Old Dawgs New Tricks

Old hippies in a basement studio in Muskegon, Michigan.

Old Dawgs - New Tricks is Phil Rogers, Roy Holmberg and Rick Robinson. Phil and Rick have been buddies since Junior High (that's a long time...), growing up within a couple blocks of each other. During high school, Phil and Rick played in bands with high school acquaintances and friends at school dances, private parties and wedding receptions anytime they could find a paying crowd. A couple of times during high school, the band played private parties for a gallon of Southern Comfort. Most of the time though, they jammed in garages and basements like millions of other kids. During the seventies and into the mid eighties, Phil and Rick played various projects together and separately in bars, bowling alleys, private clubs, parties and wedding receptions. For a couple of years, Rick played honky tonk piano in the local VFW. From back alley dives to concert halls, Phil and Rick played them all. Much of the time since then Rick, Roy and Phil put their music on the back burner to pursue careers and raising their families. Roy Holmberg is the newest addition to the Old Dawg line up. Roy began by playing bass through his amp with Jimi Hendrix coming through his headphones when he was 12. He played bass in classic rock and country bands in the 80's and did studio work to keep himself busy. Besides the bass, he plays acoustic and electric guitar. Phil is now a retired school principal, Rick is a retired prison guard, and Roy is a recently retired Inventory control supervisor. "We find ourselves being drawn back to playing music for music's sake. We're not in it for the money or the glory. We still get that feeling of the music taking us to a place that few people have an opportunity to go. We're a couple of friends still in search of The Lost Chord. We may have more expensive instruments and equipment with all kinds of buttons, dials and switches, but we still are a couple of kids jamming in the basement." It doesn't get much better than that.

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