1952 - Duncan starts piano lessons at age 5, but his parents think maybe his teacher is pushing him too hard, to he stops after a year. He picks it up again at around age 10 and excels, but just can’t relate to classical music. He switches to guitar when his public school offers a folk music class, which is exactly what you’d expect in Carmel, California. What you wouldn’t expect in this tourist trap is a town full of blue collar workers, but that was Carmel back in the old days. Duncan’s dad Milton worked for the phone company as a technician and built their house out of a pre-fab kit ordered from Sears. Milton instilled in Duncan a love of using tools to build things. This do-it-yourself philosophy has been the underpinning of Duncan’s life.
1961 - High school does not treat tall, skinny, awkward boys well, but Duncan finds a niche in photography, with his own darkroom and an interest in shooting the surfers at Carmel Beach. In 1963 he gets several photos published in Surfer Magazine, for the stunning sum of $5..
1961 - High school does not treat tall, skinny, awkward boys well, but Duncan finds a niche in photography, with his own darkroom and an interest in shooting the surfers at Carmel Beach. In 1963 he gets several photos published in Surfer Magazine, for the stunning sum of $5..
1966 - Duncan is awash in the hippie era, taking “turn on, tune in, drop out” literally. He discovers blues music and takes up blues harmonica, an instrument one can carry to the beach without much hassle. Embarking on his first entrepreneurial adventure, he gets snagged in a pot dealer roundup and ends up with a two-month unpaid vacation at a state facility in Vacaville. Unfortunately for the US government, this disqualifies him from being drafted, and Duncan loses out on the opportunity to be cannon fodder in Vietnam.
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1968 - Living in a homemade camper on the back of a ‘47 chevy convertible pickup, Duncan embraces the back-to-the-land hippie life, working for an avocado farmer in the redwood forested hills of Santa Cruz. By now, he has a Wurlitzer electric piano set up in the back of the truck, and continues to dabble in music on a very casual basis. While visiting a small commune in Carmel Valley, he meets a Jersey girl on vacation during college break. She’s impressed by Duncan’s musicality and laidback nature and convinces him to go back to New Jersey to meet her folks.
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1970 - He marries the Jersey girl and, after working construction in Plainfield, N.J. for a couple of years, they buy 40 acres of forest land in north Idaho. It’s the idyllic hippie dream. They build their cabin with trees foraged from the land, bark slabs discarded from a neighbor’s sawmill, and the rejected cedar shakes he takes home from one of his day jobs in town. They have goats, chickens, a vegetable garden, and a wood stove for heating and cooking. As soon as the cabin is livable, they get an upright piano and Duncan gets his first taste at songwriting.
1974. Duncan is a 28 year-old band virgin going out on his first gig at a Sandpoint Idaho VFW Hall. The band is called The Percolators: Two rhythm guitars and the upright piano provided by the hall, playing classic C&W and old rock. After a few months of that nightmare, he moves on to an actual band comprised of L.A. refugee musicians, friends of Jack Tempchin, the songwriter on ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’. Duncan discovers 70s album rock - JJ Cale, the Eagles. It’s a welcome change of pace from Hank Williams and Earnest Tubbs.
Duncan is lured away from that band by a singer/songwriter from Aspen, Kenny McGuinness. This is a guy who traveled in the same circles as John Denver. He promises Duncan more work than he can handle if he goes out to Aspen for a duo gig. The duo arrives in Aspen and Duncan gets to meet John Denver, but the promised deluge of work never appears, so Duncan ends up in Tucson for the winter, living in yet another camper in the driveway of his brother-in-law. |
1977 - Duncan gets hired by the Jacks, a C&W cover band playing a house gig at the Road to Ruin, the bar at the corner of Craycroft and Golf Links. It’s a bit of a culture shock for a California hippie, with the hats and the boots and the fights. The schedule is grueling - 8:30 PM to 1 AM, five nights a week, plus 1:30 AM to 4 AM playing for the after hours crowd on the weekend and coming back for a Sunday afternoon open jam.. By then, Duncan has written a few songs, and offers ‘I’m on the Road to Ruin’ to Rick Skinner, the golden-voiced bass player. Rick records a single and Duncan is hooked. Writing country songs is so easy. He’s already immersed in the genre, learning tunes off the radio for the gig every week.
