Rob Dwyer (bass)

Born and raised in Raleigh, NC, I took piano lessons in about 3rd and 4th grade, then again in about 7th grade, liking it much better the second time around but never really fully grasping the whole music-reading thing or any theory. I always had to have my teacher play a song for me at least one time for me to understand what I was really supposed to be doing. It wasn't until I started playing it down the road on my own, by ear, and for my own enjoyment, that I really started to like it.

But backing up to about 7th grade, I started out like every other schmuck wanting to play the guitar. By the time I attended Cary High my buddy, Gregg Phillips, talked me into taking up the bass so we could form a 3-piece band. Considering he and about a dozen other guys I knew could blow my socks off on the guitar, I thought it was a good idea to make the switch. It didn't hurt that he worked at AL&M after school and was able to swindle me his employee discount on (and making me the proud owner of) a black Ibanez Roadstar II. We enlisted the services of Cary drum kit legend Andy Rubes and formed the band Tantrum, specializing in ZZ Top covers. The first song I ever figured out was Tush and I was on my way!

As our senior year whittled away, Tantrum, too, was nearing its end, punctuated by a graduation gig for the class of '85. During this time, the seeds of another 3-piece band were germinating. A growing friendship with brothers Scott and Andy Kerr, drummer and guitarist from Cary, respectively, yielded the bluesy power trio, Dagorlad. Named for the dusty battle plain that lay to the northwest of Mordor, Dagorlad raged on Maiden, Zeppelin, Ozzy, Sabbath, Rush, Hendrix…. all the staples! The band was forced into hibernation by my stint in the US Navy aboard the USS Casimir Pulaski – SSBN 633, but occasionally to this day, the trio reunites in Medfield, in Scott's garage, to once again terrorize the miserable old Cat Lady. No, not as Dagorlad, for that name has been snatched up by dark, atmospheric, medieval metal heads from the Netherlands, but as old friends who can still fall back into some bluesy Jing-Jinga-Jang like it ain't no thang!

A few years, several pounds and a couple of real jobs later I met Marty Hobbs at work. I 'member a-hearin' some'ers that his left-handed ass was a right-handed drummer so one day Andy and I headed over to Marty's for a little jam session. It went well enough but nothing became of it, Andy already being involved in a couple of projects. Around 1997, I joined up with Holly Springs based OSAR, with soundman Rick Harris of Sidewinder fame leading the way from behind the board. Eventually, OSAR lost and replaced a guitarist before losing their drummer to Kokopelli Band and the project sort of fell apart. Down the road, in the new millennium, Marty, Tom, Steve and Marc hooked up in 4-piece mode on drums, keyboards, guitar and bass, respectively. After a while they decided to go with a two guitar setup so Marc switched back to guitar and Marty called me up. I sat in on bass and things seemed to click pretty well from the start. The lineup stuck (until we lost Tom to another gig prior to him moving to South Carolina), though neither Marc nor I were ever really comfortable singing lead while playing.

Enter Greg. He sings, he builds websites, and  he has a very  interesting collection of t-shirts! And, since all the good names were already taken, thus was born Junction 299**.

My Favorite Bass Players:

• Geezer Butler
• Stanley Clarke
• Les Claypool
• John Entwistle
• Flea
• Steve Harris
• Larry Kleine
• Geddy Lee
• Phil Lesh
• Phil Lynott
• Charles Mingus
• Jaco Pastorius

My Impressive Collection of Pathetically Low-end Stringed Instruments:

• 1966 Fender Musicmaster II (literally the absolute bottom-of-the-line Fender of its day. Made in the USA and quite possibly the ugliest electric guitar ever!)
• 2000 Baby Taylor Acoustic (Made in the USA!)
• 2001 Alvarez AD 60SU N Dreadnought Acoustic (Made in Korea)
• 2004 Taylor 21 4 Grand Auditorium (Cheap for a Taylor, but my pride and joy! Made in the USA!)
• 2005 MusicMan S.U.B. Bass (It ain’t a Stingray, but it looks like one and it sho’ sounds sweet – Made in US and A!)