Shawn Blakely — Guitar & Vocals

Shawn "Jumper" was born in Las Vegas, NV in 1977 on a craps table. His parents made sure he had access to the most fantastic music from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. He picked up guitar at age 17 and studied music theory, guitar, and choir in college. He earned a music degree from Ventura College in 2000 and a Shawn has been playing in various LA/Ventura based rock bands since 1999. Shawn has hob-nobbed with many other famous musicians without getting snubbed such as Styx, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steve Miller, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli, Nelson, and many others. Even though he breathes music, he almost quit the music industry when he was confronted by a member of his favorite band -The Beatles. Yes, Shawn met Ringo Starr in 2000 and had the nerve to ask for his-royal-highness Ringo's autograph. This all-time music legend turned down the request and rudely asked Shawn "Are you crazy mon?"

After several years of psychiatric sessions, Shawn finally found his sanity and quit drinking Chevas Regal Scotch while at work. This lead to his desire to start a Rock band with some equally disturbed musicians, who currently make up Forever Vinyl. Shawn is the founding member of Forever Vinyl and formed the band in January 2007. When asked why Forever Vinyl stands out from the competition and is so talented, his response was "We spend many hours discussing, learning, and putting our stamp on these great songs. Our musicianship, energy, personality, and a big desire to entertain people is what makes Forever Vinyl exciting and stand out from other cover bands."

James Avgeris — Guitar & Vocals

James "Rusty" recalls his first experience playing the guitar as a young boy: "I remember not knowing what to do with this thing. So many strings, those little pegs, all them knobs. So I plugged it in, cranked it all the way up to 10, and threw the guitar down a flight of stairs. The sound was nothing like I ever heard before. It was absolutely incredible. That was the moment I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life." Not much has changed since then. James—whom it has been rumored to have never been seen during daylight hours—has spent every waking moment since then playing in recording studios, concert halls, clubs, bars, parking lots, alleys, closets and even bordellos throughout the U.S. and Europe.

He has performed and recorded with an embarrassing array of famous, semi-famous, soon-to-be-famous, and never-to-be-famous-thank-god artists throughout his career before settling into a much undeserved early retirement. Until one fateful day... James was pushing his shopping cart through the alley behind Forever Vinyl's rehearsal studio... mumbling something about the dot com bust and collecting recyclables... when Shawn "accidentally" dropped his guitar... down a flight of stairs, no less. The sound was intoxicating. James has been begging to play with the band ever since. Like an annoying little brother, we keep him around.

Denise Barnard — Vocals/Percussion

A hairbrush, a mirror and a lime green record player were the early tools of vocalist Denise "Sandy" Barnard. Hours of watching her older sisters' 45s rotate and singing along with the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Grand Funk Railroad, to name a few, honed her skills. Singing along first with the melody, then with the harmony — creating them when there were none — gave her a well-trained ear for both lead and backing vocals. It also gave her the ability to sing with an English accent, something she is still wont to do. Later on, a steady diet of MTV videos and hanging out backstage in arenas allowed her to acquire performance skills (musical, thank-you-very-much) and a collection of passes. Denise's road to vocal performance detoured for a time into the stand up comedy world, teaching her the value of stage presence and energy, as well as how to handle, um, over-inebriated, over-enthusiastic people.

Denise has spent a number of years as lead and backing vocalist for various bands in the Los Angeles area, and loves it! She is a self-described chick singer who digs performing dude songs with all the cajones she can muster, and muster she does! A versatile singer, she is as comfortable singing "Unchained Melody" as she is Alice in Chains, and loves the variety of music she gets to sing and dance to with Forever Vinyl.

Tod "T" Burr — Drums & Vocals

Tod "T" Burr was born in Yonkers, New York and right from the beginning was trouble with a capital T. From banging on pots and pans, climbing trees, riding motorcycles and generally giving his mother gray hair way too early, Tod's earliest memories are of multiple visits to the emergency room. While in high school he discovered a natural ability to keep time and a drum set was bought with money made from working at a gas station and swimsuit modeling. In college at Arizona State University he discovered alcohol. Combining the two was a no brainer. Much of the 80's was spent in various cover bands all around the southwest. Many years, many bands, many beers and many embarrassing hairstyles later, Tod's career in the 90's and early 2000's flourished with several national and international tours, sometimes playing as many as 150 shows per year, garnering him drum endorsements and indie record deals while somehow holding down a full time job. Today he plays with Forever Vinyl with the promise that he try not play double bass drums in "Mustang Sally"....

Favorite Beer: Free and cold
Favorite Soda: Mountain Dew
Favorite Food: Extra Cheese Pizza (New York style thin crust)
Favorite Movies: Mad Max Trilogy, Planets Of The Apes (originals), and Bond, James Bond
Favorite Video Game: Halo
Favorite Activities: Playing Drums and Sleeping

Gene Simons — Bass & Vocals

Gene, aka, "Groove Daddy," has been making music since his childhood. It all started with some pots and pans... no charges were ever filed, but he distinctly remembers hearing bells as the pots and pans collided repeatedly with his skull. Gene's love affair with rock n' roll was nurtured while walking home from elementary school and stopping to listen to Van Halen practicing in a local garage studio before they became a household name... (True story!) Gene was a guitar player for years... after honing his guitar skills enough to secure the love of a wonderful woman he switched to playing bass... guaranteeing that no other woman would ever be interested in him again! (Place rim-shot here!) Gene has a BA in Music Education and has worked hard to forget everything he learned in music school so that he can actually enjoy playing music — Yes... the thought of becoming an opera star was tempting... but not as tempting as the chocolate cake at all the weddings he gets to play at now!