Meet The Exiles Band Members
The Exiles have roots that run deep through East Dallas. Things like: Harrell's in Lakewood, the Granada, Wilshire, Arcadia and Lakewood Theaters, Brockles Restaurant, Kirby's, Sammy's, Pig Stand, Keller's, Roscoe White's Corral, Charco's, swimming and little league games at Tietze Park, Dubach's Skating Rink, the Dallas Eagles, "playing" outside with friends until dark-30, the Streetcar, watching the planes land at Love Field (for entertainment!), The State Fair, Highland Park Pharmacy, the Dallas/Fort Worth Turnpike, the April 2, 1957 tornado, the Lady of the Lake, Slam Bang Theater, Icky Twerp, the Little Rascals, KLIF, KBOX, Hudson & Harrigan, brand-new Northpark, Ron Chapman's Sump'n Else TV Show, The Gemini Drive-In and many, many, more iconic places and events are mostly long gone - but great, great memories remain.
Every member of The Exiles graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in East Dallas, the only public high school that can boast 2 Heisman Trophy winners (Davey O'Brien at TCU in 1938 and Tim Brown at Notre Dame in 1987) that graduated from the school. Jimi, Mike, Jay, Keith, Blake and Chris (deceased) all graduated in 1967, while Steve graduated in 1968. A brief bio of each of the guys is below. Get to know The Exiles...
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Jimi Barnett - Drums and Lead Vocalist
Before he got his first drum kit when he was 8 years old, Jimmy Barnett used to arrange oatmeal boxes in a circle and beat on them with sticks he fashioned out of Tinker Toys. Early influences were from his father's jazz collection- Duke Ellington, featuring Louis Bellson on drums (especially the drum solo Skin Deep), Count Basie. Errol Garner and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Jimmy set up his kit in front of his dad's Klipschorn speaker and played along with his albums, dreaming he was one of the band. Then along came Ray Charles, who was truly an inspiration to Jim's vocal style. Other vocalists who were and still are influential are Michael McDonald, James Brown, and Luther VanDross. When given the opportunity to join a "combo" in the 9th grade at J.L. Long with Mike Ellis,Jay Ballou, Chris Pappas, and Blake Miles, Jimmy and the guys started playing everything that was popular at the time-The Kinks,Beatles, Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, etc. Fast-forward to 2002. The Exiles were asked to play for WWW's 35th Reunion. The guys practiced and sounded pretty darn good after a 35 year layoff. Chris's sudden death, although tragic, was inspirational in their continuing to play (because Chris would have wanted it that way). So they added Jim's cuz-bro Keith Barnett, young gun Steve Bones, and are still playing the music they grew up loving. |
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Steve Bones - Rhythm Guitar and Vocalist Steve's Dad was a wonderful singer with the church choir. His Brother, a piano player. Lots of music was always floating around his house. His parents got him an early 60's sunburst Stratocaster with a tweed case in the 7th grade, some lessons, and he was off and running. Singing and playing the guitar is Steve's passion. "Music". Growing up with the Beatles blasting their revolutionary music into his early teen years, he was hooked. Had to be like them. All those incredible songs and those wonderful harmonies. The "Playboys" in Junior High was Steve's first band, playing the early Beatles tunes. Carried on in college days at S.M.U. with "Blood, Bones and Holley" focused on the thoughtful songs of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Bands took a back seat for many years for marriage and raising kids. A high school reunion presented the opportunity to form the "Ol' 68's" and relive the songs of the past. Then the Exiles called with an opportunity to play with a great group of guys with a whole bunch of talent. Good call. And here we are. Still rocking! |
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Mike Ellis - Lead Guitar and Vocalist
