THE BAD MONKEYS
In the beginning, there was rhythm-and-blues band Black Cat Bone. But playing to 2 a.m. in smoke-filled blues bars and dodging drug dealers and hookers in parking lots during load-outs had its drawbacks. In 2000, BCB discovered that they could get better gigs, better pay, better hours, and better surroundings by donning Hawaiian shirts, learning a few Jimmy Buffett tunes, and morphing into the Bad Monkeys, a pool party trop-pop band with a dash of r & b. Though mostly found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, over the years, the Monkeys have been known to surface from North Carolina to New Orleans to Arizona. They are a past Texas Music Awards Vocal Group of the Year nominee.
The full ensemble consists of seven members, although the band occasionally shrinks to a quartet for back-yard parties and other smaller budget/smaller venue gigs.
From left: Louie Chambers, Alan White, Kelly Brown, Robin Binford, Randy Brooks, Phil Keese, and featuring Sharon Oefinger as The Diva.
YOUNG COUNTRY
Young Country has existed since 1970. The Dallas-based folkish group gained a fiercely loyal following with a repertoire that included the then-current work of Linda Ronstadt, Michael Murphey, John Denver, and the like. YC has performed as far west as California, and as far east as the island of Crete. Over the years, they've been joined onstage by the likes of Michael Murphey, JoAnne Worley, jazz great Joe Williams, and Creedence Clearwater drummer Doug Clifford.
After a 25-year hiatus, the group resumed performing together in 2002, holding mostly-annual reunion concerts from Dallas to Montana to Lake Tahoe. The current line-up has been in place since 1977.
Pictured from left: Johnny Hooper, Randy Brooks, Cheryl Cleavenger, Rod Phillips, Rick Sparks