toured consistently for several
years, so many of the stops on
the tour will be familiar haunts
for them. Even though booking
tours as an independent artist
is difficult, the band sees this as
a great opportunity to return to
a level they reached after the
release of their last studio album,
Brotherhood.
“I’m happy to be back on our
own because no one’s going to
work harder for you than yourself,”
he noted.
including Bon Jovi, his future one-
time boss.
“This was the 80s so Van Halen
became a huge thing because you
couldn’t get away from Van Halen,
they were so on top of the world,”
said O’Ree. “But then, some time
in high school I got a box set from
my brother for Christmas. It was a
Chess Records box set of Howlin’
Wolf and that was like getting hit
by a bolt of lightning! It was like
the coolest thing I had ever heard.
That’s what got me into the blues.
“I’m happy to be back on our own because no one’s
going to work harder for you than yourself”
O’Ree grew up in Holmdel, New
Jersey where the couple now
reside. When he first started
playing guitar, he couldn’t get
enough of Jimi Hendrix but was
not able to play those tunes yet.
Growing up in the 80s, he became
of fan of Neil Young, Bob Dylan,
and many of artists of the era -
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 57
From there I found newer guys like
Stevie Ray Vaughan who played a
huge influence. I got sucked into
the blues and then met Bernie
Brausewetter from BB & The
Stingers and he got me into Robin
Trower, Rory Gallagher, Johnny &
Edgar Winter, and Steve Marriott -
all of that stuff.”
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