Mike started playing guitar when he was twelve, after his older brother Jim was given a guitar. Mike was in Jim's room with his guitar one day, and when Jim came home and found Mike playing his guitar he didn't get mad - instead, he helped Mike learn how to play leads. The next year Mike and Chris Pappas got together for a little gig at a church, and WHAM! Mike was hooked! After the Exiles, Mike and Chris were in the Inner Sanctum, and later in more unnamed bands and jams. Mike briefly went to Texas Tech and played in a couple of bands there, but came back to Dallas and played in the band Trixx and worked with John Storey and Buford Jones at Traxx Studio, as well as playing in the Demo Band for the Sword and Shield Record Company for a short time. Mike was taken under the wing of Terrill Gardner at McCord Music in 1972, who taught Mike the art of teaching, as well as taking him from Rolling Stones through Modern Method for Guitar Books I, II, and III from Berklee College. Having taught now for 39 years, Mike owns Mike Ellis Music Instruction and has also authored Chordmaster Chord Theory for Guitar and Piano, and created the N.U.M.E. method for reading notes for piano which he uses today. Mike has worked and played with folks like Buford Jones, Chuck Rainey, Robert Duvall, Greg Bissonett, and many more. Ask him to tell you how shaking hands with B.B. King changed his life. |
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Jay Ballou - Bass Guitar and Vocalist A 3rd generation Dallasite, Jay started his music "career" by convincing the original band members of The Exiles (Mike, Blake, Jimi and Chris) that they needed a bass player (although he didn't play at the time) - this was in the 9th grade. Thanks to the patience shown by Mike, Jay learned to play and became a member of the band. After The Exiles split up in high school (nobody can remember why!), Jay played in a couple of other local bands, Manchester Lime and The Rafters, before putting away his guitar for a few (35) years to finish college and start his married life and work career. The Exiles reformed in 2002 at the request of the Woodrow Wilson Class of 1967 to play at the 35th reunion, and the band decided to keep playing for two reasons: 1)The guys love the music and 2) They love each other like brothers - so why not? Jay's early influences include Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Moody Blues, Poco, CSNY, Allman Brothers, Santana, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin. Today, in addition to the classics, Jay's damn iPod machine includes Chris Rea, Bush, Tom Petty, Collective Soul, The Cult, Don Henley, Foo Fighters, Goo Goo Dolls, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Mark Knopfler and Radiohead, just to mention a few. Needless to say, Jay is inspired by a wide variety of music!
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Keith Barnett - Harmonica and Vocalist
Keith was born and raised in Dallas. Some of his earliest organized musical remembrances were in the choirs at West Shore Presbyterian Church and Zion Lutheran Elementary School. As did many young people of the day, Keith got his first guitar (a Silvertone acoustic guitar from Sears) and a Mel Bay guitar instruction book while in elementary school. Folk and bluegrass had an immediate appeal to Keith so he also started playing a five-string banjo and a harmonica. Keith was in several folk singing groups while at Woodrow. The Kingston Trio, Joe and Eddie, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan were special favorites from the folk music days. As music changed, Keith was also influenced by other favorite musical artists such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Dave Brubeck, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Animals, The Kinks, CSNY, Yes, Led Zeppelin, and others. Keith currently plays music with The Exiles and loves every minute of it! |
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Blake Miles - Keyboard Our family always went to my grandparents' home in rural East Texas for holidays. Uncle Jolly played the piano and sang, (He played informally for the troops in Germany, WWII, and was awarded a Purple Heart) I still am unable to duplicate his unique combination of chords and rhythm, especially boogie woogie (frustrating). He was the inspiration to learn early on, but now the Exiles are. Since we re-grouped in 2002, the fellow band members (especially Mike Ellis) have taught me more than I had learned in the previous 30+ years. I can't believe that from our little band in the 60's, we're still playing rock 'n roll! We may not be ready for a tour yet, but we damn sure put on a good show! |
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Chris Pappas - Original Band Member / Deceased Chris Pappas loved Rock 'n'Roll more than most people. He played with several bands from the Exiles in the ninth grade through Big Lucee in 2003. He also rejoined the Exiles in 2002 and played with them until 2009. Along the way, he worked for ShowCo and with stars including Chuck Berry and many more. He loved the guitar most of all but was an accomplished pianist and vocalist. A lot of people called Chris their best friend because he always gave of himself and never asked for anything in return. He passed away June 6th, 2009 and will be deeply missed. |