JACK HAYES - Lead Guitar / Vocals
After taking lessons for just a couple of years as a young child, Jack developed as a self taught rock and blues guitarist. His benchmark for his distinctive style of guitar playing reaches back to the innovative blues and rock solo's of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix during the late 60's. Other inspirations for him were the Beatles, the Byrds, the Yardbirds, the Moody Blues, and Jethro Tull. Driven by these inspirations, he played in several bands as a teenager, but quit playing at the age of 19 to pursue other interests.
In the late 90's, after putting together an impromptu band for his high school reunion, Jack decided that he had more playing (on a live performance level) left in his blood, and shortly thereafter formed the band Stratus Phear. In the years that things came together with Stratus Phear, Jack has developed his unique blend of rhythmic, soulful, and bluesy manner of playing to culminate in a style totally suited to the music that Stratus Phear plays today.
NADINE POHL SPENCER - Lead Vocals
Nadine started singing at a young age—ok, it was only in front of the mirror and using a hairbrush as a microphone—but singing along to her parents’ records, nonetheless. She wanted to be just like Cher but had to settle for putting on puppet/music shows in her garage for the neighborhood kids.
She took piano lessons and participated in choir in school. Much later in life, she took drum lessons for a few years. This led to playing drums and singing in her church. She has been singing in Christian worship/ministry bands with her husband on guitar for over 10 years.
Having the opportunity to sing on stage with a great group of musicians is a dream come true for her.
MORSE BICKNELL - Bass/Keys
Morse is excited to be performing with such a great group and is enjoying playing this super cool and wide-ranging selection of rock classics. Music has been a part of Morse’s life since his childhood, though he’s wandered down a lot of other paths as well (a stint in the US Army, several years’ work on an ambulance, and earning a Philosophy degree, to name a few). After a too-long hiatus from music, Morse is thrilled to be getting onstage again, and is enjoying playing some of his favorite music ever with this talented and fun group of dedicated musicians.
CASEY COOK - Bass/Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
Casey started playing guitar in junior high school and quickly fell in love with the instrument. With friends, he formed several acoustic duos and trios and played small venues throughout high school and college and into his 20's. Eventually, however, the demands of family and career required him to set music aside except the occasional jam in the living room.
Once his two daughters were old enough to start playing music, they asked him to teach them chords and picking patterns on the guitar. As they improved as musicians, he started to perform duets and record songs with them. When his youngest daughter asked that he add a bass line to one of her recordings, his musical passion was rekindled, this time for the deep tones and rhythm of the bass guitar. After a couple of years of intensive practice and on-line lessons, he was fortunate enough to fall in with Stratus Phear as a substitute bassist to cover gigs when their primary bassist (Morse) was unavailable. Now, with Morse stepping into the role of keyboard player, Casey is taking the reins as bass player and also contributing to the vocals. He is excited to be sharing the stage with such a fantastic group of musicians!
LARRY MONTOYA - Drums
As a young child growing up in Fullerton, California, Larry became interested with playing the drums after watching the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan show in the mid 60's. Becoming a self-taught drummer, he started out by playing on his mother's pots and pans while using wooden spoons and forks for drum sticks. While attending high school, Larry was able to purchase his first drum set and began playing with various local variety bands throughout the Albuquerque area. In the early 70’s, he enlisted into the US Air Force and continued playing the drums with several bands until retiring from the military in 1991. From the early 90’s until the mid 2000’s Larry took a break from playing drums and pursued another career with the State of New Mexico. After completing his second career with the State of New Mexico in 2013, he started playing his drums once again. In 2023, Larry was given the opportunity to provide his drumming skills with a wonderful and multi-talented group of professional musicians with the band known as Stratus Phear.
