Gary Myrick

Dallas-born singer/guitarist/songwriter Gary Myrick blended rootsy rock & roll with the energy and sensibility of new wave on several '80s albums and later made a surprising comeback in the late '90s. Myrick was playing around the Dallas/Fort Worth area with his own bands straight out of high school; in his early twenties, he moved to Austin to join a band called Kracker Jack, which featured two ex-members of <a href="spotify:artist:2ODUxmFxJSyvGiimNhMHbO">Johnny Winter</a>'s band and whose guitarist (one <a href="spotify:artist:5fsDcuclIe8ZiBD5P787K1">Stevie Ray Vaughan</a>) had recently quit. Myrick moved to California after a couple of years, and formed his own outfit called the Figures. They landed a deal with Epic and issued their debut album, Gary Myrick & the Figures, in 1980; it produced a minor cult hit in the single "She Talks in Stereo." The follow-up, Living in a Movie, was released in 1981, but after the supporting North American tour, Myrick decided to disband the Figures in pursuit of a different approach.

The solo EP Language appeared in 1983, after which Myrick hooked up with <a href="spotify:artist:2TPyCsRoh2tjeZLTQ2ojlj">John Waite</a> and contributed to his 1984 pop breakthrough No Brakes. After one more album, 1985's Stand for Love, Myrick chose to concentrate on a career as a session musician for a time. In 1991, Myrick joined former <a href="spotify:artist:3RGLhK1IP9jnYFH4BRFJBS">Clash</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:62bYKAZ5EdmG5Aca9dtVan">Paul Simonon</a> and drummer Nigel Dixon (of the British rockabilly revival group <a href="spotify:artist:6SLspaTtZOpWHtv7oqZsRJ">Whirlwind</a>) in a new band called Havana 3AM. Mixing Texas roots rock with punk flavor, the group recorded a self-titled debut and toured Europe, North America, and Japan. However, <a href="spotify:artist:62bYKAZ5EdmG5Aca9dtVan">Simonon</a> left to pursue an art career not long after, and sadly, <a href="spotify:artist:4hs4QcruAuaZtBZ99qw6G2">Dixon</a> passed away due to cancer. Myrick eventually regrouped the band with bassist Tom Felicetta and drummer Jamie Chez; this lineup issued the generally well-received Texas Glitter and Tombstone Tales in 1996. Myrick followed it five years later with the reflective, <a href="spotify:artist:0CL5kQ3kBjgge3GQtIJAyp">Tchad Blake</a>-produced Waltz of the Scarecrow King. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi