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Issue 11,  6 November 2004

1) Band News
2) Tour Dates - updated concert schedule
3) This Ones For Kurt - a tribute to Kurt Hansen
4) Stories From The Band - An Interview with original Head East drummer Steve Huston
5) Song Lyrics - The words to Ticket Back To Georgia by Steve Huston
6) Concert Review - information and photos from the October 29th Centralia, IL show
7) Mail - stories and comments from Head East fans

* On 29 October 2004, Head East performed in concert at Centralia High School. Centralia Illinois is the birth place of original Head East drummer Steve Huston. Steve flew in from his home in Houston, Texas to perform live with the band for this concert. In addition to Steve Huston, former members Larry Boyd, Brad Flota, and Steve Riker were also in attendance and performed with the band. See section 4 below for a recent interview with Steve Huston and see section 6 for photos and information on the Centralia concert.

* Former Head East guitarist and vocalist Randy Rickman passed away last month in his home in Beaumont, California. A memorial service will be held at 3 pm on Saturday November 13, 2004 at the Vineyard Church, 2020 E. Blake in Wichita, Kansas. For more information about Randy Rickman click on the following link:

* Some rare photos provided by original Head East and TimeAtions drummer Steve Huston have recently been added to the site. The very first Head East publicity photo ever taken known as the "Train Photo" from 1969 has been added to band photo page # 5. And a photo of Steve Huston behind the drums for the Timeations circa 1968 has been added to Steve's bio and photo page. Also, an early 90's publicity photo provided by former Head East drummer Steve Riker has been added to band photo page #2.

More concerts are in the works for 2004 and 2005. Check the tour dates page for additional info and updates to the tour schedule.

* Any dates marked with an asterisk are tentative. All concerts may be subject to change. Please check with each venue before heading to the concert.

Head East Alumnus Kurt David Hansen passed away on 16 December, 2003. Kurt joined Head East in the mid-80s and performed with the band until the mid-90s. Earlier this year Kurt's longtime friend Larry Nosbish (aka Noz) dedicated his performance in the Bolder Boulder 10k road race to Kurt. Nosbish who is pictured to the left sporting the t-shirt he wore in honor of Kurt, comments below on the race he dedicated to Kurt Hansen.

"Yesterday (Memorial Day 2004), I ran the Bolder Boulder 10k in honor of Kurt. The kicker was after training since January, six weeks ago I came down with severe back problems. After a cat scan, I found out I had a buldging disc and that it ruptured. It felt good enough to start light running again 2 weeks ago after being inactive for 4 weeks. So I wasn't 100% physically, but ran on will power (and Hansen pushing me in the ass). Anyway, somehow I still finished under 60 minutes. It was pretty cool, after I came across the finish line they had me on the stadium big screens for a minute, so thousands of people got to see Kurt on my shirt."

When did you first start playing drums? And were you always a drummer or did you play other instruments before taking up the drums?

"My parents gave me a set of drums for Christmas when I was about 4 or 5 years old --- big mistake! I was one of those kids that beat on everything but my mother recognized that wasn't just beating, I was playing rhythm patterns. But I was so persistent that from time to time the drum set would simply disappear. I didn't understand why or where it went, I was a baby. During the period from about age 10 to 15, I played guitar in a band that I organized called the "Farraries." We misspelled the name on purpose because as naive kids we were afraid the car maker (Ferrari) would sue us. One day at practice we were trying to learn the song "Wipeout" and the drummer couldn't play the solo. I admonished him saying that anybody could do it. He handed me the sticks and called me a "smart ass." I sat down at the kit and played the solo correctly and the rest is, as they say, history."

Do you still play the drums today either professionally or for personal pleasure?

"Today I don't play drums with any regularity. This is the first time in my life since I was 5 that I don't own a set of drums. The last drum set I played with Head East is in a "Drum Museum" in Texas along side drums from "The Ventures" "ZZ Top" and others. When I show up at Head East concerts I play a couple of songs on the kit like Gettin' Lucky and Every Bit Of My Heart and then usually go out front and sing lead and backup on our "classic" songs such as Jefftown Creek and Never Been Any Reason.

You were an original member of the TimeAtions who changed their name to Head East in 1969. Who were the other members of the TimeAtions and what were the circumstances surrounding the forming of the band?

