Hogwild

Great classic rock

In the cold bitter weather of January, 1980, guitarist Buck Secrist and drummer Kerry Calahan were searching for a bassist and another guitarist to put together a rock band. As it happened, guitarist Tony Phipps and bassist Dave Janes were looking for a guitarist and a drummer. In stepped mutual friend Dan Fraley who set up the meeting between the four musicians, they hit it off and Hogwild was born.
The four began working up a song list (Van Halen, AC/DC, Triumph, Bad Company, David Bowie) and soon decided that to play all the music they wanted (Styx, Foreigner, REO, The Who, Pink Floyd) they would need a talented keyboard player. In those days, without the aid of the Internet, finding capable players was much more difficult. Hogwild put up notices in local music stores announcing that they were auditioning keyboardists. Fortunately for Hogwild, one of the first to answer the ad was one Barry Elliott who was told that if he wasn't the“Real Deal”, not to bother to show up and waste their time. So Barry practiced real hard and passed the audition with flying colors.
Hogwild started out like most bands, playing the dives (Dragon’s Lair, Gus’s Place) but as time went on they honed their craft and eventually signed with Ajaye, the premier booking agency in Cincinnati. Ajaye convinced Hogwild that in order to play more and better places, they needed to play more “commercially accessible” cover tunes. So they ditched the Uriah Heep and Mott The Hoople tunes and went with Loverboy, Springsteen and the Babys. The agency also recommended that they shave off their moustaches. Barry, Kerry, and Tony complied, but being the rebels they were, Dave and Buck refused. 25 years later and they still haven’t.
But Ajaye did get Hogwild better paying gigs plus they had the ones they booked themselves so the band stayed busy from 1981 through 1983. They did lots of high school dances and UC and Miami frat parties thrown in with the bar gigs at places like The King of Clubs and Stoney’s .
In August of 1982, Tony and Dave had actually written some songs and convinced the others to find a studio. Unfortunately, Alpha wasn’t the best studio in town, but it was cheap and they got the 3 songs (”Heartache”, “Fantasy Fair”, and “The Laborer”) recorded for posterity.
Sometime in 1983, someone decided that Hogwild sounded too much like a Southern Fried rock band so they changed the name to Hotshot. With the name change came a change in booking agencies. Ajaye had moved away from booking local bands, so Hotshot went with Oasis.
Things were going good, but then Kerry decided that at 33 he was too old to rock and roll and gave his notice. In December of 1983, Kerry was replaced by drummer Dan “Doc” Collins and Hotshot rolled on until April of 1984.
It was then when the band got the news that Buck had to leave. He’d been offered a “Too Good I Can’t Turn It Down” job. It was a second shift position with rotating days off which meant he couldn’t play gigs at night. He also had a couple young sons at home he’d like to spend time with during the day since he’d be gone most nights. Buck was such an integral part of the band, no one wanted to continue without him so the band unfortunately had to break up.
While Buck was out of the music scene, the other former members of Hogwild/Hotshot wandered off in separate directions and other bands. Doc ended up in Relics, Dave and Barry formed The Urge, and Tony decided to seek his fortune back home in Monterey, Tennessee.
By the time the Nineties rolled around Buck’s good friend, guitarist Billy Ball had started up his own rock band with 18 year old drummer Dave “Thumper” McCartt and named it Cutthroat Alley. Cutthroat Alley played out a lot, (54 weekends in a row at one point) and for a time had Fred Daniel (formerly of Relics) as their lead singer.
By 2000, Buck had acquired enough seniority to get off the night shift so he teamed up with Billy and formed Ball Four with drummer Larry Holtzmeister and bassist Mike Belperio. Ball Four had fun and played as much as they wanted to until the untimely deaths of Larry and then Mike.
Saddened but undaunted, Buck and Billy went searching for a new rhythm section. Billy wanted Thumper but he thought he was already in a band but he wasn’t. So after a year they got that all straightened out so Buck , Billy and Thumper enlisted the services of bassist Tim (T Bone) Tuttle and Sea Of Glass was born.
In 2007, Buck got the idea that a Hogwild Reunion gig would be a blast. He talked to his friends and everybody agreed and said they would definitely attend the event. He phoned Dave Janes who was still in Leadfoot Johnny and he said he’d love to do it. Dave called Barry Elliott, who’d been retired from playing in bands for 11 years, and he was definitely into a reunion. They tried in vain to locate drummer Kerry Callahan, who was rumored to be living out in Indiana and working for the Park Board. Tony Phipps was contacted in Tennesee but was too busy to make the trip up
to Cincinnati. So Buck, Dave and Barry contacted Danny “Doc” Collins, the drummer for Hogwild from December 1983 through April 1984. Doc said he’d be willing to drive up from his home in Corinth, Ky to practice a few times for the gig and that it sounded like a lot of fun.
So in September of 2007, rehearsals began for the Hogwild Reunion gig. After 4 or 5 practices they had relearned 25 of the tunes they’d played in 1984. On January 19th, 2008, Hogwild, claiming they just taken a 24 year vacation, played their first gig since April 1984 at Beach’s in the Northbrook area of Cincinnati. It had been anticipated there would be a lot of friends sitting in and playing, thereby filling up the rest of the night after the 25 tunes were done. Unfortunately, cold weather hampered attendance, but the 30 or so who were there enjoyed themselves immensely. Only Billy Ball and Tim Tuttle were there to sit in, but they did a fine job.
After a year had passed, Barry emailed Buck and Dave photos taken the night of the Reunion. The pictures reminded them of how much fun it had been to get back together and play. Buck had the idea that they could do it again, but instead of just playing tunes they’d done in 1984, maybe they could learn songs they’d NEVER done before but always wanted to. Dave and Barry were excited about the idea, but Doc was busy playing in his son’s blues band. After rehearsing with another drummer that turned out to be also busy in other bands, Buck had yet another great idea. As it was, he was in two bands, Sea of Glass and Hogwild. Why not MERGE them together? So Buck called Billy Ball and Thumper of Sea Of Glass and asked them how they would feel about joining Hogwild with Dave and Barry. They were pumped, as were Dave and Barry. And so the new Hogwild was born.
In November of 2009, weekly rehearsals began with the new lineup and everything started gelling right away. Dave was so happy he decided to leave Leadfoot Johnny after 14 years. Enthusiasm remains high so if you want to be a part of it, come on out and party with Hogwild at some of their shows. If you are into the music of Pink Floyd, Bad Company, the Allman Brothers, The Who, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Journey, Styx, Kansas, James Gang, Van Halen, Europe, Jimi Hendrix, Steely Dan, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Don Henley, Grand Funk Railroad, Cheap Trick, Jeff Beck, REO Speedwagon, Santana, The Babys, The Doors, Rainbow, The Black Crowes, Mountain, Free & Ozzy Osbourne you’re gonna love this band!