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Jett Cheek - Keyboards, background vocals
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Like most of the guys in the band, my musical endeavors began at an early age… learning to play piano from my grandmother when I was in 2nd grade, singing in children's choirs at church, signing up (with my brother, Derek) for guitar class in 4th grade….
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That's really when I realized that I wanted to be a musician.
There was this travelling guitar teacher, Travis Venable, who came through our small town of Floydada, Texas one day, looking for new guitar students. There was plenty of interest as I think he ended up teaching several classes one day a week. He rented an old abandoned house (except for the nickle coca-cola machine--one that dispensed the small 10 ounce bottles) and started teaching. I think the first 2 songs we learned was "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" and "Dirty Water".
Call it luck or call it happenstance (I happen to call it grace), but the class Derek and I enrolled in had some pretty decent musicians. We were all there to learn guitar, but it was soon apparent to Travis that he had the makings of a band. So, my brother switched to bass, Alex switched to drums, Kelly was the most proficient of all of us, so he naturally took to the lead guitar position, and the rest of us (3 to be exact) played rhythm guitar. Travis taught us how to play "Mr. Bojangles" with Kelly singing lead, and the Kountry Kids were born!
Then there was Donny. He had this stomp toy that made a the sound of a police siren and he loved that thing. He'd step on it in the middle of "Bojangles" and thought it was hilarious. Kelly didn't find the humour in it, which led to the demise of the Kountry Kids. The band broke up.
Then, immediately after the breakup, Kelly formed a new band with my brother, Alex, Kary and myself. Really, all of the Kountry Kids except Donny. Brio was the new name for the band. With the new name, we discovered new life, new vigor, and a new spirit. Kelly loved Chicago, The Eagles, the Doobie Brothers… and so we started learning some of their tunes. Funny, now that I think back on it… two of us were in the 4th grade, 1 fifth grade and 2 sixth grade and here we were, singing, "I'm A Man", "Foghat", "Takin' Care of Business", "Tequila Sunrise", "Desperado", "South California Purple", and yes, "Mr. Bojangles".
It was during one of our rehearsals that we discovered we had a pretty good set of voices. We were rehearsing "Bojangles" and Kelly was singing lead. It occurred to me that a second voice would sound good on the chorus, so I harmonized Kelly. He stopped and said, "Hey, that sounds good! Derek, why don't you sing that part." (sigh) Undaunted, when the chorus came around again, I added a third harmony--which I got to keep! Man, elementary kids never sounded so good!
Travis knew he had a gold mine. He started booking us every place that would hire a pre-teen live band: Lions Club meetings, 4-H events, talent shows, and then we got our big break… a High School assembly! The day before Christmas break, we rocked the High School auditorium, complete with red stage lights! Brio was a local sensation, but all good must come to an end. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the brakes were applied and Brio was history. But the music never died.
to be continued….
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