Rick Wagner

 
My exposure to music came at a very early age. There were always 45 rpm singles and albums being played at our house. Elvis, Everly Brothers, Don Williams, Carl Perkins and many more artists of that era were what we listened to. My mother was a guitar player and I was always fascinated with watching her play, but I decided in the fifth grade that I wanted to play the trumpet.

I joined the high school band in the fifth grade. For the next 8 years I played the trumpet and became 1st chair in the band.  Learning to play the guitar was still in the back of my mind.  At age 16 some buddies and I started up a "soul band". We had a guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and two trumpet players. I was, you guessed it, a trumpet player.  We got serious about the band and worked hard playing some local gigs and high school dances. Everyone in the band had this huge desire to stretch out, all but the guitar player.

The guitar was still in the back of my mind. I talked my parents into getting this acoustic guitar I saw at the music store.  It was a Framus and actually a very nice instrument. I worked hard in my bedroom learning to play with the help of my mom. Then one day after practice everybody was sitting around shooting the bull except our guitar player, he had already left.  His guitar and amp was there and the next thing I knew we where jamming with me on the guitar. 

Well that was the way the band lined up from then on. We got a new horn player, and I talked my mom into getting a 68 blond telecaster I was in love with. We really got serious with our music and played and gigged for the next 6 years. Then the classic story. I got married, had my first son Richard, and the band broke up. The music was put away but not forgotten. 

Many years later I got back into playing with my son Richard at church. It was good to be playing again.  The rest of the bio kind of picks up on Rich’s.  We have played now for about 5 years.   We had talked for a long time about getting a gigging band together and playing some rock and roll. My other son, Rob, had this fantastic rock and roll voice so he was an automatic to take the singing chores.  How cool is that to be playing again all the years later with your two sons.