Band Bio - History

In the summer of 1997 during one of the worst storms in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Scott, Hobie and their friend Shannon formed one of the worst bands in L.G. history. With Jeff Holden on drums, Shannon Bogart on bass, and Scott 'n Hobie playing guitar they were known as the Ralph Davis Trio. They found less than limited success in the area. Soon after forming, Jason Bogart was added to the line up and the name changed to The Ralph Davis Band. With the added guitar and Jeff on drums, the wall of sound was created. Likened to the sound of a giant fiddle, the band found themselves to be not very marketable. Jeff Holden, who had also been playing with Bender, quit Ralph Davis. He soon started up with Lumpy Gravy. Mike Wild, a mutual friend of the band, took over the drummer position. Mike was playing out regularly with the Northern Lights Band (Cy,Danny Parker, Yuri, and Mike). NLB also went through some transitions, we'll get to some of those later. Anyway as with a lot of bands, personal differences facilitated it's demise. Jason went on to play with “Project” and then Spirit Creek with whom he is still playing today. Shannon no longer plays in the area choosing to persue a career with a little more stability. As for Scott, Hobie and Mike, luck was on their side. Enter Brett Wild. Brett is Mike's cousin and had previously played bass in some local bands. A built-in family rhythm section, very handy. The four fellas hit it off pretty well and started working a couple of gigs a month. Playing out around southeastern Wisconsin they were billed as the South Shore Blues Band. After a few months of increased jobs and better pay, it was time to do a little studio demo - ”Four Songs We Know”. They recorded with Joe Rank on harmonica at Two Dogs Studio. Spectacular stuff. Joe continued to sit in with SSB and all was fine until ... Hobie screwed it up. Everybody sort of went their separate ways. Brett Wild is now playing in Nick-a-Jack with Yuri, Corey Bash, Scotty and Mike Van Dyke. Here's where it gets confusing. The Northern Lights Band (the other band Mike was in) had lost Danny; hired a very talented singer, guitar player named Broc (whereabouts unknown); lost Broc; hired Danny back; Yuri quit. This is where the remains of SSB comes in. NLB hired Scott; lost Scott; hired Hobie; hired Scott again; Hobie quit; lost Danny; hired Yuri and Jason for a couple of days and then sort of disbanded. Tasty Basster Cy unfortunately decided to make some loot so he is working full time. You might catch him from time to time playing out, but certainly not enough. Mike found that being one of the better drummers in an area was too demanding and took a break from the scene. Still looking for somebody to jam with, Scott and Hobie hooked up with a great singer/drummer, Paul Garret. With no bass players available, the multitalented Scotty too Hotty rose to the occasion. A power trio with Paul soulfully beltin' out Ray Charles tunes, Crossroads was born. This didn't last too long. With scheduling difficulties and pressing family matters for Hobie and Paul, the band could not continue. After a couple of weeks off, Scotty and Hobie approached Mike to fill some bookings they had. A weekly, Wednesday, no customer, new bar gig. Lotsa fun. Feeling rather raggedy from years of multi-band dysfunction and weekly, Wednesday, chicken wire shows the three friends took to callin' themselves The Leftovers. That was summer of '00 and they have been together since. Due to a club owner forgetting their name and billing them as HOBIE, the name was changed to Hobie and The Leftovers which Hobie is not too comfy with. In the last five years, Hobie and The Leftovers has created a tradition of sit-ins by friends and family. Incorporated regularly are Nitro on harmonica and Hobie's wife “Buttertooth” (acoustic/ vocals).