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Chris Kinkade
Lead Vocalist 1974-1976
Chris Kinkade hooked up with Andy, Terry and Kelly while he was in the 9th grade. A long time fan of music he had visions of becoming a singer in the mold of Jim Morrison. He settled for an lesser role as flunky and was given a couple of songs to do while Rail & Company's lead vocalist took a breather. Chris moved with his family to upstate Buffalo, New York in his junior year and fronted some serious bands gaining the experience and confidence he needed to re-approach "Rail" upon graduating. Kinkade actually auditioned over the phone singing some Led Zeppelin to Terry Young who was impressed enough to hire him long distance to be their Front Man. Chris then sold his microphone and other possessions, and bought a one-way ticket to Seattle. Chris spent about 18 months fronting Rail & Company in the early years, including their first sold-out appearance at Seattle's Paramount Theatre, and still calls it one of the best times of his life. Chris mas a major Queen/Freddy Mercury fan and his influence with the band was instrumental in moving RAIL into a more theatrical direction. Getting the acting bug, Kinkade quit the band and took off for the bright lights of Hollywood where he got the occasional part. Chris still lives in Los Angeles and now makes his living as one of the most respected and busy massage therapist's in the area. He also plays the celtic harp and writes poetry. One of his poems, "Forever Yours" (a romantic ballad) was put to music by RAIL and now appears on the Arrival Special Edition CD. In May 2000, Chris married the lovely Judy. Rail guitarist Rick Knotts himself flew down and played guitar at the star studded event!) and tells us life couldn't be better. (Check out this page featuring Chris singing with Rail & Company.) |
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Randy Miller
Keyboardist 1974-1976
Randy played in rock bands previous to Rail and then joined the band in in1974. While in the band, he attended Bellevue Community College, taking various courses. Upon leaving the band, Randy went to the UW, BCC and later Western States Chiropractic College, where he graduated in1987. Randy (Dr. Miller, now) has been a Doctor of Chiropractic in Chehalis since then and he currently treats approximately 4,000 patients. He is married to a sweet woman (Vickie) who is also his office manager. Randy still plays the piano on a daily basis, but finally sold all his electronic keyboards at the end of the last century. |
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Ronnie Montrose
Guitarist 1985-1987
Brought in by management to fill in the gap left by Rick Knotts' departure for college. Billed as "Rail with Ronnie Montrose" (or "MonoRail" by fans), this lineup played a mixture of songs by both RAIL and Ronnie's Montrose and Gamma bands. |
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Jeff Northrup
Guitarist 1987-1988
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Joe Shikany
Guitarist 1988-1989
An actual Northwest guitar legend, this journeyman signed up for the last leg of RAIL before their hiatus as a full-time band. Previous bands include Bighorn (featuring original Rail producer Steve Adamek on drums), Shyanne, and The Allies. Now with the band Magic Bus, Joe and bassist Lynn Sorensen recently have been working with Paul Rodgers...the voice of Free, Bad Company, and The Firm...playing in Paul's 2001 World Tour that went to Australia. Apart from his virtuosity playing guitar, Joe was well known for building his own signature line of guitars called the "Shikany Special," notable for the "S" logo built into the headstock.
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Mark Welling
Drummer 1990-1997
A RAIL fan and friend of the band himself since the 7th grade, Mark already knew how to play all of their songs by heart when asked to step in as Kelly's replacement after Nobles moved to Oregon to be a farmer and family man. Mark's band credits are many including ROX, DeGarmo-Hovland-Welling, Dogface, Perennial, and Magic Bus. In the mid 80's Mark was the drummer for Bloodgood, the 2nd biggest Christian metal band in the world. Bloodgood toured worldwide including the World Music Festival in St. Petersbug, Russia where he played in front of 150,000 people in a packed stadium. Mark also was in a band with Rick Knotts in the early 90's called Regency. A masterful double-bass drummer, Welling can read music and play all different styles of music. Watch Mark's Drum Solo with RAIL at 1997's Pain In The Grass show at the Seattle Center. |
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Since any good website is only as good as the content it has available, not all of the Other Band Members are featured here. If you have a photo (or better photo) of RAIL ALUMNI Member, please submit it with their title and it will be included immediately. Your help will be much appreciated! |
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