Band History and Bio's
THE LEGEND OF "THE GATHERING OF THE JOHNSONS"
One fine day, Jamie’s wife kicked him out of the house for singing too loudly in the shower. He wandered the streets of Denver aimlessly, until he came upon a hobo sleeping under a piece of cardboard with “MORE COWBELL” written upon it. After waking the hobo, Jamie learned that his name was Ted, and he was in business under the viaduct making cowbells out of recycled garbage can lids. Jamie bought Ted a bowl of soup, and they decided to start a band.
The search began for the right guitar player. Jamie and Ted stumbled across Ray sitting in front of a shoe store downtown, strumming an old Hohner 6-string (one of the strings was broken) and singing old Carpenters songs. He could barely play and his voice was horrible, so they knew he would be the perfect guitar player and background vocalist for the new band. They counted the money that people had pitched into Ray’s guitar case over the last few days ($2.38, a condom wrapper and a zinc slug), and went across the street to the 7-11 to buy a Slurpee and talk about it.
When they got to the 7-11, the clerk noticed Ray’s guitar case and asked, “Hey, man, are you guys in a band?” Jamie told him they were starting a classic rock band. The clerk said, “Dude – I have been trying to get back into a band ever since my last one ditched me in Commerce City. You probably heard of them – Rusty and the Rodent Droppings. Can I audition for you guys?” Ted said, “Yeah, you can audition for us. We have a $50 fee for auditions. You got $50?” Rusty took $50 out of the register, poured 4 cherry Slurpees, gave each of the guys a taquito, and they all headed to Ray’s for the first rehearsal.
A couple weeks later they decided that no matter how badly they wanted to avoid bass players, it was inevitable that they would need one. They posted a flyer for a bass player in the lobby of the local insane asylum. The only response was from a guy named Mark who was looking for a used hockey mask. Rusty explained to Mark that he didn’t have any hockey masks, and asked if Mark had ever played any kind of musical instrument before. Mark said that before he had his “surgery” he vaguely remembered stabbing a bass player, so Rusty invited him into the band.
Next time you see us, remind us to tell you the story about “the mishap” that led to adding Wally our sound guy to the band!
Jamie Gaudet (Lead Vocals, Percussion)
Jamie started out early with percussion at age 10, and then sang in various elite choirs throughout high school. Jamie was the front man for a band he started in high school, playing the Boston club scene for about 5 years. The scholar of the group, Jamie attended the Boston Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music. He worked on a studio project at MIT, and recorded some original material in the early 1980’s. A military career has given Jamie the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at numerous military ceremonies and sporting events, including a Red Sox game in Fenway Park, and a Broncos game at Invesco Field. Now with the johnson project, Jamie sings the sh*t out of his favorite vintage rock & roll tunes!
Ray Jayo (Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals)
Ray got his first taste of music at age 8, taking 6 month’s worth of piano lessons at gunpoint from his mother. Ray decided baseball was much more important than piano, and finally convinced Mom that the piano thing must stop. Ray grew up in Reno, where he sang in a choral group that traveled around the Reno / Tahoe / northern California area. At 14, Ray’s love for rock & roll fueled him to learn how to play guitar. He would sit by the stereo for hours, teaching himself all the riffs that his guitar heroes played. Ray has played in various cover bands over the years, and also plays and sings in his church choir. Ray’s hot licks really add to the johnson project sound!
Ted Johnson (Drums, Vocals)
Ted began playing the drums when he was about 10 years old – actually, his first drum set was a couple of hangers and an old ironing board. He used to bang on his “drums” for hours while listening to the Beatles and the Monkees. The legend of Ted really got going after his parents finally broke down and got him some real drums. Ted was in several rock & roll bands in high school, then later got a gig playing in a band for Steamboat Dinner Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. For a few years, Ted was a karaoke host – in fact, it was a karaoke party at Ted’s house that spawned the johnson project! tjp’s rehearsal studio is still in Ted’s basement to this day.
Mark the “Bass Player?” (Bass, Vocals)
Nobody knows much about Mark or his musical roots, but his dad tells stories about how he stole a saxophone and a couple of trumpets from his high school marching band, melted them down in shop class and tried to forge a bass while the rest of the students were making screwdrivers. It didn’t work, but the explosion it caused explains why Mark has no eyebrows. Years later, Mark’s wife bought him a really nice Fender bass, hoping to help him fulfill his lifelong dream to be a musician in a rock & roll band (or at least get him out of the house once in a while). Though he has never learned how to play his beautiful new instrument, he definitely carries it around a lot. He says that his favorite thing is turning the 4 silver twisty things at the end of the neck. When trying out for TJP, Mark was able to meet the 2 most challenging criteria of being their bass player – he owns his own bass, and he brought beer to the audition. Mark’s musical abilities are still questionable at best, but he is definitely one of the tallest bass players in the band!
Rusty Roberts (Lead and Slide Guitars, Harp, Vocals)
As the newest member of tjp, Rusty brings a unique blend of musical influences in his co-lead playing. Steeped in the blues and blues rock tradition his playing provides a strong sonic blend with Ray's style. Starting in high school his playing was so bad it was relegated to the garage in the summers in Phoenix. From there he played on and off over the years in various cover bands. He enjoyed a great run with the band, EXIT 232 for about 13 years before hooking up with the tjp gang. EXIT 232 toured around Colorado and produced 2 CD's of original music which enjoyed some radio airplay on KBCO and other stations in the Denver area. A chance discussion at a High School baseball game being played by their sons got us together.
