|
Leon Ashley Peek and Tuberville Elaine
Davis
- piano, harp Marks musical heroes are his bandmates and Jeffrey Barnes of Brave Combo, Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh, and the late great Keith Moon of the Who. Former bands include the New Potatoes, Band with No Name, and Swat the Flea. Mark also plays with The Strayaways and The Denton Institute of Phrenology Marching Band. Elaine has been musically inclined since early childhood. She started piano lessons at 10 and continued for 8 years. In high school she played a mean trombone. She became interested in playing the harp in 1996. Elaine bought a small Pakistani lap harp at Voyagers Dream in Denton and learned to play. On their 20th Anniversary, Mark surprised her with a Dusty Strings FH-32 neo-Celtic folk Harp, which she continues to play today. She also plays keyboards, Shoshoni flute and lots of other stuff. Elaine's musical influences are Old time American Music, Southern Baptist Hymns, Swing, Jazz, and Celtic. Elaine's harp and keyboard playing hero is Derek Bell of the Chieftains, who once kissed Elaine, but that's another story. Leon Ashley Peek began trying to play guitar in 1960; yes, 42 years ago. While some might say that this means he is past his prime, others say that it just means that he is a slow learner. His first band gig was playing old-time banjo in a jug band in the early 1960's. The high point of his brief professional career was playing for the senior citizen happy hour in the Flamingo Bar and teaching kids guitar every afternoon and Saturday in the Riviera Music Shoppe in West Palm in 1964. The guitar he plays in Tuberville is a Breedlovewith Roland Guitar Synth and Baggs I-Beam pickups. The synth mostly serves to play extra deep bass notes (and helps to drown out his singing). Leon's concertina is a new-old instrument. The reeds and the button action was built between 1890 and 1910 in the golden age of concertinas by the Wheatstone Company. Sir Charles Wheatstone invented the concertina and founded the Wheatstone Company. Sir Charles was the same Wheatstone that advanced the field of physics by the discovery of the Wheatstone resistance bridge. During the time this concertina was started, the craftsmen would receive orders from the Company and make the parts by hand at home. The wooden case and leather bellows on Leon's concertina are modern. They were made by concertina maker John Connor in England using the same hand techniques. The original wood and leather parts had deteriorated to the point they could not play. There are several key layouts on concertinas; Leon plays the Anglo layout. Brian Horn played classical guitar in his earliest years as a musician but switched to violin which has been his musical passion since age 10. Brian has studied classical music and has played in school orchestras since the 5th grade. He has played each year in the All Region Orchestra and in the winter of 2001 was their concertmaster. He has toured with his high school orchestra to St. Louis and to London, England. Brian has won honors in UIL state solo and ensemble competitions both as a soloist and in string quartets. He takes time out of his busy schedule to humor the old fogies of Tuberville with both charisma and finesse on fiddle. Steve Horn made his musical beginnings playing ukulele at age 8 then graduated to guitar on his 9th birthday. This was his primary instrument until his college years although he also played saxophone in his school band. In college, Steve studied 20th century composition and became interested in medieval and renaissance music. His partaking in early music lasted more than two decades including playing on various winds as well as lute and harp. In 1998, Steve took a fancy to a banjo he found in a local pawnshop which began his transition to the music he now plays with Tuberville. Steve has played with various Old Time and Celtic Bands such as the New Potatoes and Swat the Flea. Steve plays on a Deering Calico banjo, as well as a James Lyon Superb, and a custom Nechville Meteor electric. He also plays a Rigel mandolin, an Irish flute by Michael Cronolly, and a bass curtal (renaissance forerunner of the modern bassoon) by Bob Cronin. |