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Jerry Heard – Bass and Vocals
I’ve been a bass player since my teenage years, making my career about 34 years. Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa.
I come from a Jazz background. My influences were Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report) and Stanley Clarke (Return to Forever). I have spent most of my career performing Classic Rock. Chris Squire of Yes and Geddy Lee of Rush helped me along with that style.
Currently, I am with the band Wild Oatz. It is a Contemporary Country group performing all the latest country hits. We also dabble in Blues, Pop, and Classic Rock and Roll.
Over the 34 year span, I was in bands with names like Side Streets, Sierra, Da Fanatics, Cruise Control, Changes (a Jazz combo), Stellar Cellar, Nervous Rex, Why Not (where I met Scott, Wild Oatz’s drummer), Blues Flash, and now Wild Oatz.
Though I had opportunities to go touring with some of these bands, I chose not to. But the journey through the local scenes has been a blast.
A couple of my most memorable moments were with Side Streets where we played to a "captive" audience of 2000-plus at a dance marathon at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. Big stage, stage hands, huge P.A. system, and everyone dancing (mainly because they had to!). My other memorable occasion was performing with my two teenage children, Jazz and LeAnna at a huge birthday party (my 40th). I have had proud moments, but very few will compare to that.
As for my gear, I like to keep it simple. For the most part of my career, I used a standard 1973 Fender Jazz Bass. I currently play a 5 string Peavey Millennium and a 6 string Schecter Studio. I use a Gallien-Krueger BP250 Amp coupled with a G-K 210 cab or a G-K 150 cabinet. I also keep Fender Jazz and Peavey Foundation basses on hand just for giggles.
As of this writing, we are currently in the studio recording a CD, which will include a nice little Reggae tune that was written by me and enhanced by Wild Oatz.