The Saddle City Band is playing the off night and invites Duncan to join. They’re more progressive than the Jacks, interspersing the hits from FM rock radio into their country playlist. After putting together a Beach Boys show that packs the place - on a Monday night - the SCB lands the five-night gig.
1978 - Listening to the likes of Randy Newman and Karla Bonoff, Duncan’s songwriting veers off in a distinctly non-country direction. On his nights off, he visits the Pawnbroker and Stumble Inn to check out the original music bands playing for the sake of the art, not the money. Inspired by the alternative music scene, he leaves the Road to Ruin to play with several “hippie” bands: The Olie Brothers, Friends with Joey McCall, and Flyer, where he recruits players for his upcoming solo album. All this commingling with musicians and groupies torpedoes Duncan’s marriage, but he doesn’t mind. It just creates more inspiration for writing broken-hearted love songs, of which there are many.
1978 - Listening to the likes of Randy Newman and Karla Bonoff, Duncan’s songwriting veers off in a distinctly non-country direction. On his nights off, he visits the Pawnbroker and Stumble Inn to check out the original music bands playing for the sake of the art, not the money. Inspired by the alternative music scene, he leaves the Road to Ruin to play with several “hippie” bands: The Olie Brothers, Friends with Joey McCall, and Flyer, where he recruits players for his upcoming solo album. All this commingling with musicians and groupies torpedoes Duncan’s marriage, but he doesn’t mind. It just creates more inspiration for writing broken-hearted love songs, of which there are many.
Eric Olsson, Leonardo Lopez, Nelson Roush, Neil Olsson, Duncan
1979 - Duncan gets a bank loan to produce his first solo album, 'It's the Music In Me'. It’s quirky original material, lurching from C&W to blues to pop. 28 guest players are cajoled and begged into helping out. Joe Bidwell, the owner of the recording studio, finances a follow up project, producing Duncan on a couple of his C&W originals for a 45, but Duncan is not a C&W singer by any stretch of the imagination and that record goes nowhere.
Duncan hauls his upright piano out onto I-10 for a photo for the 'It's the Music In Me' record. This is actually looking south, between Picacho Peak and Tucson. The "LA" on the highway sign is pasted in. This was pre-Photoshop.
As the economic reality of being a starving musician sinks in, Duncan realizes he either needs to get another day job, or get back into the C&W house band scene, so joins Rusty Terry and John Chastain in the Chastain Gang at the Alamo, just up the street from the Road to Ruin. Duncan and Rusty collaborate at Rusty’s house, recording Duncan’s more pop/rock-oriented originals on a Tascam 4-track reel-to-reel recorder, and Duncan buys a 4-track for himself.
1980 - Local songwriter Fred Knipe signs a couple of Duncan’s songs to his publishing company, and later, asks Duncan to do a Jerry Lee Lewis style demo of one of Fred’s songs, co-written with Steve Chandler, called ‘The Right Side of the Wrong Bed’. Duncan “accidentally” ends up adding a half verse to the song. Fred and Steve like it and give Duncan co-writer credit.
1981 - Duncan is invited to re-Join the Saddle City Band. Suddenly, the band is the talk of the town, thanks to having 4 lead singers sharing the spotlight. They record their first LP, Bareback, at Westwood studio. It includes five of Duncan’s originals, spread around between 3 singers.
1980 - Local songwriter Fred Knipe signs a couple of Duncan’s songs to his publishing company, and later, asks Duncan to do a Jerry Lee Lewis style demo of one of Fred’s songs, co-written with Steve Chandler, called ‘The Right Side of the Wrong Bed’. Duncan “accidentally” ends up adding a half verse to the song. Fred and Steve like it and give Duncan co-writer credit.
1981 - Duncan is invited to re-Join the Saddle City Band. Suddenly, the band is the talk of the town, thanks to having 4 lead singers sharing the spotlight. They record their first LP, Bareback, at Westwood studio. It includes five of Duncan’s originals, spread around between 3 singers.
