The Band
L to R: Eric Fry, John de Vries, David Impey, Leigh
Moore
John (Jake Jr.) de Vries – bass, vocals
John (Jake Jr.) de Vries grew up in a small town
but he had a big imagination. He loved music and
wanted to spend the rest of his life with his friends
playing in a band. So he went on the road and the
band got great reviews and was signed by Capital
records. Some dreams come true and some don’t.
The band broke up and John got a day job but he
still spends the rest of his time making music
with his friends.
His early influences include Hank Williams, Elvis,
the Ventures, Beatles, Stones, Eric Clapton and
Jimi Hendrix.
For the equipment enthusiast, John’s bass
set-up includes an Ernie Ball "Stingray" 5
string bass and an SWR "Redhead" combo
amp...the early 240 watt version. He has
other gear but doesn't bring it out for gigs.....Fender "57
Precision" copy (Japanese), Squire Precision
(Japanese), and some amps - an old Traynor Bassmaster,
Traynor Monobloc. He has a Traynor Guitar-Mate
(chicken head knobs), Kalamazoo Model 1 and an
Ampeg Reverberocket, and an assortment of cheap
acoustic guitars, resonator guitar and an older
Ibanez electric with junkbox Japanese pickup. Then
there are the "creations"…..a
homebuilt SG Junior w/ P90 and some homebrew/frankenstein
guitar amps that never made it out of the lab (but
they all work); a 5E3 (kinda) and 18 watt Marshall
w/6V6's (sorta) and he just unleashed his low watt
Vox AC15 (only with 6AQ5's instead of 6BQ5's).
This has the EF86 pre-amp tube (vintage Philips
Mini-Watt) that tweaked-out guitarists drool over.
He also has some horrible effects pedals from the
70's that could be just the ticket on a recording,
and also a small bag of percussion instruments
and some flutes from the tropics.
John is also a talented guitar and mandolin builder
and decoy carver. He has played in the following
bands:
1966 |
Nigil Webb & The Love Agents
Rick Campbell-guitar & vocals
Dave York-guitar (12 string) & vocals
Bill Cook-drums & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
Played school dances, private parties
and Wellington Town Hall. |
click to enlarge
|
1968 |
Yogi Wattam & The Dustmen
George (Yogi) Wattam-guitar & vocals
Ross Bongard/Mike Bond-drums
John de Vries-bass & vocals
House band at the Rickerton Hotel. |
|
1968-1970 |
Played in various bands as a pick
up bass player including:
Coulter Brothers Band
Dave Pride
Dave Finnegan
John Logue & Dennis Barager
School dances, small clubs and bars. |
|
1971 |
Westbury Union
Dave Impey-drums & vocals
Danny Thompson-vocals
Paul Lockyer-keys & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
School dances and larger venues (we had
our own van!) through Bernie Dobbin Agency. |
|
1972-1974 |
Boojum
Dave Impey/Steve Smith-drums 7 vocals
Danny Thompson-vocals
Paul Lockyer/Dave Conley-keys & vocals
Tim Campbell-guitar & vocals
Wayne McFaul-sax & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
College and University circuit, clubs
and bars across southern Ontario, New
Brunswick and upper New York State (Dobbin
Agency). Eventually band buys brand new
truck and members are paid salary. The
band continues playing under the Boojum
name a few more years even though none
of the original members remain. |
|
1974-1976 |
Coyote
Al Manning-guitar & vocals
Glenn LeCompte-drums & vocals
Paul Lockyer-keys & vocals
Gary Comeau-pedal steel , guitar & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
“B” circuit bars and clubs, universities
and colleges in every town in Ontario. This band
was signed by Capital Records and booked by Dobbin
Agency. |
|
1978-1980 |
Messenger
Mike Bond-drums & vocals
Wayne McFaul-sax & vocals
Stevie Wilson-keys & vocals
Lynn Fennell-vocals
Eric Fry-guitar & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
A fun combo that played smaller clubs
on weekends. All the members had day
jobs. Like “Boojum” the name
carried on but members changed. |
|
1988 |
Now & Then
Mary Hart-vocals
John Logue-drums & vocals
John Graves-trumpet & vocals
Angie King-sax, keys & vocals
Ted Elvins-vocals & guitar
Eric Fry-guitar & vocals
