When I started playing gigs at 15 (in 1966), Memphis music was going strong and I was interested in all of it. George Klein, a Memphis DJ, had a TV show called Dance Party that always had local bands and international acts such as The Gentry’s, Booker T & the MG’s, Charlie Rich etc. As youngsters, we learned to compete at a high level of musicianship.
As early as 1966, my cousin Nick Kourvelas (played drums), and I would take a bus to check out Beale Street. There were a lot of Pawn Shops there and I learned to buy old guitars and work on them to make extra money. In 1968-69, the Overton Park Shell had the 1st Blues concert with such acts as Johnny Winter, Furry Lewis, Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell and local favorite Moloch. That was pretty strong Mojo for a teenager and I was drawn to slide guitar. I had never seen so many styles of blues and it was all good. The Shell in Overton Park had music every weekend and I caught as much as I could. That same year, I was at the train station and heard guitar bouncing off the marble walls. It was Furry Lewis playing a National and it raised the hair on my neck. At this time the Vietnam War was going on and my draft number was 17. While I was in the Navy, I knew that if I got out, I was going to do music the rest of my life.
You can catch Brad playing with the house band on the weekends @ Wild Bills