Tony has been singing and or playing drums in bands since he was around 15 years old. Of course the early days were a little rough around the edges. He tried to learn how to play guitar but quickly found out that he did not have enough patience to sit through lesson after lesson. He got a set of drums from his dad and played every night to his stereo cranked full blast in his bedroom. After many "jam sessions" he was in a band in Brunswick, Ohio called "WIZARD". Tony was the lead singer of that band and it was then that he knew he had to be a front man. Playing everything from Aerosmith, Rush, UFO, The Tubes, The Cars, Kiss, and more, with a show set where Tony used costumes, fog, and special effects for songs such as Faith Healer by Alex Harvey, White Punks On Dope by The Tubes, and Pull The Plug by Starz , the band was hot. Booking by Energy Talent of Cleveland, had Wizard playing in all the top clubs in Cleveland and Tony was only 17. During a vacation in Daytona Beach, Florida at the end of his senior year, Tony met a band called "THE KIDZ". They were all pretty young too! Tony was blown away! Tony asked the drummer if he could sing a couple of tunes and wound up singing 2 sets that night and was invited back the next night. When he went back, they had fired their singer and told Tony he was their new singer. He couldn't believe they did that but it was too good to pass up. Tony stayed with "THE KIDZ" for about a year traveling all around the southern U.S. playing 6 nights each week in a different town. The band had a recording contract with Warner Brothers Records.Tony discovered the managers were taking most of the money and lying to the band about a lot of things so when the band rolled into Knoxville, Tennesee to play New Years Eve at Their home bar Bradleys Station, Tony informed the band that it would be his last gig. Upon returning to Ohio, he quickly joined forces with two of the musicians he had played with prior to going to Florida. This time around Tony was singing and playing drums. After many years of lineup changes he left the band to take a break from playing. A few years later the bug bit him again when a friend called looking for a singer. After giving it some thought, Tony was back where he wanted to be, up front again with a band called "SHAKEDOWN". As fate would have it, after about 2 years, just as the band was getting noticed, the keyboard player and bass player left the band. Tony and his drummer decided to check out JAM NIGHT at Main Street Saloon in Akron, Ohio to look for a bass player. Well that night Tony got attacked by Gorillas. Yep, 2 of the guys from "GORILLA JONES" were there, heard him sing, and that was it! Tony joined the band and "GORILLA JONES ROCKS" once again.
