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Vocals, Harp: Ed Kliman
"I started out playing coffeehouses in Detroit and soon graduated into playing joints that the cops wouldn't go into until the ambulance crew arrived. You don't last long in those places if you can't get the job done."

This tough self-reliance comes through strongly in his songs, which often draw on historical events and characters. "I like survivors - people who have come through tough circumstances and refused to take a standing eight count from life. Through song, I hope to connect with enough of those people to make at least a few little corners of the world a better place to live in."



Guitar: Jeff Michaels
Smoker and Drinker Extraordinaire. Enjoys quiet, romantic walks with your girlfriend through punk rock clubs, and he'd drink a lot more, if only time would allow... Plans for the immediate future include moving equipment, drinking to excess and sleeping late. Treading a thin line between road dog and hired gun, Jeff started playing on a variety of instruments at age 8 in St. Louis. A friend showed him most of the parts to "Purple Haze" and, as he puts it, "Man, it was all over after that. I caught the bug."

After moving around, he settled in Austin for the last 25 years, where he is equally at home on a stage or in many studios. Jeff quickly became a sought-after local audio engineer and producer, on top of already formidable guitar skills. "I got reasonably handy behind a console out of necessity... I built a tiny studio and was producing various projects, and one day Ed calls up with a project, next thing you know, here we are."

Got a light?



Bass: Blackie Carter
Blackie's folks were good people who raised two fine children. Because he has always believed in maintaining balance, Blackie took it upon himself to make up for his brother and sister's lack of wickedness. The first major step in that regard was to buy himself an electric guitar with the money he skimmed from the take on his paper route. The next few years of his life were passed banging away on his thrift store guitar while listening to records. Time passed and Blackies initial urge to make an unholy din (and to get chicks) turned into lifelong love for music encompassing everything from Big Band jazz to Blues to Country to...

He just loves music, dangit.

Over the years Blackie has played with a variety of bands, most of which centered around his punk and hard rock roots, but he has also made forays into the realms of blues and alt-country. These days Blackie's love for music is stronger than ever, and it's a safe bet that if he ever puts down his instrument, it's only to go crack open a fresh beer.



Drums: Stephen Bidwell
Stephen Bidwell was born in Washington, DC and raised in the vanilla suburb of Reston, VA. A childhood obsession with music led to the pursuit of active performance. The drums came easiest, and Steve began studying them in earnest around the age of 12. High school involved a lot of lessons, hardcore punk bands, Go-go jam sessions, jazz dabblings, and general band-geekery. Steve chose to study music at a nationally recognized party school in the northern Appalachians (Go Mountaineers!). While there he got to study everything from Western classical music, jazz, over-the-top debauchery, and world music.

Since leaving the previously mentioned University with two redundant Bachelors degrees, he has lived in Pittsburgh, New Orleans (read: token Katrina victim), New York, and currently resides in Austin. While living in these cities he's played with top players in every style possible and opened up for national acts (Lee Greenwood…at a dog track…no, really). He's toured Asia twice, studied African drumming extensively (in Africa no less!) and counts Johnny Vidacovich and Wayne Krantz among his most influential teachers. Steve comes to the Thunder Chiefs via a craigslist miracle and is looking forward to bashing his way across Texas and the rest of the world.