From the SCB Newsletter: 'Shipping snafu delays release of upcoming Saddle City Band LP 'Bareback'
Left to right: Gordon Lynde, Duncan, Steve Sayer, Greg Stitt (soundmand) Rick Nuttall, Mike Sullivan.
Left to right: Gordon Lynde, Duncan, Steve Sayer, Greg Stitt (soundmand) Rick Nuttall, Mike Sullivan.
1983 - SCB is opening for touring acts at the Outlaw on Lester. MIckey Gilley, piano player of Urban Cowboy fame, hears Duncan’s version of Fred’s song, “The Right Side of the Wrong Bed”, out on his bus, and passes on it. Six months later, Mickey Gilley’s producer gets ahold of the same version and the song ends up on the next Mickey Gilley album. It’s never released as a single, but it appears in the soundtrack of the pilot episode of Michael Landon’s TV show Highway to Heaven. By now, the SCB is Tucson’s hottest ticket. Everyone in town has heard of the band. They’re so well-liked, on a visit to a movie theater, when the pre-movie slide promoting the SCB at the Outlaw nightclub pops up on the screen, the crowd erupts in cheers and applause.
Duncan, Gordy, Rick and Mike at the Outlaw on Lester
Buoyed by the Mickey Gilley cut and SCB’s newfound fame, Duncan spends a week in Nashville, with high hopes but low quality songs. Nashville writing is at a whole other level and Duncan isn’t there yet. Duncan returns to Tucson and buckles down, joining the Arizona Songwriter Association, going to songwriting seminars and publisher pitch sessions, always striving for another Nashville cut to finance his non-country songwriting endeavors.
1986 the Urban Cowboy disco scene has stolen the SCB’s crowd and they no longer have a good paying gig. Since Duncan doesn’t have a wife with a good job to support him during his down time, he’s forced to get a day job doing construction, and he continues plugging away at songwriting.
1987 - Duncan leaves the SCB for a short-lived steady gig with Garry Rust at the Maverick, and finds time to start working on his next solo album, Arizona Sky. Unlike his first album, he’s doing all the recording himself on his half-inch 8-track. Many guest artists appear, but this time, the music is more focused, adhering to a country-rock Tucson theme - the desert, the heat. He includes two songs written by local folk singer Ron Pandy, “It’s Hot” and “Agua Secreta”. He also engages Terry Pollock for a co-write on “Saguaros Don’t Speak” which is a big hit with the Earth First! crowd and wins a first place award with an environmental nonprofit in Phoenix.
1988 - Duncan lands a steady five-night gig as the fifth piece in the Round Up band, playing at the Round Up on Benson highway. Duncan meets the love of his life there. She’s been dragged in by her girlfriend for a badly needed night out, Duncan sends a drink over, something he’s never done before, and it arrives at Mary’s table moments before she’s planning on leaving. (No lead guitar player that night. Mary was not impressed by 'Johnny B Goode' on the fiddle.) Now she has to stay, her friend tells her, to thank the piano player for the drink.
1990 - Duncan records an album of original piano instrumentals inspired by Mary’s two kids, aged 2 and 4. “Jenny’s Little Shoes” evokes the innocence of a toddler, and “The Dave Walk” borrows from Vince Guaraldi for a spirited homage to a four year-old’s playful gait. Always up for a good-paying gig, Duncan discovers a niche for honky-tonk piano players in the convention market. Gambling nights are all the rage, so he puts together a repertoire of instrumentals drawing form pseudo ragtime,. cowboy songs, old C&W, and a few of his originals, working on them every Friday for the lunch crowd at the Opry House at Pinnacle Peak.. Convention gig meeting planners don't relish the idea of renting an upright piano for a one-off event, so Duncan builds a piano mock-up to hold an electronic piano, utilizing the shop and materials at his day job at Tuff Shed,.
1986 the Urban Cowboy disco scene has stolen the SCB’s crowd and they no longer have a good paying gig. Since Duncan doesn’t have a wife with a good job to support him during his down time, he’s forced to get a day job doing construction, and he continues plugging away at songwriting.
