Geno Austin

We play a variety of genres; from Soul music to Country, Southern Rock, to Jazz. When I was four years old, while watching my father and several of his friends jamming on their guitars and harmonicas, I became enthused about playing music. I asked my Dad to buy me a guitar, instead he bought me a violin. I practised on it for several months, and soon thereafter started jamming with my dad and his friends in the evenings out on the front porch of our house. I still wanted a guitar and on my eighth birthday my father bought me a guitar. He paid for me to have lessons at the Conservatory of Music. Nine months later, I felt I was ready to start jamming with my dad and his friends. Over the a period of time I'd go to some of his friends and ask them to teach me a song or two of their repertoire. From this method of acquiring songs, I soon knew how to play Soul music and some Country songs. When I was 14, a fellow by the name of Jr. Walker was practising with some of the musicians in the neighborhood. I immediately became interested in the saxophone. I received an alto sax from a relative of mine, and started practising on it. I loved the sound of the sax and became adept enough on it to play first chair during my high school years. It was during that time that I formed my own rock and roll band. I quicky learned that being band leader one had to sometime fill in for other members of the band. Sometimes it was because the band member could not make the gig because of school work, or because the member was just unreliable. That was when I would have to sometimes be the drummer, or the bass guitar player, or the keyboardist. Even with all these changs I still loved playing music. Some of my influences in music are; Wes Montgomery, Grant Greene, Chuck Berry, George Benson, Jimmy Smith,Grover Washington, Canonball Adderly, Dave Sanborn, George Howard, Dave Koz, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bodidly, Wayman Tisdale, B B King, Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Kenny G, and many many others that would take pages to name. The thin that sets my show apart from others is the ability to please the audience regardless of the their taste in music.