The beginning of our journey......

I would like to welcome you to "El Paso's Musicians (Past and Present)" My intent with this site is to bring information about musicians I have known in El Paso from the 60's to present day. Many of the musicians that you will be reading about were either in groups that I played in while living in El Paso, as well as, the ones that I befriended all throughout high school and college. I graduated from UTEP in 1972 and in 1973 my wife and I left El Paso with a vocal show group called The Sounds Royale. The group started out with Sam Stephenson (guitar-vocals), Gayle Hageman (bass-vocals), Tedd McKeever (keyboards-vocals), Debbie Wilson (flute-vocals) and myself, Rick Kern (drums-vocals) The group was based out of Newport Beach, CA. We performed at mainly Orange County venues such as The Disneyland Hotel, Charley Browns in Huntington Beach, The Newporter Inn, Del Webb's Townhouse and the San Francisco Hyatt Regency. For many years all the members of our group were scattered all over the place. Sam, has retired as the Dir. of Safety for Union Pacific Railroad and moved back to his hometown of El Paso, Tx. Gayle, Tedd and Wayne have all passed away. Sam and I are still trying to find Debbie. I am sure she is warming many hearts out there somewhere with her fabulous voice. In 1978 my wife and I moved back to El Paso to be with our respective families and to start our own family. Both of our kids, Ricky and Nicole are musicians both living in Austin. Nicole use to play electric cello with an Austin band called Alex Dupree and the TrapDoor Band. She also played and toured with a popular Austin band called "Balmorhea". Both of our kids went to UT Austin. Ricky graduated in May, 2007 and Nicole graduated in May, 2008. They both love photography and film. The YouTube videos on this site were produced by my son to show our capability to show videos of performers on this site. Unfortunately when the Blogger site enabled encryption it deleted my videos. Hopefully we'll be able to retrieve them again in the future. He also did my colorful splash page that you see when you first log on to the site. There were two other groups that I played with while on the road. When the Sounds Royale disbanded I advertised my profile at the Local Musicians Union that I belonged to in Los Angeles. Two guys were looking for a drummer/vocalist and that was the beginning of "Tapestry". The members were Curt Hespe (keyboard-bass-horn-vocals) Dan Evans (guitar-bass horn-vocals) and myself (drums-horn-vocals) This was the group that travelled the most. We played many show rooms from one corner of the U.S. to the other, including two tours of Canada. Our very first job, after only being rehearsed for two weeks, was the Sahara in Lake Tahoe. During that time we appeared on the same billboard with Elvis, Diana Ross, Isaac Hayes, The Fifth Dimension and the Jackson 5. We were suppose to be there for one week and they held us over for 5. The only bad part of that booking was when we all came down with the flu at the same time. Remember the saying "the show must go on" well, it did with the grace of God and alot of liquids. This group continued travelling all over the country. We even took a three day break to cut an album in Cincinatti, Ohio at Queen City Studios. We sold the album mainly to people that saw our shows. This group lasted about three years. My last group on the road was also called "Tapestry" It consisted of Dan Evans from the first Tapestry, Jerry Johnson (bass-guitar-steel guitar-vocals), Danny Miller (guitar-vocals) and myself on drums and vocals. This group came together as a result of my old friendship with Jerry Johnson. He was a Chaplains Assistant at Ft. Bliss in El Paso in 1969. We played in a group called the Basic Sound at the Knights Club. That club was in the old Rodeway Inn at Bassett Center. Jerry was living in Long Beach, CA. when I asked him if he would like to form a new group. Out of my three groups on the road, this one was the group that was more destined for a recording contract and opportunity to break out of the club scene. We will never forget the night that we were playing at the Reubens in West Covina, CA. when our agent came in and told us that we were going to be on the Captain and Tennile TV Special with Neil Diamond. Dick Clark was the producer of the show. We signed the contract and had our original songs ready to showcase. There was only one small problem - none of the networks picked up the contract. How do you say "that's show biz" It was not too long after that I left the group and came back to my home town of El Paso where I still live. This is the rest of the story....

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Russ Hedrick

(Click Image to View)
Yes, he does look like Charlie Daniels!
Russ was born in El Paso, TX., and attended
Austin High School. He studied viola privately
under Abraham Chavez, then took up guitar in
1961. He joined the Navy in 1963 and got out in
1974, to play music professionally. He toured
extensively with country bands, playing guitar,
pedal steel and fiddle. He worked in many groups
including David Frizell and Shelly West. Russ
started doing the Charlie Daniels tribute in 93, and
is still doing it. You gotta go where the money is.
He appeared on national TV on the Crook and Chase
show while working for the Legends in Concert's
Myrtle Beach, SC theater. Over the years, Russ
appeared with many acts, including B.J. Thomas,
Johnny Paycheck, Confederate Railroad and the
Platters, just to name a few. He returned to El Paso
a couple of times and worked with Frank Dove at
The Melody Ranch and the Buffalo Chips Band with
Andre Bonaguidi and Steve Hostack. He is currently
appearing in the Showstoppers Live Show at Casino
Arizona, in Scottsdale, AZ. Russ would love to hear
from old friends in El Paso and you can email him
Submitted by Rick Kern
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6 comments:

Unknown said...

i love and miss russ hedrick. i know him from reno where his girlfriend patty let me stay on their couch while russ was still on the road. russ came home and we played some chess. i've missed him since then.

March 13, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Anonymous said...

Ah,today my web search paid off.I worked with Russ in American Superstars in 1992,and he was one of the people who helped me maintain my sanity during that period of my career.He was a good friend,and I'm pleased to see that you have posted an email address for him.We played music 13 shows a week,and poker on Tuesdays...

March 16, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Carol Moreno said...

It's a very sad day. Russ passed over to meet with his wife. He will be remembered with love and respect for the person that he was. We who knew him in Wikieup will miss him greatly. He was one of the "good ones". Rest In Peace and rock on Russ.

June 9, 2010 at 9:50 PM
nick said...

Russ, my neighbor and my brother, me and terry will always have you with us and teasure the time we shared in this life.hope to see you in the next.For those who knew Russ, you know what I mean. For those that never had the pleasure I feel sorry for you.You missed one hell of a man.

June 10, 2010 at 8:39 PM
Dan In Black said...

I first met Russ in 1976 in Elma, Washington. He was a cop, and I was growin' hair for a livin', and frontin' a band called D.W.I.

Russ played steel and his '56 Strat. What a player.....what a DEAR friend. We'll play again up North my ol' pal!! God Bless!!

Dan

June 16, 2010 at 1:55 AM
Dave Edwards said...

My dear friend Russ, you were much more of an influence on me than I let on, but you knew that. You were admired greatly, respected, and were one of a kind that America needs more of, but are unlikely to see. You might be the toughest, yet most Christian friend I ever had. I cherish our political discussions, and all things music, over fine maduro cigars and a cloud of smoke in our Atlantic City hotel rooms! I will never forget you and our brief but meaningful, fun time playing together. Rest in Peace, Russ. I'll be seeing you.

June 16, 2010 at 6:02 AM

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