The Writers
Ramon Gonzalez Jr Luigi Cappel Ron Patton David Spence Rachel Fields
Ramon Gonzalez Jr was born and raised in Sterling, IL. At the age of three, he started taking piano lessons at the Earl Ricker Studio. There, Ramon studied all aspects of piano, including music theory and composition. When he turned seven years old, Ramon showed interest in the violin. The school system had no orchestra program at the time, but his parents wouldn’t let that slow him down. Ramon studied privately for years, and when the school finally picked up the orchestra program, he continued studies both through the school program and privately until graduation in 1984. Ramon’s vocal training came through years of choral performance at the local church, and with the school’s choir groups. He was always very active in Sterling’s local music scene, performing with the Illowa Chamber Orchestra, various Musical Plays Orchestra Pits, and any and all competitions held in the area.
In 1982, while a sophomore in high school, some friends from the school choir recruited Ramon to play keyboards and fiddle for his first band, Country Breeze. After being exposed to the immediate satisfaction of live club performing, Ramon knew it would be his calling. He turned his violin into a fiddle, and has been thrilling audiences with renditions of Orange Blossom Special, and Devil Went Down To Georgia ever since.
1985 saw a relocation to Virginia Beach, VA. Along with the change in address, came a change in musical styles. It was there that Ramon got his first hands on taste of Top 40 Dance, and what is now called 80’s Rock. He performed all around the Tidewater area with Whiteline. He landed his first road job with Hits in 1987. He then toured up and down the eastern seaboard. The band also backed Classics IV vocalist Dennis Yost for awhile, where Ramon met and worked with Dennis, “Tossin’ and Turnin’” Bobby Lewis, “Peppermint Twist” Joey Dee and The Starlighters, and “The Worst That Could Happen” Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge. The band then did some time on the cruise ship circuit, working from Bermuda to South America, and L.A. to Mazatlan, MX. After eleven years, the band called it quits. Band mate Earl Davenport and Ramon went on to the next phase, Stampede.
Ramon and Earl started auditioning musicians for Stampede in early 1998. By March, the band had the lineup complete, and started a house gig on the eastern shore of North Carolina. At the end of summer, Stampede went out on tour covering GA, NC, FL, VA, PA, MS, TX, IA, WY, OH, MN, WI, ND, SD, CO, AZ, and NM. Over the next eight years, the band would perform and make friends all over the country.
Ramon began writing with his wife Melicia, during the early years of Hits, and they had several songs in their catalog by the time Stampede came around. Stampede performed several of these songs over the years. Every chance he got, Ramon would slip through Nashville to pitch songs. Ramon met several of the Nashville regulars. He has performed at all the Honky Tonks along Broadway.
In January of 2006, Ramon moved to Fargo, ND. He joined The Great Outdoors. Now he gigs every week, touring only a few weeks out of every month. His off time now is spent writing songs, gathering contacts, and running his publishing concern, Sydney Skyler Music.
Luigi Cappel was born to a musical family in Holland and was educated in Holland and New Zealand. He first performed at folk clubs at the age of 9, and was already writing and performing his own songs in his teens. He is focused as a songwriter rather than a performer. He has performed and held residencies in folk and country clubs and played in various bands over the years in New Zealand and the South Pacific. He studied at the Creative School of Musicianship in New Zealand and has also attended exclusive seminars from world recognised experts such as Pat Pattison of the Berklee School of Music, which has graduates such as John Mayer and Gillian Welch.
He put his music career on hold to raise a family and now that they are needing less of his time he is again focusing on songwriting. Cappel tests his new songs at Open Mikes, mostly around New Zealand and promoting his music on the web. He has been particularly successful at the popular Music Forte web site where he has not been out of the Top 20 Country and Folk charts in the last 12 months. Cappel is a Writer Full member of the Australasian Performing Rights Association. He has recently been contracted to write lyrics for a feature movie due out in 2008.
Cappel will be performing at Open Mikes in Orlando in April of 2007, and is always keen to find performers looking for new material.
Ron Patton was born and raised in Michigan. While attending Oakland University in MI, Ron decided to explore the possibilities of making songwriting a profession. After graduating from college, Ron continued co-writing, recording songs with his twin brother, Arnold. They constantly promoted their demo’s to record labels and music publishers in the Detroit area. “We found,” says Ron, “that much of the music was custom-made for a select group of artists. There were too many people trying to second guess each other by writing in one particular style”
In 1976, the Patton brothers moved to Los Angeles. Shortly afterwards, they began writing songs for Holland-Dozier-Holland Productions in Hollywood. In 1980, Ron co-founded Baywest Records, which was based in Northern California. He co-wrote, produced, and arranged following songs released on the Baywest label; Don’t Blame Me (Michael Peyser), Your Key Fits (Laurie Roberts), Hook Me, (Leroy “Ace” Miller), Ain’t Nuthin’ New Under The Sun (Except My Love) (Dallas), and Has Somebody Else Been Lovin’ You? (Monique).
Recently, Ron released “The Return of The Twin”, the follow up to his debut solo CD, “Biggie Was Here” (2003), also on Twin Noir Records. “Return” features smooth jazz, light rock, R&B, and pop tracks. All romantic, fun and danceable too. It is available at www.cdbaby.com/ropatt2 or toll free at (800)289-6923.
David Spence is a Texas based songwriter working on the cusp between country, blues, pop, rock and folk. His influences include John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett, Bruce Robison, Lucinda Williams, Randy Newman, Patty Griffin, and James Taylor.
Rachel Fields was born in Pine Bluff, AR. She began singing and playing piano by ear at age 2, and made the transition to flute at age 11. At 18, Rachel went to AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) in NYC where her vocal talents were discovered. After a moderate stay in Branson, MO and several early bands it had become apparent that writing songs was going to be her future. Rachel has toured and sang with JGB (Jerry Garcia Band), which led to the opportunity of working with several Bay Area greats such as Stu Hamm, Jim Bogious, Joel Smith, members of Big Brother and the Holding Company and Jefferson Starship. She has opened for Dave Nelson Band, Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band, Gov’t Mule, Wide Spread Panic, and The 4 Tops.
Rachel’s unique style of singing and powerful stage presence has been compared to performances such as, Joe Cocker, Stevie Nicks, Natalie Merchant and or course, Janis Joplin. Rachel expresses a wide range of styles in her songwriting, from sensually spiritual ballads to hard hitting knock-your-socks off rhythm and blues.
