Gary Smallwood started performing professionally when he was 16 years old. A popular local band asked him to fill the guitar vacancy left by a leaving member. The other band members were older and did a bit of touring to nearby cities, sometimes rushing him home after a gig just in time to be dropped off at his school bus stop!
Gary started his love of music by signing up for drums & percussion classes in the 5th grade and continued to play them through high school. By the time he reached 7th grade, he became interested in the bass guitar. His parents bought him a Fender bass & amp that Christmas and he taught himself to play using his favorite records such as The Beatles, Sly & the Family Stone and others as influences. At age 15 he saw a late night film entitled “A Film About Jimi Hendrix”…from then on it was all about guitar! Then he received the album “Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs” by Derek & The Dominoes where he maintains “that’s where I learned all my licks”. He is also self-taught on guitar using Hendrix, Clapton, Trower, Marino & Van Halen as influences, to name a few.
