The Main Dry Bones Revival Crew
Bobby May - Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, lead vocals, harmony vocals, thousands of jokes.
Bobby has been playing guitar since his father put a brand new Gibson ES-335 in his hands in 1965. As a memory to his Dad, Bob still has, and occasionally plays, that ES-335 - which is worth more in dollars than many of our homes. Bob's early rock bands were usually 3-piece power trios doing psychodelic material by Cream, Jimmy Hendrix, Mountain, the Who, and other such power groups of the 60's. Bob's devotion to music performance is so strong that while serving his tour of duty in the Vietnam War he found an old guitar body with the neck broken off and repaired it with nails and glue then restrung it to keep up his "chops" and techniques up while fighting in the jungles of Vietnam until he could return home to his beloved Gibsons and Marshalls.
Being raised in a southern type family and spending his childhood summers at his grandparents' farm in Kentucky turned Bob into a super-friendly cuss. He hugs and shakes hands with everybody everwhere and people literally run to meet him for a friendly greeting. His zest for life and continual search for the ultimate musical expression are obvious from the moment you meet Bobby.
He has diversified his musical adventures over the years into a number of different genres of music including old-style country, new-style country, blue grass, southern swing, southern-rock, and others. Every genre he works on adds more songs to his public performances which most of the time are happening 7 nights a week.
Nothing comes between Bobby and his music and audiences everywhere can sense that. He is a fun-loving jokester and overall friendly guy who gets along great with audiences everywhere as he stuns them with his skills. Although he played in many bands in the 60s & 70s, his local reputation started to build in the late 70s in a band named Solstice and went through the roof when Georgia Peach started in 1979. Georgia Peach, May, Stella & Marks, and Dry Bones Revival are the three main groups Bob has been associated with since then. They are actually all deviations of many of the same band members and song lists with song lists becoming longer and longer and more diverse.
Yet during the week Bobby does a number of different solo, duo, and trio gigs with a variety of area artists including his son Frank. Frank was raised around music from the moment he was conceived. His mother sang throughout her pregnancy and Frank came into this world with music in his blood. When he was about 7 years old he sang "Born on the Bayou" at St. Pat's Catholic Church in east Toledo with Georgia Peach and all the little girls swooned and followed him around all day. He went on to become an accomplished bass player and today spends a number of nights of the week playing with his proud Dad, Bobby May. He does weekends with the now well-known Chris Shutters Band.
Dave Stella - Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, lead vocals, harmony vocals, amazement at Bob's thousands of jokes - brunt of many of them.
Dave Stella has been playing music for about 40 yrs. Because of Dave’s father’s strong work ethic that he wanted to impress upon his son, Dave spent the first three years of his childhood as a canary in a coalmine in Eastern Pennsylvania. It was a hard life sitting in a cage wearing a dingy gray-yellow feather suit with a used diaper under it. To fill his time and for fun, Dave played many blues tunes on an old harmonica that someone poked through the cage bars to him so he could impress the black coal miners. At least Dave thought they were black. It turned out that everyone in the coal mine was black because of the coal soot - even if they were white when they went to work. Today, Dave remembers his black roots with fondness although he’s 100% Italian. Dave also has such a keen nose for gas that he can smell the slightest little puff of propane or methane gas from a half mile.
After those early years Dave was allowed to come out into the sunlight. His mother had been worried that his skin was far too light from lack of sun for her purebred Italian boy. She demanded of her husband that Dave be allowed to switch to a job outdoors, so his father allowed him to break boulders with a sledgehammer and down large trees in the fresh air and sun 16 hours a day. Dave was in very good physical condition and his olive toned Italian skin was back by the time he entered kindergarten. After a few years of beating up wimpy students who didn’t know the meaning of work because they preferred to watch Leave It To Beaver every afternoon and ride their homemade skateboards on city sidewalks, someone convinced Dave “The Rock” Stella to try school band when he was 10.
