| Gayle Lewis | Lead vocals, keys, trumpet, guitars, bass | ||
| Doug Mitchell | Guitars, vocals | ||
| Craig Parrott | Bass, guitars, keys, vocals | ||
| Brad Wingert | Drums/Percussion | ||
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| I was born in western Kansas and grew up on a farm outside Sharon Springs. Graduated from Wallace County High School in 1982 and from Kansas Technical Institute in Salina, KS with an Associates of Computer Science and Associates of Electronic Data Processing. I met my wife, Sally, while at college and we married in the summer of 1984. We have 3 sons (Ryun, Josh and Sean), couldn't find that girl recipe. I am employed with AgTrax Technologies where we write software for agribusinesses. I played trumpet in high school, but didn't get involved in bands until I met Doug. We met in the spring of 1988 and have been jammin' together ever since. He's taught me all I know about guitars. We have shared the stage as PrayZ, Sacrifice Fly and now SameAzU. These last 3 years have been a blast and I see no reason to stop now! Rock On!!!!! | |||
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| About me - 45 years old; lifelong Kansan; future Coloradoan; married to the beautiful blonde, Lisa, that plays the fiddle with SameAzU on occasion; father of three talented children, Bret, Derek and Lauren; small business owner; wannabe mountain climber; average, reluctant guitarist. My brother Larry taught me to play when I was 14, so I should be better than I am, Oh well. Have been in some kind of band since 1978 to the present including Destiny, Shell Shock, Apostle, Inside Out, PrayZ and the Actual Hoots of Joy, Sacrifice Fly and now SameAzU. I have always played Hamer guitars & Crate amps and the same solo in every song. Not really, but I do prefer playing rhythm guitar rather than lead, but I really do enjoy playing with this bunch of guys/friends and will do what I have to do (including prompting vocalists who forget the lyrics). If you've read all this and still want to know more, then you really need to get a hobby. | |||
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I was born on Cornhusker Drive, in Omaha Nebraska. Can you say “Husker Fan”? I knew that you could. In 1974, at the age of 13, I was given my first guitar as a Christmas gift from my parents. Little did they know it would turn into a life long passion. We moved to Buhler, Kansas the summer of 1978 and I started at Buhler High that fall as a junior. That's where I met Bob Dunmire (the most talented bassist I've ever met, now musically retired), Eric Elwell (now with Paragon Studios in Nashville), and Eric Hindman (RIP my friend). Together we formed my first serious band, Eclipse. Kelly Sheehan (currently with Colorblind out of Wichita) joined up with us as lead guitarist when Eric H. left to pursue other interests, and the core of Eclipse was established. With the support of Eric E's parents J.D. and Ann, Eclipse grew into a full throttle road band. I left that band during the summer of 1980 and Jeff Oltman (now playing in Dallas TX.) stepped in. That was the last time I had played……..until the summer of 2004! It was at a summer baseball game that our sons were playing in for Inman where Gayle and I were leaning on the bleachers talking, that he first mentioned that he and some friends were putting a band together. I mentioned that I used to play guitar and Gayle says “you wanna play bass? We need a bass player.” The timing was perfect. I agreed to come to a practice session and “plunk” around to see what, if anything, I could do on a bass. That's when I met the rest of the starting line up. I was so nervous I could hardly play a single note. But after a few attempted songs, things started to click, and have been clicking ever since! SameAzU has turned into something truly amazing for me. It has brought music back into my life. Something I didn't realize I had missed until now. The passion to play has been re-kindled within me and I don't intend on letting that get away any time soon. I thank my family for supporting me on this one passion! Playing the bass almost seems second nature to me now, but I do appreciate that the guys let me break my guitar out and jam on a couple of songs. When you come out to see us play, you need to understand a couple of very important things. 1.) These are friends you see up on the stage, not band mates, not separate musicians who came together just to play, but friends who share the same passion. And 2.) It's all about the music…..Amen. |
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Brad (also known as "RingoWingo" to his (fan) is the band's newest recruit. He brings his precise-yet-powerful ability from his previous band experiences.
"A master skinz-basher with the showmanship of a flasher", "RingoWingo" has been gigging off and on for years. He answered an ad in the personals one day and got an invitation from Craig to come sit in and audition with the band. A couple of songs turned into a couple of hours and the rest is history! Before SameAzU, "RW", had been running wild with a bunch of Junk Yard Dawgs, and before that, (not counting the High School Jazz Band Ensemble), he'd played with many highly-acclaimed groups like . . . . "U R Different" . . . . "IRU" . . . . "Who are those guys again?" . . . . and the lane-scorching Friday night powerhouse known as "Larry and the Bowling Pins" (where he captured applause to spare.) All kidding aside, "RW's" roots go deep. He started banging on the skinz at age 8 and formed his first band in the really early 70's. It was a trio known as "We Three" . . . . OK, so the drums were made of cardboard and the lip syncing wasn't the best and he was only 10, but hey . . . they ROCKED!!!!! By day, he dreams up thundering new savage beats while working in the desert wasteland called "GRAPHIC DESIGN", designing art for all kinds of stuff like T shirts, company logos, websites, business cards . . . . you know, stuff like that. When it comes to his day job, he's been quoted as saying that his main mission in life is to take the "FREE" out of "Freelance." Finally, we think, if you asked "RW" what or who had been the major influences to him thru the years he would respond immediately, without question, that the people who had really made an impact on him in his musical career were, Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkeys), Chris Partridge (the first one, not the second one, the second one was a joke!) and last but not least "Animal" from the Super Group "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem". He also chalks his incredible skills up to love, laughter, family and one free beer per set. (hint, hint) |
