The Way Back: Elvis From Hell
Photos and memories courtesy of Teddy Dean
Greetings HCN, my name is Teddy Dean and I am an old punk rocker from way back in the day (haha) back when the scene was rich and flourishing with original talented bands, that is one of the reasons I landed here after my short stint at JMU, came here on spring break and never left. Originally I am from Nashville, Tenn. so when my parents divorced I would spend summers with my father in Harrisonburg, Va. which is how I ended up at JMU. After moving here I met a great bunch of musicians and friends that are still dear to me this day. I moved in with 2 guys I met at the V.B. oceanfront ( Eddie Whedbee & Chris Esterly) and at the time I was the only one who played guitar, they both got interested and picked up instruments and we found a drummer (Kevin White), we soon gave our project a name: "Elvis From Hell."
We started the band in 1986 with Chris Esterley, Eddie Whedbee, Andy Morgan and myself. Shortly after, we brought in Kevin White to replace Andy, that was the line up till 1988 when Chris Esterley left and we recruited Jeff Brodnax till the band broke up in late 1988. I have so many fond memories of the gigs and good times with them and the other bands we made friends with. Here are some pics and I hope you will enjoy them, Cheers!
Note: click the thumbnails and the little white dot at the bottom of the photos to view larger photos and full captions.
So in closing, I hope you have enjoyed looking back with me through the pictures of my early days in the Hampton Roads music scene. I have made a lot of still long standing friendships since then with the people who supported the scene and the bands we played with, who most took us under their wing when we were first starting, thank you Waxing Poetics, Starving Artists, Antic Hay, Boweevils, Thin Lads, Left Wing Fascists', and The Mockers. I later kept playing in other projects such as Gasoline, Knuckle, Freak Of Nature, Shifty (aka) The Shifty South, and my current invitation to bang on the six string with Blues Tractor. Hopefully this pandemic way of life will suppress and we can go out into the world and support the live music of this area again with our friends and create more lasting great memories. Cheers to you and yours!