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Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson, lead vocalist & electric bassist of The Molly Maguires, has been in the band since the very beginning. He produced and engineered virtually all of their recordings, including their first album, "Deal With It", while also writing and arranging most of the original music with the band. He performed live with the Mollies on hundreds of shows all across the USA, opening for international acts such as Nazareth, Peter Frampton, BTO, Joe Perry, Pat Travers, Eddie Money, Muddy Waters, Leon Russell, Johnny Diesel, The Alarm, and many more. Steve started his career at the young age of 14, performing with his legendary brother Lindy in the Joe City Band, and he continued playing with notable bands such as Revolver, Point Blank, Godfire, Long-Distance, The Secret Party, Lipservice, the Buzz-Dawgs, Obsidian Glass, Rio Grande Band, Tumbleweed Pie, and more. Steve has also been a successful session-vocalist, singing lead and backing vocals on over a thousand radio-IDs, commercials, jingles, album projects, and voice-overs for Radio/TV-stations and production companies world-wide...
Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson, lead-guitarist/vocalist and songwriter, is also a bonafide "Texas Tornado" and a graduate of UNT's internationally acclaimed music program. His musical influences include such legendary axe-men as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jeff Beck, while his songwriting inspiration comes from a mixture of classic rock, jazz-fusion, and "God Knows Where"... Matthew has written, recorded, and performed with many national & regional acts, including Jack Russell's Great White, Don Dokken, Redbone, Lita Ford, Point Blank, Bruce Kulick, Myron Grombacher, Todd Sucherman (from Styx), Chris Frazier, Matt Laug, Patrice Pike, Rudy Sarzo (from Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne), Tim Bogert (with Vanilla Fudge, Jeff Beck), and Koko Powell.
Dave Hineman
Larry Telford
Ronnie Frank
Ronnie Frank, drummer/vocalist, joined the Molly Maguires after recording with them as a session-drummer for their album, "Next Man Up". His talent and vocal abilities provided an inspirational spark, and his easy-going personality and physical drumming style convinced the band that he was "The Guy". Ronnie has played with several Texas and California bands, including The Curve, Borealis, Chubby Love, Sierra Harvest, MadLife, The Payback, and Rooster Briggs—opening shows for national acts such as Ted Nugent and The Artimus Pyle Band (Lynyrd Skynyrd.) He began his music career at the tender age of 16, singing and playing multiple instruments until he finally settled on the drums, where he's been bashing them with passion and gusto ever since.
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A Brief History
"This could possibly be the best line-up of musicians that we've ever had...", mused Steve Wilson, bassist and founding member of The Molly Maguires. "There's been a lot of extraordinary players in the band over the years, but we've never had TWO Texas Tornadoes on guitar at the same time—that's quite rare in the music biz... Usually, high-calibre lead-guitarists want to be the "one and only" soloist, and tend to avoid sharing the spotlight, but in this band, Matthew and Dave have forged a special bond based on long-term friendship and mutual respect for each other's talent. They have truly become Brothers-in-Arms. Watching them live, blasting out those high-speed dual-leads together, is quite an experience!
The Mollies have a powerful vocal presence as well, with four veteran singers in the band. If you listen to AM/FM radio then you've already heard Steve Wilson's edgy voice. He's sung countless "Rock Commercials" for Radio and TV—although he'd probably never admit it, preferring to discuss his original recordings instead. Matthew, Dave, and Ronnie are also very capable singers and share the lead and backing vocals throughout the night, in a style reminiscent of the Beatles, Eagles, or other vocal super-groups. Mix that experience in with Larry Telford's masterful keyboard-work and their high-energy stage-presence, and you'll have a "Night to Remember!"
The Molly Maguires were formed in December of 1980 by Steve Wilson, Lawrence Dominguez, Nat Davidson, Ross Born, and Punkin Walters after an unfortunate incident caused the sudden destruction of their currently touring band, Joe City, while on tour in Florida.
Florida was freakishly cold that winter, and the heater was broken in their dilapidated old tour-bus. One of the roadies had acquired a can of Sterno Canned-Heat and a bottle of whiskey to try to stave off frostbite, but the cold wind—whistling through the cracks in the bus—kept blowing the flames out. The whiskey, however, was much more effective in fanning the "Flames of Revolution" against their management team, who had recently changed the band's business structure from a partnership to a corporation—transitioning each musician from rockstar to employee.
Frustration and anger fueled by additional management issues ultimately triggered a full-on band revolt. Tempers reached a fever-pitch until the band finally exploded in a fireball of bruised egoes and broken promises—a Kairos moment affectionally referred to as "The Great Bloom-Yeow". Realizing that they now had no jobs and no money, five of the six band members limped back to Dallas in the back of the equipment truck while the lead-singer remained on the road and ultimately hired a whole new set of players.
Upon their return, the rebellious-five realized that they had to act fast or starve, so they organized themselves, signed on with a few shady booking agents, and the Molly Maguires were born!
The Mollies have had a veritable "Murderers' Row" of great musicians, each with their own unique and interesting story. Over the years, the band line-up has gone through a few changes, mostly due to calamity, injury, and death, but the spirit and brotherhood of the band has always remained strong. And while the Molly Maguires have had only one bassist (Steve Wilson), they have had three keyboard players (Nat Davidson, Lindy Wilson, and Larry Telford), eight guitarists (Lawrence Dominguez, Ross Born, Dave Evans, Andy Timmons, Bryant Hunter, Ronnie Lingren, Matthew Johnson, and Dave Hineman), seven drummers (Punkin Walters, Max Peterson, Terry Ranson, Chet Greenwood, Eric Fowler, Scott Weltner, and Ronnie Frank), and a long list of beloved roadies (Scott Huston, Bart Blickenstaff, Doug Born, Bo Bosillo, Chris Williams, Allen Alt, Jeff Robertson, James Boyd, Jimmy Jenkins, Ambrose Esquibell, and more) that have earned their place in the rich and colorful history of the Molly Maguires.
Check back often for more stories, photos, and more...