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Ken’s earliest recollections include singing along to the family’s Grundig radio-phonograph during the 60s while his Father was stationed in France. Along with his parents’ collection of jazz records, Ken heard the pop music broadcasts on Radio Luxembourg.
When a neighbor sold him a Sears guitar for $15, Ken’s career as an instrumentalist began. Ken started playing professionally in high school. In the late 70s, he played with Clyde Stubblefield in Windows, and performed with Under the Table, opening for such acts as Tommy James and The Shondells and Gary “U.S.” Bonds.
For the last 25 years, Ken has been leading his own groups and has developed an active career as a solo performer and songwriter, drawing on his interests in classical, jazz and contemporary music. He specializes in acoustic finger-style guitar, featured prominently on his CD Jessica’s Dreamin’. With his band, Ken plays his own songs, plus jazz and blues standards, and pop favorites from the 60s to the present.
Ken has been associated with a talented and experienced group of musicians over the years and continues to enjoy their support.
Old enough to lip-sync to the Beatles with a plywood bass guitar, Brian was bitten by the rock and roll bug early. In high school he bought a real bass, formed a power trio, played the school dance, and has been making music ever since.
Brian toured the country with Punch, a regional rock powerhouse that opened for Cheap Trick, Rick Derringer, Mahogany Rush, Mountain, Reo Speedwagon, Steppenwolf, Styx and Ted Nugent. He has recorded at Chicago’s Paragon Studios for Mercury Records and Buddy Miles producer Robin McBride. He has studied with bassist Peter Dominguez, Professor of Jazz Studies and Double Bass at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Brian has played with Ken Wheaton for over 20 years, providing the foundation for the electric, acoustic, Pop, R&B, Jazz and original music that comprises the Wheaton repertoire.
At age nine, Rich was climbing a windmill in Wisconsin in order to pull in the radio signal from the R&B station in Little Rock, Arkansas. The beat of that Stax rhythm section never let go. Rich took up drumming in the school band and was hired by a local rock band while still in high school.
Rich studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music with famed jazz drummer Alan Dawson. While there he appeared on the silver screen playing drums in a scene from the movie Slapshot featuring Paul Newman. Rich toured during the 70s with popular show band Ziggy & the Zeu before beginning a long musical association with Ken Wheaton. Still one of the most active and sought-after percussionist in the Madison area, Rich proves his versatility by performing and recording with such diverse groups as popular salsa orchestra Madisalsa, guitarist and award-winning songwriter Robert J, popular country band The Dang-Its, party favorites Marcy & the Highlights, jazz guitarist Cliff Frederiksen, and Tex-Mex singer Chris Plata.
Inspired by the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Tom put down his folk guitar and “went electric.” Thus began a series of sordid one-night stands with any kind of music that would have him—from 60s Pop, to psychedelic blues, to booty-shakin’ R&B, to country revival, to jazz standards and back again.
Tom developed a reputation for solid musicianship and socially maladjusted behavior, a perfect combination for membership with popular retro-rock ensemble Little Vito & the Torpedoes. He was a mainstay of the group from its inception in 1980 through 1994.
Since then he has answered calls from folk, country and jazz groups, as well as backing up a series of blues guitar stalwarts including Mel Ford, Frank Grace, Steve Ditzell and Paul Filipowicz. He has gigged with Ken Wheaton since the early 80s and currently plays with the acclaimed Madison band, The Midwesterners.
Years of grade school piano lessons were jeopardized by the rock and roll bug when Doug entered junior high. He picked up a guitar and put together a band for the school dances, but soon learned that budding guitarists were everywhere. He traded in his guitar for a Farfisa organ, putting his piano training to work, and was soon powering the sound of local rock and blues bands.
Doug went on to study music at Lawrence University and later at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he played with the UW Jazz Band. He earned money on the road with show band Ziggy and the Zeu and the Jesus Christ Superstar touring company, and worked the Madison scene with Clyde Stubblefield and John Northrup as one third of Super Trio. At the same time he was learning jazz in clinics with pianists Marian McPartland and Duke Ellington.
Today, Doug composes and arranges for his Latin jazz ensemble, Strand of Time, and continues to perform with rock, blues, and jazz ensembles. His solo piano performances are a regular feature at acclaimed Madison restaurant, Nadia’s.
Steve carried his early interest in music all the way to the University of Wisconsin School of Music where he earned his degree. Steve has been a working bassist in the Madison area for over 20 years. He has worked as a professional songwriter for Sonny Bono’s publishing company, and has played with internationally famous artists Diahann Carroll and The Ink Spots.
Over the years Steve has regularly received first calls to fill in for such well known bassists as Joe Osborne, Richard Davis, Glenn Worf and Leland Sklar on tour and in the recording studio. Steve is a founding member of Old School, a popular area band that specializes in “classic” rock and roll.
Steve brings a solid command of the jazz repertoire, providing a solid foundation for Ken Wheaton’s interpretations of jazz standards on recordings and in performance.
Bob felt the beat at an early age while marching through the streets of Boston with his father in a fife and drum corps. After the family relocated to Phoenix, Bob joined his first rock band, Surgical Steel, at age 15. The band was featured on the 1982 album Metal Massacre, signed a demo deal with RCA Records, and appeared in Thunder Alley, a feature film starring Leif Garrett (Surgical Steel played themselves).
Bob’s musical horizons expanded during the years he toured Europe and Asia with the Deena Preston Band. He later met Fleetwood Mac guitarist and solo artist Bob Welch (Ebony Eyes, Sentimental Lady) and toured with Welch for several years. He played drums on the Rhino Records release The Best of Bob Welch and shared songwriting credits with Welch on the Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond album.
Bob continues to expand his musical range, playing with a variety of groups, including Chicago’s popular steel drum band Od Tapo Imi.