Below are the first in a series of interviews with musical artists who have roots in San Joaquin County.
At the bottom of each bio you will find a media player with the artists interview.
At the bottom of each bio you will find a media player with the artists interview.
Mark Ross
Mark was born in Stockton, CA in 1950. Neither of his parents were musicians, but there was always music on in the house with records on the turntable and local radio stations playing. He became addicted to pop radio at a young age and his older brother had a collection with records by Dion, Ray Charles, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson and others. Mark started classical piano lessons at eight years old. He was hooked immediately. He played only piano for a few years, and started playing in bands using an electric piano, then started playing organ using the much coveted Vox Continental, then later a Vox Super Continental powered by a Vox Super Beatle amp! Mark's early Stockton bands included The Chessman, The Coachmen and then the Mal-T's who recorded a 45 that received local airplay and acclaim! They became Zephyr Blue, which was short lived, and morphed into a much heavier guitar and bass driven sound that was Wildwood who played a lot of large shows opening for name acts in the Central Valley, Bay Area, Monterey, and the Sierra foothills. They played the Fillmore, and most of the San Francisco and Marin County clubs at the time such as The Matrix, The Lion's Share, The Bodega in Campbell, The Chateau Liberte in the Santa Cruz Mountains and opened for the Grateful Dead at Cal Expo in Sacramento, Ca. Mark's career also includes four years with the Mark - Almond Band. He toured with them and recorded two albums. One was a studio album "Tuesday In New York" which was recorded in Monterey in 1977 / 78. That album was released in Europe in 1981. The other recording was a live album recorded on tour in New York in 1978. "Best Of Live, The Mark Almond Band" which was released on Michael Nesmith's Pacific Arts label in 1981. Mark has also played with such notables as Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Brian Wilson, Brenda Russell, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Delbert McClinton, Ronnie Laws, Stephen Bishop, Rick Springfield, Roger McGuinn, and Player. He was also one of the founding members of Dream Patrol. In the mid-Nineties, his focus began to shift from playing live to composing including music for production music libraries for placement in television shows and films and for specific shows such as Entertainment Tonight and Extra. He has had music in hundreds of shows worldwide. His Emmy Awards were won in two consecutive years (2007 and 2008) for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Dramatic Series. The show was Guiding Light, for which he wrote music underscore from 2003 to 2008. Mark continues to write for television and works with his wife Ann Kelly who is a singer/songwriter. He produced and arranged her debut EP "Petals and Thorns" which was released on their own label October Daze Records. Ann also co-wrote the songs. The music is a blend of pop/rock with jazz and blues influences, and the CD has received substantial airplay nationwide. They have been playing shows in Southern and Northern California, and have done a tour of Europe. Mark states "spending time with my wife and making music brings me the most joy. Oh, and traveling, we love that too." 
Michael Phelan
Michael Phelan is a singer, writer and multi-instrumentalist (acoustic & electric guitars, fiddle, mandolin, Dobro, lap steel, electric bass) Mike has been performing as a singer since age 5, player since age 12 both solo and with a variety of bands in an infinite variety of genres,styles and feels. Most notably, Mike has played the last 29 years as a member of Marley's Ghost, a band he helped found in 1986 that still performs nationally and internationally. Mike recently played Telecaster with the Savoy Family Cajun Band in Kotor, Montenegro and aboard the USS Stennis nuclear-powered aircraft carrier off the coast of North America with Marley's Ghost. When asked about influences Mike replied " ...anything juicy with honesty and passion attracts my attention. In that sense I find little difference between Wilson Pickett, Ralph Stanley, Fats Waller and the Three Kings (B.B., Albert & Freddie)." I hope to keep doing this as long as it is fun and I am profoundly thankful that I'm finding more fun than ever in the music! 
