Mike Cates picked up the sticks in 1964 and played with many bands- performing Rolling Stones, Beatles, Kinks, Animals, etc all British material. Mike was the drummer for The Swing Set, a 19 piece big band, and played all over San Diego county from '78-'81. Mike and his wife somehow had 3 kids and he had no time for bands. (How does that happen?) Once the kids were out of diapers, Mike joined The Clients an ecclectic arrangement of '80-'90's music. Then from '90-'95 was leader of The Decades, a six piece R&B dance band doing strictly corporate gigs, yacht clubs, casinos etc. From '96-'05 Mike played fill in gigs at casinos & conventions with corporate bands. In 2005 he tried to start a Led Zeppelin tribute band but, in Mikes own words, "the almighty egos of other players doomed it." Then in 2006 started working on the Yardbirds music in hopes of recreatingthat BluesWailing sound.
John Raymond Frazer, lead singer for the BluesWailers, has been singing and playing various musical instruments for even longer than he can remember. When John first started singing in public back in high school, his friends would beg him to stop. If they would have offered to pay him, he might have quit, but they were too cheap, so he is still singing. (Oh, the price for stopping has gone up, by the way.) Some of John's favorite singers are Robert Plant, Freddy Mercury, Paul Rogers, David Clayton Thomas, Roger Daltry, and Bob Marley. Although John doesn't sing nearly as well as any of those guys, he has a certain charm and was willing to learn the songs, so he'll do for now. John will bash on the guitar and shake some noisemakers a bit, too.
Steve Villacana is the soul of the band with his blazing guitar style and love for the Yardbirds tunes. He has the thankless job of sounding alternatively like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Somehow he pulls it off. Three cheers for Steve
Clifford Wood first heard the harmonica being played in Junior High School. He had a friend that would walk down the hall playing. It was such a plaintive, soulful, voice-like wail that Cliff had to learn how to do it. He spent many hours in front of the record player listening to and learning Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter Jacobs, and Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson solos. He played with blues bands off and on over the years. The Yardbirds,though, take the blues and send it on up the road an extra mile. Ripping it out of the predictable 12-bar pattern and giving it their own twists, breakdowns, and rave ups. Done well, their material is an exhilarating experience for the audience and band alike. He works hard at getting those blueswailing Keith Relf solos down. Don't fear the bongos. Check him out
Tom Farrington is our bass player. Keeping the bottom register full and interesting He is the glue holding the BluesWailers sound together. You rock like Gibralter, Tomcat!
BluesWailers
Call John(619)709-2217 or Mike(760)473-6201
harmonicajohns@cox.net
PO Box 740613 San Diego, CA 92174
