Here is the brief story of the band IKO-IKO. (known originally as The Fat Chance Blues Band) I really love the blues and was in the right place at the right time. I met John Wenzel at a party in Homestead. John was putting together a band and the goal was simply to find a place to play.

Thirty years ago, when I was just starting out, the band was playing Chicago Blues at a Cuban wedding reception in an Italian restaurant on Federal highway in north Miami. (Don't ask.) No one was very happy and one wedding guest kept yelling what I thought was, "I hate you! I hate you!" It turned out that he actually wanted us to play "Hey, Jude." A Quick Review: How We Hit The ground running In 1980 we were the only working all Blues band in south Florida and we became the official opening act for absolutely every Blues concert on the lower peninsula. Forrest Gump couldn't have had better luck. Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, Sam and Dave and on and on. We played dozens of shows in the first year. The Agora, Gusman Hall, all of the colleges especially FAU great big out door shows like the one with Greg Allman and Dr. John on Miami Beach. We even drove to Tallahassee to open a show for B.B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland. But finding steady gigs with night clubs was a different story. We could be the Sunday night band at a country western bar or some Jazz club but ultimately, we did finally find steady work in Coconut Grove at the Old Grove Pub and 27 Birds.

Hooking up with Tobacco Road in 1982

Playing 'The Road' and the fourteen years of being what I like to call their "artist in residence" really allowed the band to develop. We had absolutely no adult supervision. Not once did the owners offer any suggestions, whatsoever. We played what we wanted to play and how we wanted to play it. We played as loud as we wanted to play. We were knocking out twenty minute acid jams to people on coke. Outrageous, I couldn't wait to get to work each night. While we were busy playing down stairs a cavalcade of national Blues artists were performing up stairs at the Road. John Lee Hooker, Koko Taylor, Sun Ra, Albert Collins, Gatemouth Brown. I was still going to school every night and Tobacco Road was also the place visiting musicians would show up to jam. Waren Haynes, David Lee Roth, Steve Stills, Jimmy Buffet and The Romantics all dropped by.

Things were good and we recorded four CD's of original music. We played in New York, Toronto, New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis and on and on. Glory days. Lots of Blues festivals. Great press.

Every thing was fine until every thing wasn't fine

Leaving the nest in the mid-nineties was rough. I really didn't know how to play in other places. Suddenly we had to obey the rules. Edgy material was dropped. Volume became a real issue. One club owner suggested that we wear "funny hats." to get the crowd excited. More and more "wall paper" gigs where we couldn't play low enough. One band member was convinced that certain places hired the band only to humiliate us. I felt like the Love struck Professor in The Blue Angel who was turned into a pathetic, sad, little clown by Lulu Lulu the women he loved. (I'm getting into Dennis Miller territory here.) Ennui. Lots of Tiki Bar gigs. Personal stuff. Tyranny and mutation. Loss of focus...

I was writing quite a bit at this time and Albert Castiglia and Joey Gilmore both recorded and had some great success with Big Toe and The Ghosts of Mississippi.

And then the rebuilding

In 2009 IKO-IKO returned to Coconut Grove playing to throngs of revelers from the flat bed of a landscaping truck in the King Mango Strut Parade. A triumphant return to the place where we first started. To me, that was our '68 comeback.. Great band. Great songs, Great energy. I was ready to buy a new van and get to work.

Now,after thirty years of IKO-IKO I'm happy. I really love my band. I like the way the band sounds. I think that we are definitely worth twelve bucks and a two hour drive any time. We are now officially legendary. Blues Revue Magazine thinks I'm a genius. I'm writing some of my best songs ever .My old songs have held up well. I really like the people that I play with. Guitarist John Wenzel, who got me started in show biz, Mitch Mestel on bass, and Daniel East, who was our sound man in the early 90's is now playing drums for the band.

I'm excited about the new music venues that have been opening up in the past year like The Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, The Big Easy in Hollywood, Chef John's in Jupiter, Mc Well's in Orlando and the new Satchmo's in Ft. Lauderdale just to name a few. Nice stages. No TV sets, No DJ's. All seats face the band. Everyone is there for the show.

All this has brought about what I call the" IKO-awakening". If you have seen the band recently you know what I'm talking about. A renewed excitement brought about by consistently playing these hipper venues, adding new material and bringing in new players like our keyboardist Ron Taylor, our good friend Nicole Yarling on electric violin and vocals and the soul melting Jeff Zabec on tenor and alto saxophones. We are able to mix and match these really dynamic players from show to show depending on availabilities creating a unique experience every time we play.

Now, thinking back to the at miserable wedding at that weird little restaurant so many years ago. If that didn't stop me from pursuing my dream nothing will and we're still just looking for a place to play.