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Some Info About Me

I've been playing guitar since about the age of 16.  Started off playing (well, trying to play) songs by Metallica, Skid Row, the Scorpions - all that 80's rock stuff (that still rocks!) and eventually got into my first cover band called Las Vegas Vickie.  We played songs by Tesla, Vain, Cinderella, Judas Priest and the like and did shows around town, usually at the Sawmill which was a GREAT rock bar back in the day.

After LVV ran its course (a very short course!), me and 3 buddies created an original band called Acoustic Fields that played all over the state and also got to open for some national acts like Humble Pie, Georgia Satellites, Night Ranger, and a few others.  Acoustic Fields recorded two full-length CDs that you can listen to and download on the Audio page.  In 2022, I was able to get the original masters and had them digitized and am in the process of remixing and remastering them.  AF was one of my favorite bands and I'm very proud of the songs we wrote and our short-lived time in the world!

Following the break up of AF around 1996 I joined an original and cover band called Kevorkian that was fronted by Greg and Karl Kevorkian that played the local scene and also opened for national acts that included Nickelback, Dust For Life, Jesse James Dupree (of Jackyl), UPO, and many others.  Kevorkian also released the full-length CD "Welcome to this World" as well as a 4 song EP that was recorded with local legend Dick Wagner.

Other local rock bands that I had the pleasure of playing in were The Common Groove, One Pump Daisy, The Burtucky All-Stars and Slick Jimmy.  The Common Groove recorded a full-length self-titled CD which you can hear on the Audio page as well.  OPD and Burtucky were 90's cover bands that focused on playing the best guitar-driven songs from that era while Slick Jimmy played a variety of 80's and 90's rock.

Somewhere in all of that, my old buddy Greg (Kevorkian) approached me about playing in a country and rock band he formed with Mandi Layne called Mandi Layne and the Lost Highway.  I joined the band and played for a bit - maybe a couple years but the band was going to be doing much bigger, more national traveling and playing and at the time, that wasn't something I could do so I stepped down and they continued on to do a lot of really great shows and experience a lot of success, also recording 2 full-length CDs.  Years later, and currently I rejoined the band to take on the lead guitar duties and our focus now is more regional festivals and occasional local venues.

In 2015, I responded to a Craig's List ad (I know right??) by a female singer that was looking for a guitar player to play acoustic and original songs and met Melissa May.  After a very productive first session, we decided to see how things went and have been playing together since.  During our time together we've played a LOT of shows in a variety of places, did some recording, won multiple awards for Best Duo, Best Folk Band, Best Rock Songwriter (Melissa), Best Rock Guitarist, and others, as well as met a ton of great people.  We also formed a full band called Stereo Stardust that still lurks around in the shadows.  
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©2024 by Brian Coonan

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