1987 - Duncan leaves the SCB for a short-lived steady gig with Garry Rust at the Maverick, and finds time to start working on his next solo album, Arizona Sky. Unlike his first album, he’s doing all the recording himself on his half-inch 8-track. Many guest artists appear, but this time, the music is more focused, adhering to a country-rock Tucson theme - the desert, the heat. He includes two songs written by local folk singer Ron Pandy, “It’s Hot” and “Agua Secreta”. He also engages Terry Pollock for a co-write on “Saguaros Don’t Speak” which is a big hit with the Earth First! crowd and wins a first place award with an environmental nonprofit in Phoenix.
1988 - Duncan lands a steady five-night gig as the fifth piece in the Round Up band, playing at the Round Up on Benson highway. Duncan meets the love of his life there. She’s been dragged in by her girlfriend for a badly needed night out, Duncan sends a drink over, something he’s never done before, and it arrives at Mary’s table moments before she’s planning on leaving. (No lead guitar player that night. Mary was not impressed by 'Johnny B Goode' on the fiddle.) Now she has to stay, her friend tells her, to thank the piano player for the drink.
1990 - Duncan records an album of original piano instrumentals inspired by Mary’s two kids, aged 2 and 4. “Jenny’s Little Shoes” evokes the innocence of a toddler, and “The Dave Walk” borrows from Vince Guaraldi for a spirited homage to a four year-old’s playful gait. Always up for a good-paying gig, Duncan discovers a niche for honky-tonk piano players in the convention market. Gambling nights are all the rage, so he puts together a repertoire of instrumentals drawing form pseudo ragtime,. cowboy songs, old C&W, and a few of his originals, working on them every Friday for the lunch crowd at the Opry House at Pinnacle Peak.. Convention gig meeting planners don't relish the idea of renting an upright piano for a one-off event, so Duncan builds a piano mock-up to hold an electronic piano, utilizing the shop and materials at his day job at Tuff Shed,.
Mary with Duncan and his fake piano
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1990 - Duncan records an album of original piano instrumentals inspired by Mary’s two kids, aged 2 and 4. “Jenny’s Little Shoes” evokes the innocence of a toddler, and “The Dave Walk” borrows from Vince Guaraldi for a spirited homage to a four year-old’s playful gait. Always up for a good-paying gig, Duncan discovers a niche for honky-tonk piano players in the convention market. Gambling nights are all the rage, so he puts together a repertoire of instrumentals drawing form pseudo ragtime,. cowboy songs, old C&W, and a few of his originals, working on them every Friday for the lunch crowd at the Opry House at Pinnacle Peak.. Convention gig meeting planners don't relish the idea of renting an upright piano for a one-off event, so Duncan builds a piano mock-up to hold an electronic piano, utilizing the shop and materials at his day job at Tuff Shed,.
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.Sometimes, meeting planners request a duo or trio, so Duncan calls on Steve Grams for acoustic bass and legendary Tucson songwriter Stefan George for banjo. They also do 3-part harmony on a few tunes, and slip in the occasional Beatles and Rolling Stones tune disguised as honky-tonk music. They don't get many gigs, but they make a memorable demo, especially Side Two.
The convention market is going strong, as are other private gigs. At a wedding with the Kevin Pakulis Band at the Arizona Inn, Duncan drives up in his '65 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup he drove down from Idaho 1n 1977, Management is not pleased. They tell him if he ever wants to work there again, he needs to leave the truck at home. Duncan is mildly offended, but to be fair, the passenger side of the truck was bashed in too, with a gate latch holding the door shut. Duncan doesn't like throwing vehicles away, as long as they're still reliable. Since 1965, he's only had 3 back-to-back pickups, with a couple of Volkswagons thrown in as spare vehicles. Duncan's truck, banned at the Arizona Inn
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1992 Duncan moves his home studio into a bigger home and the recording starts in earnest. He joins the Blue Lizards, a Motown style cover band with a horn section and a steady weekend gig at Berky's. Continuing Duncan's tradition of recording tasteless and insulting versions of Christmas classics, they record 'Blue Lizard Christmas', five songs in ‘92 and five more in ‘94. Duncan also plays in several other groups, including the Rowdies on Tuesday nights at the Chicago Bar, and the Apologists, featuring Heather Hardy, Liz Fletcher and Ralph Gilmore, at the St. Phillips Plaza farmers market every Friday.