Joel Trudeau-guitar & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
Dance band playing retro rock-a-billy. |
|
1990 |
Mary & The Notables
Mary Hart-vocals
Eric Fry-guitar & vocals
Dave Impey-drums & vocals
Leigh Moore-keys & vocals
John de Vries-bass & vocals
Contemporary with a country twist. |
|
1990-2006 |
Various bands & artists as sideman/bass
player (both live and recording) including:
Emily
Fennell
Robert Martin
Lenni Stewart
Drew Ackerman
Jerry Foster
Six Feet Under
Whoa! Nellie
Jeanette Arsenault
Frere Brothers
X-Roads
|
|
1992-current |
Fade Kings
Eric Fry-guitar
Leigh Moore-keys
Dave Impey-drums
John de Vries-bass
Recorded “Years To Recover” in
2003. Original songs and original takes
on some favourites. |
|
Eric Fry – guitar, mandolin, vocals
Eric has been a stalwart of the Quinte music scene
for many years. He cites his early musical
influences as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and the
Allman Brothers. Eric plays a custom-made Lado
guitar through a Marshall amp, using no effect
pedals, believing that “less is more”,
to achieve the sound for which he is known. His
fine mandolin playing is performed on a solid-body
mandolin hand-built by John (Jake Jr.) de Vries,
the Fade Kings’ bass player. “Years
to Recover”, the Fade Kings’ second
CD, showcased several songs written by Eric.
Eric has played in the following Belleville area
groups:
1974 |
Backshed Revue |
|
1975-1978 |
Token |
|
1978-1980 |
Boojum
College and University circuit, clubs and
bars across southern Ontario, New Brunswick
and upper New York State (Dobbin
Agency). Eventually band buys brand
new truck and members are paid salary.
The band continues playing under the
Boojum name a few more years even though
none of the original members remain. |
|
1980-1987 |
Messenger |
|
1988 |
Now & Then
Dance band playing retro rock-a-billy. |
|
1990-current |
Various bands & artists
as sideman/guitar/mandolin player (both
live and recording) including:
Emily Fennell
Lenni Stewart
Jerry Foster
|
|
1993-1994 |
Mary & The Notables
Contemporary with a country twist. |
|
1994-current |
Tequila Mockingbird (which became) The Fade Kings |
|
David Impey – drums, vocals
Dave began playing in the early 60’s in
Trenton, first drumkit a 4 piece Gretsch
kit, changed to a 5 piece Ludwig kit in the
70’s
and recently has fallen for a set of Ayottes.
Influences have been endless…Beatles, Dylan,
Steely Dan, Bruce Cockburn, Long John Baldry, Sting,
Holly Cole, Blue Rodeo…
He has played with the following groups:
1965-1968 |
Westbury Union
5-piece top 40 band played Eastern Ontario and Quebec,
house band at the Presquile Pavilion (summers),
opened for Bush, Mashmakan, played EXPO 67 and
the Rock Acres concert at Queensboro. |
|
1969 |
Freestone
which became the original… |
|
1970 |
Boojum
A 4-piece band based in Peterborough,
house band at the Commoner (Trent Univ.
pub) booking Eastern Ontario gigs thru
Bernie Dobbins. |
|
1972 |
Studio work with
local legend Marinus Vandertogt which
led to a variation of his well respected
group… |
|
1973 |
Noah
this group played locally and gradually evolved into |
|
1975 |
The River City Band (also known on one occasion as The
Electric Dildo Band)
which also played local gigs and did
some studio work, band member Ken Harnden
(Pinnacle Music) was running The Sound
Chamber studio at the time |
|
1980's |
The Chatten Road Band
Danny Moon Trio
Suzy and the Knobs |
|
1990's |
Mary & The Notables
Contemporary with a country twist. |
|
1990-2005 |
Sideman for various
local artists:
Emily Fennell
Lenni Stewart
Drew Ackerman
Jerry Foster
Whoa! Nellie |
|
1992-current |
Tequila Mockingbird (which
became) The Fade Kings |
|
Leigh Moore – piano (electric + acoustic), organ, synthesizer, timbales, vocals
Leigh began playing in bands in the mid-60’s
in Manitoba following ten years of classical
training on piano. Moving to Toronto in 1973
to pursue a full-time career in music, he
later took several years of jazz instruction. His
early musical influences include Jimmy Smith, Oscar
Peterson, Brian Auger, Gene Harris, Santana, Allman
Brothers and Tower of Power.
