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NOVEMBER 1, 2010
DENNIS WATSON
REMEMBERING THE MAN, HIS MUSIC AND HIS LIFE
Dennis Watson, keyboard player/vocalist for the Hit-N-Run Band has left us unexpectedly to join other musical greats in Heaven and there is a great void in our band and our hearts. His fingers are flying over the keys as he perfectly delivers every note to create beautiful music such as that he created while here on earth. He was greatly admired by so many and respected for his musical creativity and his talent in bringing a song to life. It was mesmerizing to watch him as he played the perfect parts with such intensity and many a local band has benefited and enjoyed having Dennis work with them for very many years.
Dennis graduated from Furr High school in Houston and when he was 18 years old, his second band , Buttermilk Bottom, formed with well known players like Tommie Lee Bradley, Steve Lustgarten and Tony Branagel (who now plays for world famous Robert Cray & is on the Jim Belushi show). They were flown to Memphis, signed to Polydor Label and produced by Vic Briggs, lead guitar player for Eric Burdon and the Animals. They toured backing up famous groups like Ike & Tina Turner, Rare Earth, Spirit and the Association. In his younger years, he even turned down an offer to play for Clint Black which he later regretted. While traveling in England, he went to see the Rolling Stones in a small venue. Afterwards-VIP's insisted he was not Dennis Watson, but Ron Wood incognito and took him to a special party to hang out with the Stones. He lived it up and I'm sure he played some great music with them that night. He did have a Ron Wood look and a full head of hair.
His musical career later was enhanced by jobs with Evans Music and later Mars Music and installations of systems in many churches and venues. He also held outside sales positions with various companies. Dennis could sell what he believed in - that's for sure. The venues Dennis has played for are diverse ranging from so many country clubs, resorts, various subdivision concerts, marinas, The Italian Festival, Jones Hall, the Coliseum and many hotels. There are far too many to mention, but over the years with us (in addition to the above) he played a lot of repeat business including many weddings, parties, fundraisers, galas and nightclubs such as Prime Time, Live Oak, Froggies, Double T's, Lynn's Longbranch, Crescent Moon, The Howling Coyote, The Brickhouse, Vida Loca, the 510 Bar, Tobins, Exit 73 and Snapper Jacks - to name a few. He also played many more clubs, like Capones & Sullivans with other musicians in every area of town and surrounding outlying areas. He was a highly sought after studio musician, recording in many studios such as Diamond Gem Studios and Sugarhill. Some of the groups he worked with besides Hit-N-Run (two different times) and Buttermilk Bottom was Touch, Shadowcasters,The Mix, Big Otis, The Daily Planet, Tommy Lee Bradley, Jody Blankenbanker & 90 proof, Miss Molly & The Whips, Randy Marshall & The Law, Elvis tribute artist -Vince King and Oxygen Band. He also filled in from time to time with many other well-known musicians from groups he worked with over the years such as Helly Martinez, Milford Spivey, Mike Reed, Maria Williams, Steve Lustgarten and more. The vast number of musicians from famous to unknowns that he worked with in his musical career are just too many to list but he remembered them all.
Dennis had many favorite songs and artists in our band, but the songs he wrote such as "Baby I know", "Tell Me", "I Learned that from you", "Circus", "Ooh Sweet Mary" are just a few that made him recognized locally as a musical great and everyone he shared them with could not believe the intricacies of all the parts and how great the songs were. Like all geniuses, he had his quirks, but he has always been a loyal friend and the consummate musician with a memory for the smallest of details of songs and the bands that made them famous. Some of his favorite bands were The Beatles, Jeff Beck, The Stones & Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
He was a musical genius and wrote music that was influenced by many great artists. He was never famous for what he wrote, but anyone who knew him and heard his songs felt like they were hits. His ability to hear a harmony and sing it was amazing. It is a great loss to the music industry and to the world who never heard the talent that flowed out of him like a river. Dennis loved the beach, and was a major sports enthusiast. He was a die-hard Dallas Cowboy fan. He sometimes showed up at gigs (even private party,Tuxedo gigs) in a Cowboys shirt or ballcap- he said no gig was too good for Cowboys attire. He loved cold weather, lots of good hot food, a good argument about history or politics or football, old obscure, famous musical groups and sharing stories, laughs and his latest song with his friends. Musicians and those who enjoyed and shared his music also loved him back.
