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GENE ACREE BIO:
Drummer
/ percussionist Gene Acree was born into a legacy of musical talent as Gene’s father Andy Acree has been in the country
music business his whole life. Gene’s Father has been a musician, band leader, President of a Record Label and recording
studio. Gene’s Dad was inducted into the Colorado Country
Music Hall of Fame in 1973 with the great Patsy Montana. Gene was honored along with his father’s
band The COUNTRY SQUIRES when they were inducted into the Illinois Country
Music Hall Of Fame and Museum in October of 1998 along with his father. Gene learned from the
best when at 8 years old he started taking lessons from his dad’s drummer Russ Schroeder who during his career was on
the Grand Ole Opry while working for Kitty Wells and Sonny Wright and worked as the Opry staff drummer for several years.
At age 12 Gene and Alan Jackson’s guitarist Tom Rutledge became members of Andy Acree’s Country Squires Band where
they both traveled with the Squires working the road with some of Country Music’s finest . Names such as Conway Twitty,
Nat Stuckey, Willy Nelson, Hank Thompson, Hank Williams Jr, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, Billy Grammer, Carl and Pearl Butler
and many of the stars of the Grand Ole Opry until they were out of school. In high school and in college Gene played music
with various groups around Central Illinois and in 1988 moved to Florida where he joined up with Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts
in the making of Seven Turns in preparation for the 20th year come
back tour of the Allman Bros Band . Gene will tell you today he would not take anything away from the early years as they
are what have made him what he is today. Gene has been mainly a free lance drummer most of his life. Gene Recently hit a milestone
that was covered in an Illinois Times article by Tom Irwin when Gene played his 5,000th performance on November 11, 2006 at the Hoogland Center for the arts with Bill Cobb and the Memory of Elvis Show.
Gene plays several variations of drum sets including LUDWIG, PEARL and PREMIER and plays Zildjian and Paiste cymbals
exclusively.
Ken Harvill .....Coming Soon
Rich Hopper.....Coming Soon
Dan Wilson......Coming Soon
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