Shad Harris
Shad Harris, veteran, freelance musician/teacher, has toured nationally and internationally since 1966 playing most often drums, but also keyboards, guitar and bass guitar with various award winning bands and Hall of Fame artists including, Etta James, Charlie Musslewhite, Eddie Harris, The Motown Review Big Band, Roger Daltry, Johnny Heartsman, Ron Thompson, Ron Hacker, Johnny Nitro, and The Tommy Castro Band. He was also the band leader for the Jazz-Fusion ensemble “Wave”, and the 1970’s award-winning Oakland-based R&B band “The East Side Loop”. Shad studied music with Professor Robert Harris in St. Petersburg, Florida, William Bell at College of Alameda in Alameda, CA and Ed Kelly at Laney College in Oakland, CA. He also studied with Chuck Brown in San Rafael CA, and Jerry Jackson Sr. in Oakland, CA. He attended Riverside Community College, in Riverside, CA where he was the 1st chair drummer for the Jazz Band. Shad has also acted and composed musical scores for Scorpio Rising Theater and has written, arranged, produced and/or published songs for, The Tommy Castro Band and Little Sister and the Bad Intentions. He was also a member of the Musicians Union, Local 47 in Hollywood CA from 1976 to 1979. In1980 Shad moved to Stockton and began playing with local legend Norman Lankford and his popular jazz quartet, Group Therapy. He also began teaching drums privately and continued freelance touring with several artists including Hank Mobley, Mel Williams and a short stint with the legendary Horace Silver. In 2000 he retired from the road and pursued a credentialed teaching career and in 2004 he was awarded a Liberal Arts and Sciences Associate in Arts with Honors from San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California.From 2005 to 2009 he taught beginning guitar and piano, drums and rhythm, and basic music theory in the After School Arts Program at Don Riggio School in Stockton, CA. Currently he’s an instructor at San Joaquin Delta College. In the Community Education Department he teaches beginning and intermediate guitar, drums & rhythm,for the Kids College Program and he also conducts the Blues Band 101 class for the Adult Workshops program. 
James Patrick Bacon was born and raised in Stockton California. Although he was fascinated by music at an early age, he did not begin writing songs until his senior year at Stagg High School. At the end of his freshman year at Delta College, he and his brother Michael Bacon were enlisted to compose music for a theatrical production called, “Robin”. The original composer had dropped out of the production due to differences with the director. The musical was scheduled to be staged at Stanford less than a month later, so fourteen songs needed to be written in two weeks, leaving one week for rehearsals. The deadline was met and the show went off without a hitch, garnering very positive reviews. So positive in fact, that the show was underwritten by a group of investors and moved to San Francisco the following year. The Friends and Relations Ballroom was converted to a theater specifically to house the musical. Unfortunately, the San Francisco production was marred by technical and financial issues and closed after a brief 2 month run.
James was hooked on songwriting. He formed the Jim Bacon Band in 1975 and performed several times the following year. A trip to L.A. in ’76 culminated in ABC Music publishing one of his songs. It was then that James decided to dedicate himself to songwriting. He began performing solo at The Hatch Cover (now Garlic Brothers) and saving every penny for a move to Los Angeles. A year and a half later, he made the leap to Southern California. Within six months of arriving in L.A., James entered an ASCAP Songwriters Workshop which led to a staff-songwriting deal at 20th Century Fox. He went on to write for United Artists Music and CBS Songs. The years in Los Angeles were a mixed bag. On the upside, he had several songs recorded including “You Could Be the One Woman” which reached #42 on Billboard’s Country Chart. On the downside, family issues and obligations required him to spend an increasing amount of time back in Stockton. As his frustration with the music business increased, he made the decision to move back to northern California. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since those L.A. days but one thing that has never changed is James’ passion for songwriting. Recently, he made the decision to record and share his music. In late 2015, “The Christmas of Our Lives” was released. It was followed on January 1st, 2016 by “I Can’t Complain”. He plans to release at least one new song every two months for the foreseeable future. Although, as experience has taught him, the future is a hard thing to predict. |
Rick Duncan
Rick began singing barbershop music with his dad everyday starting at the age of 6. Which he considered great ear training! He started officially playing the upright bass at the age of 13 at Webster Jr. High School. Doris Byron got him started who he credits as "one of the best teachers ever and feels it's so important to have music in schools. Next Rick picked up the bass guitar at 15 so he could play some rock. His first real band, making money, was the "Sixth Sense" a horn based band which played dances and shows for 10 years.Rick won a scholarship from the Stockton Arts Commission and began his first lessons from U.O.P student Brad Herritt. His second upright teacher was Phil Karp (Principal Bassist San Francisco Symphony, Section SF Opera). Rick was attending Stagg High School and was able to get a position in the Stockton Symphony shortly after. His first year was 1976 under Conductor Kyung Soo Won. By 1979 he became the Principal Bassist of the symphony. That year he had a guest soloist, the world renowned Gary Karr, and was able to audition for him and won a scholarship to his summer camp in Victoria British Columbia. After attending his camp Rick was accepted to study with him at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. Gary was an instructor there and at Julliard. He studied there for a year and came back to finish his education at the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco which included a full scholarship. His teacher there was San Francisco Opera Principal, Charles Ciani. With his education completed he had a year off to play in local rock and jazz groups and decided to start his own recording studio Nacnud Sound in 1984. All of his education was key to such an operation and he had actually done recording in a small way since 1978. The studio is still producing great recordings and has for the past 31 years! Rick's music groups include Chipaqua. Six Sense, Prime Time and Terra Nova. Currently Rick plays with Bootie Bob and the Backside Kickers and James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash. Rick has also performed as a sideman with the Carpenters, Jackie Evancho, Tony Bennette, Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, Toni Tenneille, Carol Channing, Beatlemania, Rich Little, Lawrence Welk Touring Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey Band, the Guy Lombardo Band, Pearl Bailey and Louie Belson. Rick has also performed with classical soloists Van Cliburn, Itzak Pearlman, Beverley Sills, Gary Karr, Andre Watts and dozens more. Performance groups he has worked with are the Townsend Opera, Stockton Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Stockton Civic Theater and the Stockton Chorale to name a few. Rick's spectrum of music encompasses Symphony, Opera, Rock, R & B, Big Band, Jazz, Country. Rick currently owns and operates Nacnud Sound Studios since 1984. His recordings include the platinum album for Great Radio Controversy by Tesla. Some of Ricks clients include Jefferson Starship (Mickey Thomas), Tower of Power members "Strokeland Super Band", Warner Brothers Records, Geffen Records,Paul McCandlis "Oregon", Bill Champlin "Chicago", Huey Lewis, Jon Smith from Toto, The Commodores and many more to numerous to list here. 
