1984, Started playing guitar for song writer, keyboardist, guitarist, vocalist, Bobby Whitlock who worked with Eric Clapton on the Derek & the Dominos album, Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett, Eric Clapton & Friends album, Joe Cocker, The Rolling Stones, George Harrison and others…the band was based out of Ft. Worth, TX and the members were: me/Lead, Rhythm and Slide Guitar, Bill Randolph/Bass & Vocals (formerly of Nevada Bros. Band and Point Blank), later on Eddie Marshall (formerly with The Larry Franklin Band played Bass, Jonny (Rosebud) Doughty/Drums, David Milsap/Lead & Rhythm Guitar/Vocals. Bobby kept telling me I was going to have my chance to meet Eric Clapton, but unfortunately it never happened. It was a pleasure and an honor to be able to work with Bobby and the rest of the guys in this band.

1979, I started working with The Larry Franklin Band, which was a high energy country rock band. We started off at a club in Denison, TX called Lucille’s, and after a few months of rehearsal we went on the road playing coast to coast.

The members of that band were: Larry Franklin/Fiddle/Guitar/Vocals, Ray McCarthy/Keyboards/Vocals, Jeff Williams/Drums, me/Lead, Rhythm & Slide Guitar, Stacy Starnes/Bass, Gary Jackson/Lead & Rhythm Guitar/Vocals and Wayne Perrin/FOH Sound Engineer. Eventually Stacy quit and was replaced by Eddie Marshall.

1976, I started working on an album project with long time friend (who I’ve known since I was 12 yrs. Old) Gordon Eatherly at Pollaro’s Recording Studio in Denison, TX. Gordon and I wrote a lot of songs together and with Joe Pollaro’s permission started laying tracks down at his studio using Sid Whatley/Drums, me on Guitar, Jimmy Lowrance/Guitar, Jim Choate/Bass, Danny Melton and Ray McCarthy/Keyboards & Vocals and Gordon Eatherly/Vocals & Acoustic Guitar. Sid and I both engineered the project. When we finished it we started playing gigs around Sherman, Denison, Dallas and Oklahoma as the Rusty Gordon Band which consisted of everyone who played on the album except Sid and Ray. We enlisted long time session drummer Mike Webster to start playing gigs with us.

Later on the album was mailed to WBAP Radio in Dallas where they were holding a contest called the Best Bands in Texas. We won a place on that album with a song we wrote called “Going Back to Texas”. Later on we submitted the tape to Q102 Radio in Dallas and won a place on the More Texas Crude album with a song we wrote called, “Can’t See the Ends”. Even though we had some radio station recognition, we weren’t making any money. So, I started working for Pollaro Multi Advertising Productions as an engineer and a guitarist for a short time.

Shortly after that Dale introduced me to a guitar player named Jimmy Lowrance who he said played with a style similar to mine. We had a great time jamming and ended up playing together in a blues/rock band called Nevada Brothers. Through the approximately 4 almost 5 years that the band was together the personnel changed a few times. The band started out with Dale Bolin/Drums, Ronnie Roth/Vocals, Jimmy Lowrance/Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Steve Dupuis/Lead, Rhythm & Slide Guitar, can’t remember the bass players name, and Danny Melton/Keyboards & Vocals.

After the Spellbinders, at age 15, I started playing guitar for another band in Sherman called, “Love Is”. I thought it was a stupid name for a band, but we must have been pretty good because we won a battle of the bands contest, and beat out some of Sherman’s best bands that had been playing together for a long time. The members of that band were: Dale Bolin/Drums, Bob Maret/Vocals and Guitar, Danny Melton/Keyboards and Vocals, Skip Tumbleson/Bass and Vocals. We frequently played at the Sherman and Perrin Youth Centers, the Municipal Building in Sherman, Tanglewood at Lake Texoma, and a place called the Sputnik Club in Cartwright, Okla., without our parents knowledge. Glad we’re still alive after working there!