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Peele Wimberley
drums *not anymore*
George Huntley
guitar, vocals
David Connell
bass
Steve Potak
piano, organ, keyboards
Doug MacMillan
vocals, guitar
Mike Connell
guitar, vocals
Mike Connell
Birthday: March 15th
When Mike was studying law his mother passed away. He started thinking he should do something he really wanted instead of becoming a lawyer like everybody expected. Playing in a band was something he had always dreamed of so he decided to give it a try! Breaking the news to his father wasn't an easy thing to do - especially since he was dragging along his brother! Mike hasn't regretted his choice and he has no interest in practising law anymore. He leaves that to his identical twin John who is a lawyer.
Mike wrote most of the songs in the beginning, now the others have started writing too. He sings four songs ("Waiting My Turn", "Burden", "Spiral", "Friendly Time") although he's not very comfortable singing, but something about these songs made them more suitable for him to sing than for anyone else.
Doug is the singer of the band and he has written lots of great songs. He is also an actor, he played the manager of a rock band seeking fame and fortune in the rock 'n' roll comedy "Bandwagon", written and directed by John Schultz, the Connells first drummer.
Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to see it yet, but I hope I will some day!
Before Doug joined the band he was a swimmer at the East Carolina University. He went to ECU on scholarship and swam for one of his old age group coaches there. He was nationally (US) ranked in the 100 and 200 meter butterfly.
When John Schultz asked if he was interested in singing with a band he thought "Why not!" and decided to give it a try, though he never had done anything like it before.
In early 1997 the band had to cancel some tour dates because Doug suffered from diverticulitis - inflamation of a diverticulum, or pocket that forms in
the intestine (usually the lower intestine or colon). It usually causes
extremely painful stomach cramps and constipation. Doug suffered from
symptoms of this for over a year and he usually chalked them up to the
bad diet that had on the road. He would often go without eating for a
day or two and then he would feel better. He also took massive ammounts
of pain killers for the pain. While on the road in '97 he was about to play a show when he became extremely ill. With a fever and extreme
abdominal pain, he checked into a hospital and it turned out that he
had diverticulitis and that the pocket in his intestine had become
infected. He had to have emergency surgery to remove about six inches
of his lower intestine.
It took a couple of months for him to recover fully, but he still can't
eat alot of foods, mostly nuts whole cereals and beans. He loves to
show off the massive scar on his stomach so if you see him, ask!
David looks a lot like his brother, just take a look at these pictures (David is to the right)!
------->
David's wife Jennifer Connell was diagnosed with brain
cancer while the Connells were on tour in Europe in '95. The cancer was
treated and went into remission. She had a relapse late last year and she passed away on the morning of April 2, 1998. I hope David is doing ok.
Donations in her name are being accepted at:
Hospice of Wake County,
4513 Creedmore Rd,
Raleigh, NC 27612
USA
George Huntley
If George hadn't become a musician, he would probably have been a high school teacher. His mother was a teacher for a long time and his sister teaches English, which he too dreams of doing.
George has also released a solo album, "Brainjunk". Tim Harper and Tony Battaglia helped to produce it. For more info, see the cds and lyrics sections.
I've always been fascinated by the way George changes his appearance all the time - sometimes it's even hard to recognize him! He has had all kinds of haircuts, maybe he does it just to confuse us? :)
Peele Wimberley
Peele is unfortunately no longer part pf the band...
Peele has recently learned to play the guitar and started writing songs, "Any" being the first one to make it to a record (WFAD). He was the one who wrote "Bitter Pill" for the Scream Soundtrack.
Before he joined the Connells he played in another band called Johnny Quest.
Steve is the latest member, he joined up in 1991 for "Ring" and his keyboards added a new dimension to their music.
You could say he's responsible for the strange album title "Weird Food & Devastation" - it was something Steve happened to say in Europe in reference to the photographs he hoped to be taking there.
Birthday: March 19th
David Connell
Birthday: May 27th
David is not only a superb bass player, he is also a very good painter. He has been doing art shows and selling some of his work.
He did some of the artwork for "Ring", that's where this picture is taken from.
Birthday: March 29th
Birthday: April 4th
Steve Potak
Birthday: June 14th