David P. Jackson
David P. Jackson began his career as the house bassist at the Troubadour in LA with three years on The Andy Williams Show as a comedian and bassist. He co-wrote the hit songs "Joy To The World" (with Hoyt Axton for Three Dog Night) and "The No,No Song" (again, with Hoyt Axton, for Ringo Starr). He has played with many musical legends, including Bo Diddley, Jackson Browne, Roger Miller, John Denver, Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Buffet, The New Christy Minstrels, The Back Porch Majority, The B-52s, Linda Ronstadt, Leo Koettke, Joe Cocker, Glen Campbell, Dwight Yoakam and Sonny & Cher. He appeared onstage in Randal Myler’s Back Home Again: A John Denver Holiday Concert. In addition to The Andy Williams Show, Mr. Jackson’s television appearances include American Idol and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. David's musical roots originated from a musical mother who played the piano then from high school singing in the choir and playing the Tuba, the marimba and the guitar during the great folk music scare, and lastly, the upright bass, which led to accompanying other guitar players and singers to meeting HOYT AXTON, with whom he would later record, travel and write songs. THE DILLARD AND CLARK EXPEDITION (Doug Dillard, Gene Clark, Bernie Leadon and David Jackson) added country and bluegrass to the mix. His current work as an artist involves recording his own music and helping others realize theirs. He's a member of a select group of musicians called Lifers: still doing what they've always done...and sometimes better. 
Pat Campbell
Pat Played in local Stockton bands The Select Four, Sass and the Unsane, Buckwheat, Second Nature, Featuring His Daughter, The Rest, The Lonnie Davenport Trio, Western Union, Hero's and the Dirk Hamilton Band, just to name a few. Pat relates one of his fondest memories playing music was in an oddly named band Skutch with Jim Johnston-lead vocals-guitar, Greg Jones-lead guitar-vocals, Richard Domench-drums and Danny Atherton-keyboards and Pat on bass. Skutch played clubs, private parties and; concerts. The first gig Skutch played was a huge Sonoma County outdoor party at which they closed their set with Loggins and Messina’s song Vahevala,which received a rousing encore. The band had no more songs so they did a refrain of Vahevala for their encore. The crowd was enamored by the refrain and the band was off the hook and the hit of the day. Pat has also been a long standing player with The Water Brothers Band and J. Burbank & the Distractions. He has recorded with Gary Wagner (of Gary Wagner and The Nightbeats and Parish Hall) and many other acts to numerous to state in this bio. Pat currently is a Bay area veteran bass player (electric & upright), who has performed/recorded with the likes of Big Joe Turner, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Lowell Folsom, Michael Bloomfield, David Nelson, Jerry Garcia, Mark Naftalin, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Bernie Leadon, Keith & Donna Godchaux Band & Bluegrass alumni’s Rose Maddox. You will also hear Pat's solid bass work with Chubby Wise, Don Reno, John Herald & Frank Wakefield. Pat’s musical genres span from the Mussel Shoals sound, R & B, Bluegrass, Country, Western Swing, Blues, Rock n’ Roll and he has worked with songwriters throughout California and the United States for over 40 years. Pat's dedication to making sure the bottom is solid and fluid all at the same time is definitely felt and his approach to any instrument he plays and musical style is definitive. He will sum it up in one simple quote “It’s all about groove & feel. |