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The Blue Lizards, circa 1992 Clockwise from left: Pat Murphy, Willie Sams, Paul Brown, Duncan, Mike Kuhn, Uncle Dave Jeffrey |
1995 Duncan gets a call for a one-man band fill-in spot at the Sheraton El Conquistador Last Territory Steak House and takes it, seeing it as a welcome respite for his ears. Playing in loud bands is fun, but only to a point. Duncan juggles that job with band gigs in the convention market, playing with the likes of Bill Ganz and Kevin Pakulis.
With Duncan’s studio getting busier and busier, he can finally quit his day job and survive on the studio and gigs. By this time, Duncan has written well over 100 songs, always honing the craft, trying to reach the next level.
2000 - After cranking out the acoustic-flavored “No Dog Like an Old Dog” CD just in time for his Tucson Folk Festival slot, Duncan collects songs from several past Christmas projects for the Stitt’s Holiday Hits compilation. It’s a warped take on the season, with irreverent song parodies and originals ranging from the stupid to the stupidly-touching. “Set a Place for Brian” get’s chosen for the KXCI “Food is Good” Food Conspiracy CD. It’s Duncan’s 9/11 song based on an old buddy who, Duncan learned shortly after 9/11, was gunned down on the streets of Reno. Duncan takes the grief from his friend’s death and channels it into the story of a NYC firefighter no longer coming home for the holidays.
2004 - Duncan comes up with “That’s What the President Said”, a comical co-write with George W Bush - well, not a legal co-write. Duncan takes a 365 day calendar of Bush’s mangled phrases and turns it into a song, much like someone creating a collage out of snippets of material. It gets chosen for a KXCI compilation CD focusing on social consciousness, or unconsciousness in Bush’s case.
2006 - The Kevin Pakulis band records the first of three CDs in Duncan’s studio. Between that and a very busy gig schedule, Duncan manages to finish “Shortcut to the Promised Land”, songs he had started years earlier but never managed to finish. It’s more pop oriented, with lush harmonies added by Namoli before she left town, and exquisite slide guitar from Danny Krieger.
With Duncan’s studio getting busier and busier, he can finally quit his day job and survive on the studio and gigs. By this time, Duncan has written well over 100 songs, always honing the craft, trying to reach the next level.
2000 - After cranking out the acoustic-flavored “No Dog Like an Old Dog” CD just in time for his Tucson Folk Festival slot, Duncan collects songs from several past Christmas projects for the Stitt’s Holiday Hits compilation. It’s a warped take on the season, with irreverent song parodies and originals ranging from the stupid to the stupidly-touching. “Set a Place for Brian” get’s chosen for the KXCI “Food is Good” Food Conspiracy CD. It’s Duncan’s 9/11 song based on an old buddy who, Duncan learned shortly after 9/11, was gunned down on the streets of Reno. Duncan takes the grief from his friend’s death and channels it into the story of a NYC firefighter no longer coming home for the holidays.
2004 - Duncan comes up with “That’s What the President Said”, a comical co-write with George W Bush - well, not a legal co-write. Duncan takes a 365 day calendar of Bush’s mangled phrases and turns it into a song, much like someone creating a collage out of snippets of material. It gets chosen for a KXCI compilation CD focusing on social consciousness, or unconsciousness in Bush’s case.
2006 - The Kevin Pakulis band records the first of three CDs in Duncan’s studio. Between that and a very busy gig schedule, Duncan manages to finish “Shortcut to the Promised Land”, songs he had started years earlier but never managed to finish. It’s more pop oriented, with lush harmonies added by Namoli before she left town, and exquisite slide guitar from Danny Krieger.