To impress the dozens of girls who glued themselves to Dave because of his bulging throbbing muscles and dark skin, and to assure that he was known as the strongest Italian kid in school, Dave took up tuba and insisted on taking it to all classes during the day and keeping it on him all day long. He could balance it in the air with his left hand while writing his answers to test quizzes with the right. When it was important to be noticed, Dave would wear the tuba as a party hat and fellow students would laugh until they pee’d themselves. Dave tired of this instrument soon though because tuba can only sound like Taco Bell flatulence 400 or 500 times before it gets boring.
Dave then pestered and bugged his parents to let him switch to guitar. At age 13 Dave’s Dad put his rugged calloused Italian hand around Dave’s young neck (reportedly around the back of the neck) and took him to the local music store one Saturday afternoon. He rented Dave a guitar and scheduled lesson’s from a great guy by the name of “Don Paul” who played with the likes of “Buddy Rich.” Don Paul was definitely not Les Paul’s brother, although it’s possible that Don and Les had the same father but were from two different mothers. This was a common practice in eastern Pennsylvania and Hawaii back then. Another pair of brothers from different mothers in Hawaii that you may have heard of are Don Ho and Aee Ho.
As Dave and his Dad left the music store that afternoon, his Dad looked down at him fondly and said, “Wella Son, you fargin’ li’l monkey icehole, I don’t give a flippin’ farg if this damn guitar is a’rented a’one or not, but if you don’ta practice your damn’da icehole off until your fingers bleed, I’ma gonna wrappa the fargin’ icehole thing around your fargin’ little chicken neck so tight you won’t be able to stick a single strand of your lovin’ Mother’s linguini down your fargin’ throat!” He was one serious, tough, old Italian guy – a true believer in tough love and being a man’s man. As it turned out, Dave’s devotion to fulfilling his Daddy’s demand for perfection meant that many nights at around 11:00 p.m. his Dad would say throughout the whole house in a booming voice, “Put that’a damn thing away you miserable little fargin’ icehole, I can’t’a stand that’a fargin’ noise another second. Eight hours of that screeching and moaning is enough for one day already. Knock it off’a or I’ma gonna kick the dog for 45 minutes and it will'a be your fault!” Little did Dad know that the screeching and moaning was Dave and his current girlfriend in his room as Dave proved his other Italian talent, and the guitar wasn’t even plugged in!
Through the years, even while in the military, Dave jammed with many musicians and even recorded as part of an acoustic duo while stationed in England. In the duo, Dave wore paisley bell-bottom pants and sang songs about, “I’ma just’a wild about fargin’ Saffron, she’sa just’a wild about fargin’ icehole me,” but that just didn’t go over with audiences for some reason. His acoustic duo partner, Donovan, went solo then and stole Dave’s song, rewrote the lyrics, and became a millionaire with it. Donovan avoided a lawsuit by calling the song “Mellow Yellow” because he knew Dave feared the color yellow from his coalmine days of childhood.
Dave went home from the military in the 70s and played with bands all over the eastern Pennsylvania region then moved to Ohio in the early 1980s, where he heard he could hit the big time. Actually he was very misinformed, but hey… He carefully chose northwest Ohio where there weren’t any coalmines. Dave has been afraid of big black holes with methane gas belching out since childhood. That’s a long story in itself but the coalmine is part of it.
The very first musicians Dave met in this area were in Michigan (of course, since Dave lived in Ohio) - Dale Beagle and Kenny Humphries. Dave joined Dale and Kenny in The Ouch Band for about a year, although the friendships and respect never ended. Throughout the history of the various versions of Georgia Peach from 1981 until its demise, Dave talked incessantly about Dale Beagle and his Hammond B3 sound and playing abilities. We didn’t know why until Dale joined us in 1999.
Dave played in a few nameless “Lounge Lizard” bands until meeting Bobby in 1981 and joining “Georgia Peach” for the long haul. Every weekend, and some weeknights, ever since 1981, the two have been working seamlessly together. It’s a great chemistry with no egos or animosity and that is a scenario almost impossible to find between guitar slingers. Through the years, Dave, Bob, and Mark have opened shows for many national acts such as : Mitch Ryder, Bo Diddley, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Charlie Daniels, The Outlaws, Rare Earth, and more. Georgia Peach became May, Stella & Marks then became Dry Bones Revival. Dave also plays with Bobby & Friends at various times.
