!), leads his own Latin jazz quartet, and teaches drums out of his studio in Beaverton.
Kendra Carpenter sings on some of the band's recordings and has been known to come out and gig with us.
