Once again, in 1987, Clint Allen, Brooks Brown and me, reunited for 2 trips to the famed Dallas Sound Lab to record some of Clint's demos. The digital studio which featured a 96-input automated Solid State Logic console, was state-of-the-art and produced some clean hard-driving tunes penned by Clint. For most of the tracks a synclavier sampler was used and the kick drum sound was actually a sample of a basketball bouncing on a concrete floor.

In 1986, I met Joe Hamilton and in April of 1987 we began a songwriting collaboration that would last for 4 years. In March of 1991 we released a CD called LETTERS FROM THE EARTH (see links page for details). The project would take 3 years to complete. Once again, Cedar Crest Studio's Bob Ketchum was at the helm wearing the producer/engineer hat, only this time, he also played drums and a variety of percussion on the album. Joe Hamilton is an excellent singer/songwriter/guitarist who has a seemingly effortless ability to pen beautifully written songs featuring lyrics that are thoughtful and provocative. Even though I played most of the musical instruments on the album, Joe wrote the majority of the musical ideas that would end up on LETTERS. Our collaborations garnered several songwriting awards and a group of very talented musicians helped us to reproduce our studio recordings for the stage (see the works and links pages for details).

HAMILTON LAMBERT featured: Joe Hamilton - Guitar, Vocals ~ Jai Lambert - Guitar, Keyboards, Bass, Vocals ~ Bob Ketchum - Drums, Percussion, Vocals ~ Susan Ketchum - Vocals ~ Hayes Porterfield - Drums ~ John Davies - Bass ~ David Randels - Drums ~ Shelby Collins - Bass, Vocals ~ Jergen Lottmann - Percussion

THE FREDS was one of the most popular bands ever in Little Rock. The group played to packed houses and drew on classic rock influences such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Deep Purple, just to name a few. The high caliber of musicianship (and high decibels) made the band unique in its ability to explore and faithfully reproduce songs that no one else would attempt. The band was perhaps best known for its dead-on reproductions of several classic Jethro Tull covers. All this and some impressive originals made for a show that combined the finesse of multi-instrumentalists Jim Pagan or Ben Thomas, the powerhouse rhythm section of Chuck Horst or David Randels, with Linc Gurley's bass and high vocals, and the twin Marshall stack attack that Phil Dixon and I called THE CHIEF ZONE!

THE FREDS featured: Phil Dixon-Guitar, Vocals ~ Jai Lambert - Guitar, Vocals ~ Jim Pagan - Keyboards, Guitar, Flute, Vocals ~ Linc Gurley - Bass, Vocals ~ Chuck Horst - Drums ~ David Randels - Drums ~ Ben Thomas - Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, Vocals

Almost every year from 1988 to 1999, I had the privilege of sitting in with Tim Jackson and Shannon Wallace's band PASSAGE in Destin, Florida. Over the years, Tim and Shannon have showcased their music performing everything from R & B to contempory jazz, and original compositions, for enthusiastic audiences at venues such as Harry T's, and Hog's Breath Saloon.