Jamie Shea: Singer/Songwriter, Keyboards
Jamie has been performing as a singer and keyboardist for most of her life. She began singing folk songs in a coffee house when she was 14 and soon thereafter joined the first of many rock and pop bands. In the 70's she toured extensively with the bands Potbelly, Burning Ground, Apricot Brandy, and the Wayne Bell Revue while sporadically studying voice and music theory. Raising a family kept her closer to home in the Pacific Northwest with bands Chrome Dinette. What the Chelm and The Walrus (with whom she also currently performs).

Although throughout her musical career Jamie had occasionally written her own songs, meeting up with John Holmes in 2003 was instrumental in opening the songwriting floodgates! Jamie enjoys exploring various musical genres writing songs ranging from the middle-eastern feel of "Sacred Money" to the New Orleans style blues whimsey of "Knocking on My Door."

John Holmes Singer/Songwriter, Guitar
John started writing songs in the late 60's and played in Seattle in the 70's performing with the bands Lost Continent and Spectacle. After having a family and moving to Mount Vernon his focus became more towards writing music and lyrics and he established his own recording studio (Wired Homes Studio) in the mid 90's as a tool for recording his songs and those of many friends and songwriters in the Northwest. The studio collective has thrived on the creative energy and friendships of local musicians. There have been recording projects by Rick Epting, Ira Fein, Li Gold, Wedge Michaels as well as 2 projects with Ron Weyers, Sunrise and Caught Up In A Web, and 2 projects with John Savage, Walkin' In The Sand and Old Moonshine

Philosophy: The creative process is one that enables us all to communicate what we're feeling and experiencing each in our own unique way. When we are allowed to indulge in this creative process in an uninhibited and non-judgmental manner it becomes a therapy of a kind in that it allows expression of anything in any way that we feel like.

Michael O'Neal: Drums, Vocals
Michael has owned three drumsets in his career and all were Christmas gifts from his parents. His current drums came down the chimney in 1968. The previous set was bright red sparkle, circa 1964. His first drums had Disney characters printed on them and were presented when Michael was a mere three years old. They had to be discarded by that summer due to the aggressive free-bop-jazz style that he pursued at the time.

Luckily, Michael's playing mellowed with age so his drums and his family's nerves survived for a bit longer period of time. He has played many styles of music through the decades — rock, dixieland, jazz fusion, country, klezmer, soul and gospel. But his favorite thing is backing up a female vocalist. "They are so hot from behind," he stated at a recent press conference. When asked where inspiration is to be found he pointed to the dance floor. "I'm doing something right if people dance and don't throw things." So true.

Mark Gowan: Bass
Born in Memphis, Mark was raised in the blues. He spent five years in Nashville before wandering the country aimlessly for a long time.

Settling in the Northwest, he played in the Future Pastures Band and with Charlie Gearheart, along with countless other bands now lost to memory. Mark seems to be having a pretty good time now and has successfully avoided writing a novel.

Oscar de la Rosa: Latin Percussion
Originally from Puerto Rico, Oscar spent time in New York City where he played with the Sexteto Borinkuen in the early 70's and then in the late 70's played with Orchestra Love. In the early 80's he moved to Houston and played with Latin Clave as well as the renowned Tito Puente. Later in the 90's he played with the Barrel House Gang in the Spokane area of eastern Washington prior to moving to the Skagit Valley.

Oscar has in a short time become THE latin percussionist in Northwest Washington. In addition to playing with HSB, Oscar plays with his own La Rosa Trio performing jazz and latin music at numerous venues and events throughout the Pacific Northwest. He recently joined the Seattle based salsa band Conjunto Chevere. He also is active in local theatrical performances and numerous other musical groups.

Mark Kelly: Saxophone, Flute
Mark teaches music four days a week in his private studio of adult and school-aged woodwind students. He runs two saxophone ensembles out of this studio, and also conducts the Bellingham Youth Jazz Band (www.jazzproject.org) which he started in 1997.

Mark plays saxophones, clarinet and flute in several bands including Saxquatch, The Makedonians, The Atlantics, The Saltwater Octet, Pocket Monkey, and the Holmes Shea Band, as well as guest appearances as a guest performer with various ensembles in the Bellingham area.

John Anderson: Saxophone, Flute
John's musical education started with classical piano lessons at age eight, followed by attempts at trombone and clarinet before settling on tenor sax at age twelve. School bands and summer performances with his uncle Lloyd's old time Skagit City Silver Cornet Band led to John's first paying gig - the opening ceremonies for Mount Vernon's Public Safety Building (Jail). This was followed by the less distinguished but perhaps more memorable City of LaConner Public Latrine Dedication Ceremony gig. Having been introduced in this way to the glamorous and intoxicating life of the professional musician, John headed straight to Western Washington University to pursue a Jazz Studies Major, graduating in 1987.

Since then he has performed throughout the Pacific Northwest, appearing with the Skagit, Whatcom, Everett and Walla Walla Symphony Orchestras, various big bands, including the Wind Machine, MOJO, and the Roadkill Orchestra and Jazz Rendering Service, and numerous jazz and pop combos. John has backed artists such as the Mills Brothers, the Coasters, and Mary Wilson of the Supremes. Embracing musical diversity (whatever pays) he has opened for the Duke Ellington Orchestra and country artist Aaron Tippen.

Currently, John can be heard with jazz vocalist Trish Hatley, the indigenous Pacific Northwest saxophone quartet Saxquatch, country artist Leo Hayes, Jon Krueger's Fairly Honest Jazz Band, various duos and trios, the occasional pit orchestra, and of course, The Holmes Shea Band, all associations of which he is immensely proud.

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