Dave loves to play all types of music but truly favors soulful, kick-ass music like Blues Rock and Southern Bluesy type stuff such as Allman Brothers, with a big fat sound that one can feel and is played from the heart. He has a golden rule he lives by: Keep your feet planted firmly on the ground and keep your ego in your back pocket. He believes the art of playing music is truly a gift and should be used to make your audience smile, toe tap, dance, groove, listen and enjoy. When it’s played from the heart music touches everyone.
Dave’s gear of choice is: Electric – Gibson Les Paul (the shoulder buster) and Fender Telecaster (cuts like a knife!) through a Fender Twin Reverb Amplifier (although he has occasionally been seen sporting a USA Fender Stratocaster for grins), an SKB pedal board with Boss, BB, Rocktron, and DanElectro effects. Acoustic – Gibson Jumbo Series J185 Blues King is the all-around top dog. His favorite vocal microphone is still the industry-standard Shure SM58 on a round base “lead Frisbie” mic stand that turns over easily when drunk people fall into it.
Dale Beagle - Keyboardist extraordinaire, 1947 Hot-rodded Hammond B3 and Leslie owner/abuser, Roland piano and Yamaha S-90 synth enthusiast, jokester extreme - especially while playing.
Dale Beagle's first words weren't "Mama" or "Papa" they were "Hammond B3" gurgled with a big smile and a growing bulge in his diaper - front and rear. Rumor has it that he dragged a Leslie organ speaker behind him on his umbilical cord when he was born.
By the age of 13 Dale was filling in on keyboards at his church off and on while waiting until he had enough facial hair to get in a band and start playing the club scene around Lenawee County. Dale is a musical sponge drawing in techniques and styles from every genre of music.
Although Dry Bones Revival focuses mainly on blues, 70s, and southern rock, you will hear Dale tinkering around with complex songs by Styxx, Kansas, Boston, and others between songs. He's not teasing you with little parts of songs he has picked up, he knows and can play them all. When it's his turn to smoke some leads (yes leads, not weeds) in our songs, we never cease to be amazed at how he fits fusion jazz, country, classical, or something else obtuse into that segment of the song flawlessly. Because Dale is so very experienced, he has plenty of spare brainpower to waste so he uses it to think of jokes and ways to crack up band members during songs with gestures and facial expressions that sometimes knock us out. Although totally capable of doing a one-man show, Dale prefers to play as a team player with us and has done so for the last 8 years.
We are humbled that he drives all the way down here from Adrian to play with us when we consider that Dale Beagle has performed with Crystal Gayle, Billy Dean, Shirley King (BB King's daughter), Derick Saint Holmes (Ted Nugent affiliate), and Mac Crawford (drummer of Molly Hatchett). He has opened as a member of a band for more than 70 major acts over the years and even sat in with bands in Las Vegas. A recent trip to Nashville found him recording with members of the former Highway 101 group.
Bill Lenhart - Drummer, percussionist, lead vocals, human metronome who claims to never be wrong, peacemaker, all around nice guy, knows the chords to our songs for no obvious reason.
Bill’s musical life has been a smorgasbord of events, starting as a line drummer at age 11. At 14 he was playing classical guitar for the high school concert band along with being percussion section leader for three years. His favorite memory of school was playing in three different groups for the school talent show.
Never wanting to be in a road band, Bill started playing in dance bands and pursuing original music, while playing guitar and drums with neighborhood friends doing rock and blues. The BLUES CONFIDENTIAL band continued on to win the “Best Blues Band” contest in Detroit in 1985. In 1987 BLUHEAT was formed as a trio and received the only standing ovation after their premiere appearance at an original music showcase that included 18 groups performing. Unfortunately, artistic differences arose and the band split.