2011 - Kevin’s rhythm section at the time, Ralph Gilmore and Larry Lerma, form a spinoff band, the Sonic Boomers, featuring local folkie Chris Minker, with Richie Cavanaugh and Eric Mellen on guitars. They’re doing Steely Dan, the Beatles, the Eagles. By now, Richie and Ralph have played on Duncan’s last two CDs, and they branch off to form the Leisure Brothers, a boutique rock band choosing more eclectic material form the likes of Keb Mo and John Hiatt. Richie and Duncan end up co-writing 17 songs, many of which end up on yet another spinoff project, Phatback Diet. The song selection on that project is half Duncan originals, and half Richie guitar instrumental covers in the vein of Larry Carlton.
The Sonic Boomers, from left: Chris Minker, Duncan, Larry Lerma, Eric Mellen, Ralph Gilmore, Richie Cavanaugh
2014 - Duncan gets a call from Dave Fitzsimmons to see if he’d like to be the piano player for the Old Pueblo Radio Show, an irreverent comedy/music show in the vein of Garrison Keillor’s ‘Prairie Home Companion’. Duncan had accompanied Dave and Nick Sievert years earlier in comedy revue show called Sweatlodge. Duncan jumps at the chance for a new creative endeavor and writes the theme song, plus several jingle parodies. The show is a big success and turns into a biannual event raising money for various local charities.
2016 - Duncan releases “One More Shade of Gray” for his folk festival slot. It’s includes Duncan’s five originals from the Phatback Diet CD plus five more originals he and Richie had been working on. Out of the blue, he gets a call from George Howard, wanting to know if Duncan would like to be music director for the upcoming Last Waltz 50th Anniversary Show at the Fox. The show includes a stellar lineup of locals doing cameos, with Gary Love writing horn charts for many of the songs. There is a Bob Dylan tribute guy involved and they close the show with “Like a Rolling Stone”, with the entire crowd standing, singing along. Later, audience members recount how that show was the first time since Trump’s election that they actually felt “okay”.
2018 - Duncan notices other local recording studios are offering video of their studio session, so he plunges in, ending up two years later with the capability for 8-camera shoots. It’s as if he’s gone full circle, back to his photography days in high school.
2019 - Rick Skinner, the Jacks’ bass player from 1977, invites Duncan to be the optional fourth piece in Clear Country, a classic 70s C&W cover band featuring Mickey G Williams on pedal steel and amazing vocals. As if this isn’t enough, Duncan is also playing with Paul Green, a virtuoso blues harp player/singer, doing contemporary blues and R&B. It’s a fun band with a the very solid rhythm section of Jack White and Les Merrihew, with Gene Holmes on guitar.
2016 - Duncan releases “One More Shade of Gray” for his folk festival slot. It’s includes Duncan’s five originals from the Phatback Diet CD plus five more originals he and Richie had been working on. Out of the blue, he gets a call from George Howard, wanting to know if Duncan would like to be music director for the upcoming Last Waltz 50th Anniversary Show at the Fox. The show includes a stellar lineup of locals doing cameos, with Gary Love writing horn charts for many of the songs. There is a Bob Dylan tribute guy involved and they close the show with “Like a Rolling Stone”, with the entire crowd standing, singing along. Later, audience members recount how that show was the first time since Trump’s election that they actually felt “okay”.
2018 - Duncan notices other local recording studios are offering video of their studio session, so he plunges in, ending up two years later with the capability for 8-camera shoots. It’s as if he’s gone full circle, back to his photography days in high school.
2019 - Rick Skinner, the Jacks’ bass player from 1977, invites Duncan to be the optional fourth piece in Clear Country, a classic 70s C&W cover band featuring Mickey G Williams on pedal steel and amazing vocals. As if this isn’t enough, Duncan is also playing with Paul Green, a virtuoso blues harp player/singer, doing contemporary blues and R&B. It’s a fun band with a the very solid rhythm section of Jack White and Les Merrihew, with Gene Holmes on guitar.
Paul Green Band at St. Phillips Plaza
2020 - Time moves fast when you get old, but Duncan isn’t slowing down. He continues to write, record and produce other artists in his social-distancing-equipped studio, eagerly awaiting the upcoming gig season - assuming there will be one.