BAND BIO
FRIENDLY JESTURE BIO
In progress
JOEY KEYS: Joey started taking private Piano lessons at the age of 5. When he was in 3rd. grade, his music teacher, Dr. Nigro, discovered his musical ability was wide! Dr. Nigro then taught him how to read & play the Drums, Cello, Viola, Trombone, Cornet & French Horn, all the while still taking private piano lessons. His private lessons was mostly Rag Time Music although his parents also wanted him to learn songs they enjoyed. At the age of 15, Joey's father bought him his first electric guitar. He started to learn every Led Zeppelin song he heard. while his Keyboard influences were that of Jon Lord, Keith Emmerson and Rick Wakeman.
He started his first band when he was 16 which was Rock cover songs and Originals that he wrote. At the age of 18, he got into another band that was already playing out in Bars and Clubs. Over the years he played in many bands and a few that built a big name for themselves. In 1990, the band he was in was signed with Capital for a short time then was signed with Shrapnel Records.
Joey has also done a lot of Studio work with some interesting musicians and has been on many recordings. He had 2 of his Originals that were played on a few Chicago radio stations, one of his latest sessions was with Jeff LeBar (guitarist - Cinderella), Cheney Brannon (drummer- Collective Soul), Chip Z' Nuff (bass - Enuff Z' Nuff), and Alex Tyler (Vocalist). That CD sadly was Jeff LeBar's last recording before he passed away. Joey still has his hands in a few projects and is always up for studio sessions, he has his own Studio and has Mastered many of Band's music for final production and produces music videos. His favorite time though is performing for a Live Audience.
GARTH WASHBURN: Born in Tacoma WA, and raised in the North West until his family moved to AZ in 1980. Garth was heavily influenced with music due to his family owning Washburn Music, with several locations in greater Phx. His grandfather was a big band stand up Bass player in the 40' and 50's and even crafted his own stand up Bass's. Garth took up drums around 11 years old and played in a couple high school cover bands. His biggest regret is he choose football over Drum Corp. Garth found another interest around 18 yrs old with cooking and decided to take on a 20 year career as a Chef and worked all over the country and abroad. He was living in Southern Cal in 2009 and his brother, "another drummer" was visiting for Thanksgiving. He literally said my biggest problem is that he needed to start playing drums again. Well that did it and 23 yrs later he was back in the saddle. He played in a few well established cover rock bands in Southern Cal playing all over including the Viper Room and House of Blues in LA. Some bands include, Coverfure, Burn It Up, Haymaker, Direct Connection & Under Suspicion. Garth made his way back to AZ in late 2012 and went work right away, and a couple yrs later in 2014 Friendly Jesture began in its infancy. Garth plays DW and Tama Drums as well as Pearl and DW hardware. Garth mostly plays Sabian Cymbals, but is not apposed to great sounding Zildians.
Jeff is an Arizona native that has been playing the local scene since the late ‘80’s starting with original bands including successful metal project Monument with Petio Petev in the early to mid ‘90’s. Starting off learning guitar at a local YMCA he transitioned to bass soon thereafter because bass just felt right. Influenced by Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Frankie Bello, Joey Vera and too many others to list here. Jeff loves performing live and started playing in cover bands around 2003 and was previously with acts such as Burnin’ Betty, Sunset Strip, Radio X and then joined Friendly Jesture at the same time as Petio bringing back a wonderful long term playing relationship. Jeff loves metal in most of it’s glorious forms, yacht rock, prog rock and/or prog metal, ‘70’s, ‘80’s, 90’s and newer music which works perfect in Friendly Jesture and really no song is out of bounds (except Freebird obviously, there are a few others). Jeff uses Ampeg and Line 6 amplification and plays Ibanez, Rickenbacker, Steinberger, Alembic, Warwick and two custom basses from Surge Instruments.
ARIZONA’S FAVORITE ROCK & TOP 40 HITS & TWISTS COVER ROCK BAND! PLAYING ALL YOUR FAVORITES FROM THE 70’S TO TODAY…
