John Wilmoth

John, a.k.a “Johnny”, grew up in Texas and his first musical influence was his mother Katharyn. She played piano by ear and she loved to play for him and his brother Tracy. He would pound on the piano and make a lot of noise and eventually developed a little bit of his mother’s talent but he is the first to admit he knows just enough to be dangerous. As most boys who grew up in the 60’s, a major influence was “The Beatles” and he got his first guitar for Christmas in 1965 when he was 10 years old. With a lot of perseverance and a Mel Bay “Learn to Play Guitar” book, he learned the basic chords and a good number of songs. His first major accomplishment was learning the lead guitar riff for “Secret Agent Man”! Johnny continued to play and through a group of friends began to refine his playing style.

He spent a lot of time developing a method to play lead guitar on a variety of songs without having to learn the “note for note” version. Don Rich (of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos fame), Eric Clapton, and Duane Allman were his main musical influences. A number of garage bands followed which were mostly 4 hour continuous jam sessions and in one instance resulted in a visit from the local police cruiser with a request to “turn that noise down!”

Johnny played on the basketball team at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, Texas and one of his teammates was a fellow guitar player and singer, Robert Jetton. He and Robert kicked around the idea of forming a band and made a few calls and got together at Robert’s house one afternoon with a bass player, Art Underwood, and a drummer, Jack Harris. It was like magic. The band clicked from the start and Robert and Johnny were amazed at the result. That day the “Panther City Pickers” were formed. Eventually Jack was replaced by drummer Fred Johnson. The band was quite successful and played an aggressive schedule, typically 5 nights per week from 9:00 PM to 2:00 AM at numerous clubs in Fort Worth. They also played a lot of private parties and were the house band at Joe T. Garcia’s in the outdoor seating area.

Robert was hell bent to move the band to Nashville but Johnny was reluctant since he was also going to college fulltime and wanted to complete his degree at Texas Christian University. Ultimately Johnny decided to leave the “Pickers” and form another band that would just play weekends. The 5 nights per week grind was taking its toll on his grades and he wanted to focus more on his academic studies. Robert moved to Nashville (where he still resides as a successful singer/songwriter) and Johnny formed “Johnny Wilmoth and the Old Five and Dimers.” Fred Johnson also left the “Pickers” and joined the new band. Johnny’s brother Tracy joined as a singer/rhythm guitar player and Lee Greene joined as the bass player (Lee is currently the bass player for “Rain Crow.”) After a great 7 year run, the band collectively decided that it was time to focus on their young families and went their separate ways.

In the late 90’s Johnny got the “itch” again and playing guitar came back to the forefront. With lots of encouragement from family and friends, he ventured back out as a solo act a few times in 2004. After a suggestion from his brother-in-law Paul Garrett to put an acoustic duo together, “Rain Crow” was formed in January 2005 and after a solid 4 months of rehearsal and fine tuning a song list, Johnny and Paul began playing Fort Worth area coffee houses and an occasional gig at the “The Moon Bar” in the TCU area. In mid 2006, Lee Greene (of “Old Five and Dimers” fame) joined the duo as their bass player. In late 2008, Paul left the band and Neely Reynolds became the newest Rain Crow member. And as they say……..the rest is history!

Neely Reynolds

JOSEPH W. NEELY REYNOLDS (Producer, Publisher, Singer, Songwriter)

Neely Reynolds is a singer/songwriter with Texas roots. Neely’s style is folk/country with a buttermilk smooth voice. He performs
Americana music, folk/country cover tunes and original songs with imaginative lyrics.

Neely is the Fort Worth NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association,
International) Regional Workshop Coordinator and serves on the Board of Directors for the Fort Worth Songwriters Association. He is the producer & host for the Fort Worth Community Cable Television show “THE SONG IN ALL OF US”. Also, Neely teaches Songwriting & Music Business for the TCU Extended Learning Program.

Neely Reynolds has appeared on ABC Wide World of Entertainment, the Merv Griffin Show, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and was a recording artist for 20th Century Fox Records. Neely has performed at colleges, universities, clubs, concerts, Opryland U.S.A. and Six Flags Over Texas.

Currently, Neely Reynolds is an independent recording artist, producer and publisher with Joseph Wyndell Productions and Neely Reynolds Music, BMI.

Music influences: Elvis, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, Johnny Horton, and all Nashville songwriters.

Lee Greene

Lee was born in 1954 at All Saint’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, and was a “big headed baby” so his mother said. He has 2 sisters and 1 brother that all still live in the Fort Worth area. In elementary school, his parents got Lee into band. He started on the trumpet and later switched to trombone in Jr. High. He stayed on trombone all the way through college and also played cello and stand up bass in the orchestra.

The first band he played in was “The Seven Originals;” he played a Maxitone electric bass from Montgomery Wards that his parents had given to him for Christmas. The group played Al Hirt music and also had a singer. Lee listened to the radio station KFJZ mostly and sometimes to KLIF for his musical inspiration. He played in the group “Hunington Lane” in high school. They played a lot of Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears. Lee attended Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas and started a band called “Old Rip”. Country singer Leroy Parnell played lead guitar and Greg Givens played the bass.

In the mid 70’s Lee met Tracy and Johnny Wilmoth. They asked him to play bass in their group “Johnny Wilmoth and The Old Five and Dimers”. They played together for 7 good years. Lee has played bass professionally on several CD’s for Moriah, Darla Hildabrant, Decca Recording (Buffalo Sound), and KXAS TV. Lee bought a brand new Gibson Grabber bass in 1980 and wishes he had kept that one. He later traded for a Fender Deluxe Jazz 5 string and a Takamini 4 string electric acoustic. Now he plays a Ken Smith BSRP 5 string which he believes to be one of the best made basses on the planet.
 
Influences: His parents, (God rest their souls)
 
Current music: Jazz, Contemporary Christian, Rock and of course Blues.
 
Quote: “I want to personally thank God for blessing me with my talents, my family and my supporters.”