" I graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1968. Roger Boyd and I met as scholars while we were High school juniors who had both won essay contests with the prize being an all expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. to meet President Lyndon Johnson. Back home in Illinois we got together to jam and formed the TimeAtions, bringing the best players from each other's band. The original lineup was myself on drums, Roger on keys, Larry Boyd on bass, Johnnie Earls on rhythm guitar, and Rich Gill on lead guitar. Rich left after a few months and we replaced Johnnie with Danny Piper. I did most of the lead singing in the TimeAtions until the summer of '69 when John Schlitt joined. That fall, we became Head East. "

You wrote many of Head East's most popular songs. Can you tell us about writing the song Jefftown Creek and the events that were the stimulus for the song? And do you still write music today?

"Jefftown Creek is a song about a secluded campground sort of area between the little towns of Cravat and Woodlawn, Illinois that served as sort of a "Lover's Lane" as well as a place for underage drinking."

"I composed about 50 to 60 percent of Head East's music. Not all of the songs I wrote and we performed live were ever released on record. I still compose when the spirit moves me but I don't write music as prolifically today as I once did. But a very good band in Tennessee known as "The Dixie Werewolves" is planning on recording a new song I wrote sometime this fall. It's called "I Just Wanna Talk To You."

For more information on Steve Huston go to Steve's Bio and Photo Gallery Page

Ticket Back To Georgia
(Lyrics by Steve Huston)

How much is a ticket back to Georgia
Time for me to fetch myself a home
Headin' back down a railroad track of memory
Find that girl I left there all alone

I've been tryin' to find some rhyme or reason
And I've been cryin' for awhile
But it just seems like it's open season
But I know where I can find a smile

How much is a ticket back to Georgia
Time for me to fetch myself a home
Headin' back down a railroad track of memory
Find that girl I left there all alone

After all this time I get to thinkin'
That things at home are still the same
Cause I've been gone so long I just can't take it
I wonder if they still recall my name

How much is a ticket back to Georgia
Time for me to fetch myself a home
Headin' back down a railroad track of memory
Find that girl I left there all alone

** Instrumental break **

How much is a ticket back to Georgia
Time for me to fetch myself a home
Headin' back down a railroad track of memory
Find that girl I left there all alone

How much is a ticket back to Georgia (repeats several times and fades)

On 29 October 2004, Head East performed a special concert at the Centralia High School Auditorium with four previous members in attendance and procedes from the show going to the Shop With A Cop program. Centralia is the birth place of original TimeAtions and Head East drummer Steve Huston. And the nearby communities of Carlyle, Salem, Woodlawn, and Mount Vernon are where some of the other members lived and attended school. During the concert, Head East Leader and Keyboardist Roger Boyd quipped, "We knew that we had made it big as the TimeAtions in the late 60's when we began playing the Centralia Swimming Pool on Tuesday and Thursday nights."

A few songs into the set, Boyd brought Steve Huston on stage to sing Fly By Night Lady/ City of Gold and Gettin' Lucky. Steve seemed to be enjoying himself on stage and was really getting into the music by dancing and swaying and interacting with the others on stage. And he proved that he still has the pipes, providing the vocals that were immediately recognizeagble as the vocals on the albums. When Boyd quizzed Huston on stage about the writing of Gettin' Lucky, Huston replied that the song was inspired by his attempts (mostly unsuccessful) to pick up young ladies at a bar out in L.A. called the Rainbow.

Huston left the stage after singing Gettin' Lucky but would return later to finish the set adding lead and background vocals to Jefftown Creek, Since You Been Gone, Never Been Any Reason, and Elijah. Roger Boyd then introduced former members Brad Flota, Steve Riker, and Larry Boyd who were in attendance in the audience and brought all of them up on stage for an allstar jam of the Wilbert Harrison classic"Kansas City".

After the show the fans got to meet and talk with current members Roger Boyd, Rich Creadore, Richie Callison, and Mike Mesey as well as former members Huston, Flota, Riker, and Larry Boyd who are shown in the pictures below.

Larry Boyd on Bass Guitar		Brad Flota Former Guitarist		Former Head East drummer Steve Riker and sons with Roger Boyd, Steve Huston, Brad Flota, and Larry Boyd		Steve Huston and Larry Boyd

Head East Fan Mail will return next issue.

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