KEVIN'S EARLY BEGINNINGS...

Well, how early do we wanna go back? Kevin was once an embyo...

First real stage experience was an 8th grade talent show where Kevin did a mean Johnny Cash impersonation, performing "Folsom Prison Blues" and "A Boy Named Sue", winning 1st place. But that was kind of "nerdy" as most of his peers were into the rock scene at that age. It took a few years to shake that "Johnny Cash" image as Kevin pursued the "hipper" rock persona. His first band experiences evolved into the group "Ratler" based out of his hometown of Vinton, Iowa. Eventually touring the bar circuit in 13 states by 1983, Kevin had some good road experience but no band left as each bandmate ended up marrying and dropping out of the band scene.

			Major formative guitar influences include: • Neal Schon of Journey • Steve Lukather of Toto • Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship • Jeff Carlisi of .38 Special • Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top • Joe Perry and Brad Whitford of Aerosmith • Mick Jones of Foreigner • Bands like Styx, Kansas, The Eagles and Boston • Eddie Van Halen was outstanding. Especially the first 4 albums • "Buck" Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult. This guy can play circles around most players, even in his 60's!
Kevin Simnacher, circa 1983 For more elaboration on band history, click here.

There were many years in-between bands. Ratler folded in Spring of 1983. In spite of the band's folding, Kevin entered the Q-103 "Rock to Riches" Contest in 1984 with an original recording of a song he wrote, "You're a Daydream" which got regional airplay and won runner-up to a live "Battle of the Bands" contest.

Next... "FIGHTER" (1986-89). "Fighter" was a psuedo-"Christian" band based out of Waterloo, Iowa. Kevin was added to the newly-formed allegiance of Singer-writer Amy and Bassist Jim Wolter of the previous Christian group, "Sapphire" and drummer-singer Sean Murphy, of "Night Owls". Kevin exited the group after 2.5 years because of a dispute over credits on one of the recordings entitled "Leo" (Kevin wrote the main music for this track) and the band eventually gained a 2-CD recording contract with Word Records, continuing on for an additional 7 years before their eventual breakup. Click here for more...
		"Fighter" at the "Sonshine" festival in Wilmar, MN

"TAN YER HIDE" (1997-98) Talk about diversity! The year was 1997, and the Cedar Rapids music scene was either blues-based or country. Kevin got to expand his musical vocabulary by joining the ranks of Cedar Rapids band "Tan Yer Hide", consisting of former rockers turned "NEW" country musicians. Kevin's main responsibilities included covering all of the "fiddle" and "pedal steel" parts, but gravitated towards more "classic-rock" parts as the Cedar Rapids club music scene began to change back toward mainstream and "classic" rock formats. "Tan Yer Hide" warmed up for country acts such as "Curtis Day" and also rock dinosaurs "Molly Hatchet" during this 2-year period.

That brings us up to the present...

The "Monkey Business" band struggled for about 9-10 months to get off the ground, but it wasn't until Kevin joined up that things took off and they started playing out in April, 2006. "We had a good run for 4 years, playing out nearly every weekend on average." Then when Scott left in August, it was fun working with Roger, who is really a million laughs! Good times."

Kevin leaves Monkey Business with his last gig slated for Saturday, November 21, 2009.

Click here to stay tuned on Kevin's latest musical endeavors.

Check out Ken's page >> ..... Check out Scotts' page >> ..... Check out Kevin's page >>