a great place to be...a great band to hear
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About the Band
Bill Haynes - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Bill's introduction to music began in Germany, of all places, at the tender age of 12. A military brat, Bill's folks bought him an old acoustic guitar for Christmas. The family eventually moved back to Killeen right as Beatle-mania was in full swing. Hearing Paul McCartney for the first time, he knew he had to play bass. Bill was walking by a pawn shop in Killeen one day and happened to come across an old Hofner bass guitar - just like Paul's! It took a few months of washing dishes in the Officer's Club but he finally paid it off. He and his older brother, who had an electric guitar, spent hours jamming around the house, much to the annoyance of his parents. He joined his first band in high school called Narrow Bridge and from there moved on to other acts, playing with Charles Littlejohn and a band called Sidewalk Sunday. The rock and roll scene was booming in Austin during the 70's so Bill headed south to play with a band called Sundance. The group toured across Texas for a number of years, opening for such diverse acts as Steve Martin, Trapeeze, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They were so popular that they even had to have a police escort after one show in Odessa to get them past the mob of fans. In the late 70's Bill headed back to Killeen where he made his first foray into country music. He played a house gig with a local rock band and when they would finish for the evening he'd pack his bass and move down the street to a local country bar and sit in with some of the old timers who'd show him the ropes. The early years of rock and roll, as well as his tuelage in country music from some of the all-time greats has given Bill a well-rounded and diverse background. Many bass players tend to be "frustrated guitar players" but not Bill. whether it's a walkin' shuffle for a two-step or the powerful low-end thump on a rock song, Bill shows the crowd that the bass is HIS instrument and that anchoring a solid rhythm section is where he loves to be.
Craig Howell - Acoustic and Electric Guitars, VocalsCraig was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. When he was young, his family lived overseas briefly in both Tripoli, Libya and Tehran, Iran. Craig's musical career began early on when he began leading congregational singing at his church by the time he was ten years old. Craig and his twin brother, Derek, were well-rounded even in high-school, participating and excelling in both athletics and music. It was with the help of his choir director that Craig landed a choir scholarship to Abilene Christian University. Though Beethoven and Mozart were challenging and certainly responsible for his extensive vocal training, Craig soon discovered the local honky-tonks and dance halls scattered throughout West Texas and thus began his love affair with country music. He graduated with a degree in Agriculture and and moved around Texas and New Mexico working ranches. Though he loved the cowboy life, music still beckoned and, encouraged by friends to try singing professionally, Craig ended up moving to Austin in 1991. Craig played with a number of Austin bands before he joined Loaded Dice, a group that would eventually become the backup band for a major label duo, Blake and Brian, with MCG/Curb Records. Craig played rhythm guitar and sang harmony vocals with the group for a year touring the US before returning to Austin to help round out the original lineup of the Somewhere in Texas band. His musical influences are numerous and include the likes of Brad Delp (Boston), Ray Price, Johnny Bush, Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, and many more. As the "voice" of Somewhere in Texas, Craig's distinctive "power vocals" are unique in their richness and clarity while his witty stage banter is always entertaining.
Rusty Swanson - Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar, VocalsOriginally hailing from Enid, Oklahoma, Rusty was raised with a strong musical background and started playing music professionally at the age of 16 as a guitar player with a local rock band. the group was good enough to gain sponsorship from KOMA and WKY radio stations and they toured the state of Oklahoma playing "teen-bop" dances. His gravitation towards the fiddle came at the request of a friend who was in the process of forming a bluegrass band and they quickly became an Oklahoma favorite gathering a large following. One of the youngsters who hung around the band hoping to pick up some musical tips was a kid by the name of Vince Gill! Rusty moved to Texas in the late '60s and showed up in Austin right about the time that Willie and Waylon's "outlaw country" movement was taking off. Rusty played with the Silver City Saddle Tramps, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Michael Martin Murphy. He even had the distinction of playing one of Willie Nelson's first Fourth of July Picnics. Rusty's travels eventually led him to Singapore, of all places, in 1983 where he took a job playing with the house band at a country and western club. His wanderlust apparently satisfied, he headed back to Texas for good and established himself as a veteran of the Austin music scene. Rusty's resume includes work with Kevin Welch, Darrell McCall, Johnny Lyons, Billy Joe Shaver, and the popular Lonesome Dove Band. As the song says, if you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band, and Rusty's signature sound is one of the major focal points of Somewhere in Texas.
