J.R. Hansard

Raised in the small mountain town of Lake Isabella California, J.R. taught himself to play the guitar at age 14, playing along with Elvis and the Beatles records; it's pretty obvious that they were heavy influences on his retro musical style. J.R. was kicked out of the high school choir because music teacher said he couldn't sing a lick, but one year later J.R. was asked to sing AND play guitar for the high school recording club by that same music teacher. In 1980 J.R. moved to Boise and started a trio called "Bandit" playing a variety of oldies rock and classic country music, J.R. has been the lead singer and front man of J.R. and the Stingrays since its inception in the early 80's. Today J.R.'s road-worn Les Paul "Maude" continues to write checks that his showmanship can easily cash.