The Wright Brothers
Still Rockin’…After All These Years
Photo provided by Brenda
Staples Photography
Late in 1974, John
McDowell III had a very
important decision to
make: he had just been
asked to play guitar and
sing on a USO tour in
Southeast Asia, but – partly
because he didn’t feel that
the music he wanted to
play meshed with the style
of the folks who had asked
him, and partly because he
decided that he would not enjoy
being shot at (it was Vietnam,
after all…) – he stayed in the
states. Good thing, because Tom
and Tim Wright asked him to jam
with them, and in January, 1975,
he was officially invited to join the
Wright Brothers’ Overland Stage
Company band. As soon as they
began playing together on a regular basis, they realized (in that
way that only
musicians understand) that their
sound and performance karma
were totally in sync…and it has
worked for more than 32 years.
Mind you, Tim, Tom and John
had all been raised in families
with evangelical / musical
backgrounds, and the Wright
Brothers in particular were lifetime members of the Roy Rogers
Riders Club, for which
they had sworn to follow
the creed, which –
besides promising to be
neat and clean, obeying
your parents and never
wasting food - also
included protecting
the weak, respecting flag and country,
and regular attendance at
church. And true to form, they
learned harmonies around the
piano at home and singing with
the family at the Sulphur Creek
Church in French Lick. John had
been born in Marion, Indiana, and
while his family moved to Texas
when he was still a kid, he came
back to Indiana just in time to
embark on a professional career
with the Wrights. So it seems that
the link-up was destined.
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