In 1991 Bill was the only contestant from OHIO selected as a TOP TEN finalist in the MOTOR CITY DRUMM-OFF at the Ritz in Detroit MI. Bill is the most recorded drummer-percussionist in northwest Ohio, appearing on many local and regional artists’ work; the most recent original project with his band BAD MONKEY took the group to Detroit to appear twice on WJR’s MITCH ALBOM SHOW that included an MSNBC appearance.
Bill has played music from Minnesota to Mexico, has “opened” for groups from BADFINGER to EDGAR WINTER. Bill grew up on MITCH RYDER, was raised by THE ROCKETS, and has sustained his passion for great R&B, connecting for years with three-time Grammy winner DELBERT McCLINTON featuring DON WISE and performing with DELBERT as guest percussionist.
Always ready for another session, another stage, another adventure, Bill lets the music do the talking. He joined DRY BONES REVIVAL in May 2006.
Mark Bilger - Bass guitarist, harmony vocals, occasional lead vocal if forced, human metronome who actually is never wrong, resident sound system tech when required.
Mark has been playing bass guitar since 1968 when a band he was playing drums in needed a bass player. There were 3 drummers in the area but no bass players. So he used his early childhood classical piano training to quickly memorize positions on a cheap Japanese bass and started playing all the band's songs within a week. After high school one band of Mark's was the warm up act for the MC5, and for a long forgotten band named Cottage Cheese. Mark has played power trio, horn groups, old-style country, new-style country, Top 40, and classic hits over the years. Bob May, Bob's X wife, Rick Cline (drums) and Mark started Georgia Peach in 1979. The group has been through various incarnations over the years while Bob, his X wife, and Mark had an acoustic trio for about 10 years called the Georgia Peach Trio or Bobby May Trio. Then Bob, Dave Stella, and Mark did another acoustic trio thing called May, Stella & Marks for another 6 or 7 years until 2000. From 2002 until 2007 Mark was in a dance-powerfunk-rock-blues band Say What? with Jeff McClung and Rick Cline. Mark has played bass, played drums, or run sound systems in virtually ever Toledo-area bar that has bands over the last 4 decades and many that aren't here with us anymore. Highlights are:
Founding and playing with Third Degree which eventually became The Proof with Bob Harvey,
Toledo's first pioneering MIDI-sequencer band capable of doing horn group songs from the 60s & 70s accurately with only bass, guitar and lead singer,
Jamming with drummer Gregg Bissonnette (Maynard Ferguson, David Lee Roth, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani), doing a drum clinic with Kenny Aronoff (John Cougar Mellencamp, Jefferson Starship, Melissa Ethridge, John Fogerty), and another clinic by Skip Hadden (renowned LA session drummer who played on a couple Steele Dan albums).
Sound mixing for Toledo-area drum clinics by David Garabaldi (Tower of Power), Zorro (Lenny Kravitz), Steve Smith (Journey, Victor Wooten and Vital Tech Tunes, Buddy's Buddies), Mike Mangini (Steve Vai), Billy Ashbaugh (Pat Benetar, InSync), Russ Miller (L.A. session drummer), and Simon Phillips (The Who, Toto).
Sound system design, installation, sales, and operation for area churches and rock bands. Head of Sound Engineering for a well-known Toledo church handling their sound for their national TV show and live performance simultaneously. Setup and operation of the sound systems for the biggest and most well-known Toledo-area Vietnam Veterans Jams of the 70s and 80s when 10 to 12 bands would play all day followed by a national headliner act. Sound operator for Georgia Peach as warmup act for .38 Special at Party in the Park, as warmup act for Bo Diddley and Rare Earth in Fort Wayne.
Executive producer on a Contemporary Christian (CC) album in a Bill Gaither studio in Anderson IN, recording engineer and producer on two CC albums done locally, recording-playing-mixing of all live tracks on "At The Threshold of Prayer" by local CC artist Rebecca Montgomery, engineer-bassplayer-keyboardist-somedrums-mixdown producer on Rubb the Buddah by May, Stella & Marks, session bass player on several local band recordings, mixdown engineer for a Dry Bones Revival blues CD.