Curt Gallion BioI
guess I have always been a true "Bass Man". I started playing the
tuba at the age of 9 and played all the way through college in the
University of Illinois at Chicago concert band. Since most bands
(except maybe polka bands) want a bass guitar instead of a tuba, I
picked up the bass my sophmore year of high school - in 1982. I
put an ad in the paper to find a used bass. I bought a Hagstrom
bass (the exact model used to be on the cover of "Mel Bay Bass
Book 1") with a Kalamazoo guitar amp. I picked it up pretty easily, but
still took lessons for a year. The first song I learned by ear
was "For Your Love" by the YardBirds. I can still remember the first
time I jammed along with that tune. Popping the casette tape in
my boom box and plucking all three notes. Given my tuba
experience I could already read music so I signed up as the bass player
to accompany all the high school choirs - that's actually how I met my
wife (of 21 years) Leanne. That gig along with jazz band, really
strengthed my ability to read (and alot of the time, sight read) music.
I also joined up with some high school buds to form my first garage
band. We never really had an official name, but our lead guitarist
would call us "The Nutty Boys". I would love to get a hold of his
casette tape made from a boom box recording of one of our practices. I
believe he labelled it "The Nutty Boys - Once Upon a Jam". We would
spend hours playing AC/DC "TnT" and Judas Priest "Livin' After
Midnight" over and over. We never made it past the garage - kinda hard
to get a gig when you don't have a singer. In my college years,
around 1986, "The Nutty Boys" got back together and signed on
another guitarist and singer to form the band "8 Ball" (I wont get into
how we came up with that name:). That lasted a year and then, boom,
marriage, family, college graduation, new job...alas the days of being
in a band seemed to have faded. I kept practicing and played in
church praise band, but always wanted to get back in the game. That
time wouldn't come until 1993, when I joined up with 4 co-workers to
form the band "Damn Straight". We had a blast for 3 years, playing
classic and 80's rock in clubs and parties around Detroit. In 1997 we
moved to the Indianapolis area. Again, church praise bands filled the
void until 2006, when I joined the band "Fire in the Dawn". The
guitarist in that band was also in "The Whiskey Brothers", along with
Joe and Tommy. I got to be a Whiskey Brother for one day, warming up
for the great Leon Russell. "The Whiskey Brothers" dispanded and Joe
asked me to be a part of this project. Lazy River Band has been great
for me, in that it has broadened my musical variety. I had not
played "outlaw" country or much southern rock until now. This band can
really generate a party atmosphere!! Hope to see you at the next show!!!
