| CARY FLY, lead guitar |
 Cary's musical family tree has deep roots starting with his mother, a vocalist with the Artie Shaw Band (yes, the big band swing/jazz guy) and back up singer (along side Mary Ford) with the Les Paul (yes the guitar legend) Band, in other words Cary was quite literally exposed to great music while still in the womb. It's hardly surprising that by the age of twelve Cary had won his first "Battle of the Bands", having already cut his "musical teeth" in the single guitar and a strong sense of angst 'Folk' era, he had graduated to the new Dick
Dale, Beach Boy, Ventures, inspired 'Surf Rock' with his group 'The Missing Links' (hey, they were young).
From Fender Amp and hormone driven covers of cars, high school spirit, teen love and perfect waves, Cary
moved to equally sunny but differently influenced Arizona where he hooked up with the Country scene
Playing with his Band 'Peso Dollar & the Sunset Riders' and working with musicians the likes of Roy Clark,
Buck Owens & Waylon Jennings, Cary polished his instrumental skills. By the time he was enrolled at A.S.U.
he had moved from Country Simplicity to Psychedelic Complexity in the incarnation of 'Chief Rozt Wizard &
the Silvery Moon' (you'll never be able to accuse Cary of a lack of creativity).
As an offshoot of this cultural era he came back to the 'Folk' scene that had by then morphed into
'Protest' and subsequently to Seattle's Capital Hill district, playing Dylan, Pete Seeger and writing and
performing original material. Eventually Cary moved back to Phoenix and another musical genre change into
the equally culturally influenced 'Tex-Mex' playing with a band called 'Beany & The Benders, some of whom
wound up in a band called 'The Tubes'. From Phoenix to Spokane and 'Lionheart', Hot Rock and subsequently
'Annakonda' he continued to grow musically. While with 'Annakonda' Cary played Expo '74 and toured
throughout the Northwest. 'Annakonda' moved to Seattle, and the band took on the additional
complexity of arrangement that comes with Brass Sections, tight and intricate like the outfits that they wore, all
velvet & rhinestone, expanding the sound into 'Funk'. Booking through Far Western Entertainment (which
eventually became Bill Stephan Booking Agency) 'Annakonda' became one of the premier 'Event' groups in
the nation playing venues in Dallas, Atlanta, Anchorage, Nashville, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, at the
Flamingo in Las Vegas and the Waikiki Sheraton.
When the 'New Wave' hit, Cary formed 'The Cities', (brevity & maturity are frequently simultaneous)
"Just four dudes sick to death & burned out on Disco". Musically maturing, Cary and the three other "Monster
Musicians" played some modern covers and Cary's original material eventually becoming the house band at
the #1 club in Seattle at the time: Pier 70. Then came the Band 'Gabriel' and recordings for both Sonic and
Atlantic records, one of which went to # 12 on the German Charts but like so many other up and coming artists
the promotion and distribution deal fell apart and the recordings never got the support necessary to get them to a
wide enough audience to make a dent on the charts. Cary and bass Player Widly White formed the two piece
group "Duo and a-half, utilizing the first totally programmable drum synthesizer in the area (it's name was
Bob). The Dynamic Duo and a-half played "every Holiday Inn in the Universe", and eventually added a more
personable drummer becoming the first three piece 'Duo' in Seattle to open for national touring acts. Country
Joe & the Fish, The Romantics, Eddy Money are just some of the names. Eventually Cary & Widly came back
to Spokane where they became the House band at the Sheraton and again morphed through the bands True
Colors, Loose Endz, Cary Fly & Friends.
At this Juncture in his life Cary Fly has written "somewhere 'round five thousand" songs, played in all
of the major cities in the nation, has done TV commercials, and is a local icon.
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