The musical seed that would become Anybody's Guess was planted around 25 years ago (around 1980) when some middle school kids put together a small group to backup the school chorus. Most of this group stayed together and formed a band with the name "Phoenix" (yeah, still got the T-shirt to prove it!). This group actually played with two drummers for several years (David Burnham and John Cofer) in preparation for David's early graduation from high school. With guitarists Richard Boone and Freddy Seay, bassist Davie Shull, and John on drums, the band continued under the name of "Southwind" for the remainder of high school (except for the brief period when John and Freddy had the brilliant idea of changing the band name to "Ouija"...even had business cards printed up...thankfully without my name on them!). Richard dropped out of the band around 1984 and Cliff Ashley joined on lead guitar.
Cliff broadened the group's musical variety from their country-rock beginnings to include some heavier rock. At one point the band's show included anything from Hank Williams, Jr. to Ratt with some Ray Parker, Jr. and Kool & The Gang thrown in for good measure. In 1985, Davie left for college, but the group continued to perform especially during the summer months. It was around August in 1987 that the group was booked to play in Pelion, SC at the Pelion Peanut Party (I think we played under somebody's covered carport). At this time the band was wrestling with the idea of a new name that would reflect a wider musical diversity than the "Southwind" label. Still undecided on what band name to go with, the group decided to play under the name of "Anybody's Guess". After the Peanut Party, the "Anybody's Guess" name disappeared for a while. With Davie's availability greatly restricted by school, Freddy, John, and Cliff sought to move forward with the band adding Todd Kirkland, on bass and Marshall New on lead vocals. This band was called "911" - just give us a call for any party emergencies. In 1989, Davie rejoined the guys on bass guitar, but not long after this, Marshall left the group, leaving the four former members of "Southwind" remaining. The group called it quits for several years, as one by one the members of the band were married and started families.
In 1994, Freddy, Davie, and John began entertaining the idea of reforming the group. The band settled on the name of "Anybody's Guess". After several performances as a three-piece group, Ray Carver was added on rhythm guitar and vocals. For the first time the group was a real "working" band, playing clubs, bars, weddings, parties, and town festivals over a big part of South Carolina. True to the name of the band, the group continued to mix up the musical styles playing Hank, Jr., George Jones, Little Texas, The Eagles, Bad Company, The Romantics, The Rolling Stones, Doobie Brothers, Bob Segar, up to Tone Loc (yeah, we threw out Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina just to spice things up). It was during this time that the band had the privilege of opening local shows for several well-known acts including Radney Foster, Curtis Day, Waylon Jennings, and Confederate Railroad. The next big shake up was Freddy's departure from the group. Freddy, Davie, and John had been playing together since "the beginning", back when they did good to know three chords (I think they were usually G, C, and D...F was kind of tough), practiced in Mom and Dad's garage, and used old home stereo speakers for vocal monitors! Freddy also penned most of the original songs that the band performed regularly, including what was considered by the band to be their theme song "Carolina Nights". Ray, John, and Davie weren't quite ready to throw in the towel and were fortunate to recruit David Cooler from Bamberg to play guitar and keyboards with the band. David also expanded the band's style with his rock influences and his talented ability to pull off the licks. The next big blow came when John decided he needed to give it up in 1997. John and Davie had been life-long friends (our mothers had been life-long friends as well). He and Davie started out growing up basically across the street from each other and spent quite a bit of time at each other's homes. The blow of John's leaving the band was only worsened when John passed away three years later following complications from a surgery to correct a blood condition that he had since childhood. (You are still sorely missed, Buddy,...every day.)
The band auditioned several drummers, then brought in Michael Harmon from Batesburg to cover drums for a while. Finally, Jimmy McMillan, a former band mate of David Cooler, came in to play drums with the group. Jimmy also brought in a sharper edge to the band (it was pure torture to make him play a slow country beat). With Jimmy's drumming and David's guitar licks, the band added songs like "Milkman" by the Kentucky Headhunters, "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas, and Foghat's "I Just Want To Make Love to You". The band clicked along nicely for a year or so, then once again "The Winds of Change" came roaring in. This time the whole thing just kind of imploded. Ray and David both wanted to pull out of the group for personal and creative reasons and after several years of patching things back together and pushing on, Davie felt it was time to let it go for a while. "Anybody's Guess" disappeared off the radar for several years.
During the break, several opportunities presented themselves for short-term musical projects. Two of the projects brought together Davie and Dwight for the first time. And one of these groups also had Ben on guitar and harmonica. Not long after that collaboration, Ben invited Davie to join him in the "Kool Katz" - a two-piece act with a wide variety of music ranging from 50's, blues, country, to classic rock. Davie also found out about a predominantly country group, "Creole Ride", that was in need of a bass player. This brought Davie and Steve together for the first time. This group eventually changed its name to "Cheyenne". "Cheyenne" later added Ben on lead guitar, then the band found itself in need of a lead singer. Davie contacted his former band mate, Ray Carver, and another musical reunion was born. At this point the group included Davie, Ben, Ray, Steve, and Waylon Wright on fiddle and keyboard. The band had not been too fond of the "Cheyenne" label and was looking to create a new identity. With two former members of "Anybody's Guess" in the band, and the bands' former sound man, Frank Weir, at the helm, the group opted to revive the "Anybody's Guess" persona. After losing Waylon, the band continued as a four-piece with Ray doubling on rhythm guitar and keyboard. In the middle of 2004, Ray left the band for personal reasons. Looking to continue, and perhaps broaden, the band's variety of musical styles, Ben contacted two of his former band mates from "The Revolators", Dwight and JD. Dwight had just gotten back from an 18-month tour of duty as a SC National Guardsman in Iraq and was eager to get back into his music. JD was coaxed out of "an early musical retirement" to add his diverse musical talents and background to the band's mix.
The current members of "Anybody's Guess" are enjoying a fantastic ride together and attempt to stretch themselves musically to offer a wide variety of styles in their song selections. Collectively the band members can draw from many years of diverse musical experience and performing backgrounds to deliver a unique musical product.