Hopefully he is now pain-free and with the cats that were his life and that he loved so much that recently passed away. Right now, Dennis is probably enjoying one of Heavens' suites overlooking the beach. The weather is cool like he loved; he is watching his Dallas Cowboys play; there is a feast before him as he sits in front of a piano smiling with his favorite cat, Wales, in his lap helping him as he composes another beautiful song for the angels to hear. I know he is looking down on all of us saying - I really miss you all and my wonderful mom, so I'll be waiting for you to get here and when you do - we can play all the new songs I wrote. Until we do, remember I loved you, think of me kindly, keep me in your prayers and keep the music alive.
Compiled from memories by his friends.
By Lisa Cotrone
10-19-2010
OCTOBER 1, 2010
R.I.P
GARY HEYNE
When word first arrived that Gary Heyne had unexpectedly passed away in Shanghai, China, on May 23rd, the simple shock of it all wasn't enough. As with everything Gary, there had to be a search for some deeper meaning, some reason, some lesson to learn, something more.
My initial thought was, "Well, I guess Gary did indeed prove once and for all that if you live your life like there's no tomorrow, sooner or later, you're going to prove yourself right."
And yet, the very paradox in that statement was not lost on me. The part that spoke to how he lived his life was a reminder of how you only get one shot, and how important it is to let it all hang out, and follow your heart. We all know there are easier ways to make a buck than selling guitars, which was where I first met Gary, at Rockin' Robin Guitars & Music in Houston, where Gary sold a lot of them. His curiosity, his appreciation, his understanding, his enthusiasm, his passion, all blended to make him the go-to guy, the one whose hustle alone was worth the price of admission. This same heart eventually led him to UCLA brewing school, which he approached with the same enthusiasm that made him great at moving wood, wires, and screws, as he called guitars from time-to-time. Nobody ever believed that it would lead to much of anything though, much less the Boxing Cat Brewery in Shanghai, via Iraq.
But it did. Along the way, he built killer Mogultone lap steel guitars out by Lake Conroe, and in Point Blank, Texas. He founded a band, Snead Wheeler. He became a microbrewer in Texas. Later, he became a water purification specialist in a Middle East war zone. Then, he morphed it all into brewer, restauranteur, musician, husband, and father in Shanghai. There were many more ideas, more stuff, more life, times, ventures, adventures, and misadventures that happened in between. Most people are lucky to do one thing like that. Gary got it all done in what turned out to be too short a lifetime.
I don't need to know every last detail on what finally got him. I read that he was out on the town that night, and went back to check on his brewpub, or something, and they found him in the morning, on the floor, chips cashed in.
Maybe it was the smokes. Maybe the beers. Maybe the rich foods. Maybe the forgetting to sleep at least six hours a night, night after night. I don't know. But one thing is for certain. He didn't get to the end of the line having forgotten to live a little along the way. It made me think about the compromises some people make that Gary never would.
And maybe that's the lesson. After all, he wasn't the kind of guy who planned on dying in his sleep peacefully anyway. That wasn't him, if for no other reason than because the kind of people who wish for that are the kind of people who are deathly afraid to shut off the light every night because of it. And that just wasn't Gary.
I would suspect that his regrets were few, had he the moment to think about it. If anything, the greatest were likely his leaving his wife San San and young daughter, Gracie, too soon. Next, it was leaving behind people like you and me. Beyond that, there really wasn't much for him left undone. Not much left to miss. It was all gravy, whatever came next. We should all leave this world so rich.
Gerry Hailer, Boston, MA