Leigh has performed on stage with Meatloaf, Rick
Derringer, Rick James (“Superfreak”),
Liberty Silver, Sharon Lee Williams and Neil Chapman,
and has recorded with Rich Dodson (Stampeders),
Johanna Vanderkley and David Norris-Elye. Dodson’s
song "Lookin' Back" hit Top 10 on Billboard
charts in the U.S.
In the 70’s Leigh’s keyboards included
a Hammond B3 organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano,
Hohner clavinet and various synthesizers. He
also has an early 70’s set of Rogers timbales
with the original heads. Having downsized
substantially, Leigh now plays a Roland Rhodes
660 keyboard through a Yorkville 200 KB amp.
Leigh has played in many bands over the years,
including:
1966-1967 |
Prophet and the O-Men
4-piece group of high school friends playing chart
rock tunes at dances in the southwestern Manitoba
area. |
|
1967-1969 |
Children of Stone
4-piece
group in Brandon, Manitoba playing Doors, John Mayall,
Yardbirds, etc. |
|
1969-1970 |
Salem Witch Hunt
4-piece Brandon group covering Steppenwolf, Deep Purple,
Argent, Led Zeppelin, Blues Image, Spencer Davis,
etc. |
|
1970-1973 |
Blind Justice
Progressive 8-piece horn band with female vocalist
playing Chicago, Santana, Ten Wheel Drive, etc.
in Brandon area. Became a 4 piece band covering
Allman Brothers, Santana, Stones. |
|
1973-1975 |
Ram and The Mighty
Pope
Toronto-based R&B / Soul band. Played eastern
Canada circuit – Ontario, Montreal, Quebec City,
New Brunswick. House band at Windjammer Hotel
in Wasaga Beach every summer. |
|
1975 |
Ram
6-piece R&B /funk horn band with female vocalist
playing Tower of Power, Average White Band, etc. throughout
Ontario and Quebec. |
|
1975 |
Dancing Machine
4 piece R&B show band featuring vocalist Charlotte
Martin and 2 dancers playing throughout Ontario, including
Toronto’s Colonial Tavern and in Montreal. |
|
1976 |
Ebony Jam
6-piece heavy funk band with vocalist Charlotte Martin
playing Tower of Power, Average White Band, Brecker
Brothers, Chaka Khan, etc. Played top Toronto
club circuit.
Members of this band went on to play
with Long John Baldry, Chris de Burgh,
Downchild Blues Band and the Stampeders. |
|
1976 |
Patricia Dahlquist
4 piece band backing Juno Award winning vocalist doing
40’s swing and show tunes on a western Canada
tour as well as at Ontario Place. |
|
1976 |
Rare Movement
4 piece R&B / funk band backing 3
vocalists doing obscure R&B material
by Brothers Johnson, Graham Central Station,
etc. |
|
1978 |
Maiden Voyage
4-piece R&B / jazz oriented band
backing vocalist Sherri Jaycock, former
back-up singer for Aretha Franklin. |
|
1979-1981 |
Ram
4-piece
R&B / funk band featuring vocalist Darlene Walton. |
|
1982-1983 |
Streetlife
High energy R&B band
featuring vocalist Johanna Vanderkley.
|
|
1983 |
The Dance Band
R&B
dance group featuring Sharon Lee Williams and Leigh
as front vocalists. |
|
1986 |
Double Exposure
5-piece
R&B group. |
|
1993-1994 |
Mary & The
Notables
Contemporary. |
|
1994-current |
Tequila Mockingbird (which became) The Fade Kings
|
|
|
