Since 1980, Jeff has been entertaining audiences
throughout the Washington / Baltimore area with his distinctive vocal
stylings. He has been performing in various bands since the age of 15,
when he and some friends from high school hooked up and started performing
at nightspots in and around Laurel, Maryland. Although he says that
initially performing in bands was a great way to meet girls, his vocal
talents soon made music one of the major influences in his life.
In 1988, Jeff and his fellow band members formed The
Cross-Tie Walker Band. For the next 11 years they were one of the dominant
southern rock cover acts in the DC / Baltimore / Frederick / Southern
Maryland area, opening for artists such as Molly Hatchet, The Outlaws, Toy
Caldwell of the Marshall Tucker Band, Savoy Brown, and Steppenwolf. One of
the most memorable experiences he had was performing for a charity benefit
concert at Ft Smallwood park outside Baltimore, opening for The Outlaws,
with over 80,000 people in attendance. Incidentally, running sound for
this performance was a relatively new guy to the group…Steve Kimbell. Ah
yes...the plot thickens!
Influenced by an uncle who was a musician in Michigan,
Jeff has never had any formal musical training. What he does, he does
naturally and from instinct...something that leave many trained musicians
shaking their heads wondering why they have to work so hard at something
that comes so naturally to Jeff.
In 1992, Cross Tie Walker released an Extended Play
cassette of four songs, three of which were penned by Jeff. All four songs
featured him on lead vocals. Cross Tie Walker eventually disbanded in
1999.
Jeff met Mike and Veronica at St Joseph's Catholic
Church in Odenton, Maryland while performing with the contemporary music
group. In 1997, they started harmonizing together and realized there was
something really special between them.
Before long, Oracle came into
existence as a dynamic three piece band with a faithful and dedicated
following. Looking back to his days with Cross-Tie Walker, Jeff then
introduced Steve Kimbell into the band as the trumpet player and sound
engineer for the group.
During the day, Jeff is a computer security analyst. In
his spare time, he has been involved with his church, coaching kid's soccer teams, as
well as writing and recording some of his own musical material.
In December 2002 Jeff proposed to his long time
girlfriend Jolene, (she accepted), and a January 2003 wedding date was
set.
At this same time it was realized that in order to devote
sufficient time and attention to his many areas on interest, (to say
nothing of a new family), something had to give, and as the band wanted to
actually perform more during 2003, we officially announced that Jeff would
be leaving Oracle.
Jeff
has been out to visit the band and sit in on a few numbers from time to
time, and we fully expect him to continue.
Jeff has been a major asset to Oracle from day
one, and we would like to thank him for his dedication and solid work
ethic.
We wish Jeff and Jolene all the happiness in the world.
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