After Six Duo

Featuring the vocals and rhythm guitar from Rey and the hot leads and backing vocals from Bill, the After Six Acoustic Duo is a great addition to any of your events.  Great at small gatherings, wineries and other events, the softer version of After Six provides just the right mix of rock, country, blues and more.

 

After Six Trio

When you add a third guitar or a small rhythm section along with the vocals of Jessie, the After Six Trio version offers more variety to your event.  The song selection increases with version of the band as well.

 

After Six Full Band

Sometimes you just got to bring the power.  When a full band is needed, After Six switches to a traditional band with Jessie moving to drums and bringing in David on Bass and Vocals.  This version not only offers an even greater list of songs, but can play any size venue from the smallest to large festivals and anything in between.

 

 

“Music has always been a big part of my life.  It started innocently enough.  My oldest brother Juan (#1 of 5 boys) brought home an old Stella Harmony parlor guitar from Turkey in 1968.  He had been stationed there with the Air Force and thought he’d spend time learning to play.  Make a long story short, he never did and this is the guitar I learned to play on.  In fact, it’s still hanging in my music room at home.

 

It’s taken many years of experimentation with touches of success and many failures to arrive at this moment.  I love the group of guys I’m playing with in After Six and that appreciation shows when we play.”

Rey was born in November 1959 in Stamford, Texas.  He journeyed to the DFW area in 1970 for medical reasons related to his Father and settled into a neighborhood in southeast Fort Worth.  

Rey’s older brother, Danny (#3 of 5 boys) started learning how to play the guitar initially and when he would put it down, Rey would pick it up and try to mimic what he had seen his brother play.  He quickly learned how to play a blues beat on the guitar and that was as far is it got until in his 6^th grade choir class, the teacher (Mrs. Smith) asked if anyone could play guitar to which Rey raised his hand. 

Asked to stay after class to work on a song the choir would be doing for open house in about 6 weeks, it became painfully apparent that he had the desire but didn’t even know what a chord was.  Mrs. Smith took that desire and added a ton of patience and taught him the chords to Sloop John B.  This was the beginning.  He played the Open House with the choir and has never forgotten the kindness of his teacher, Mrs. Smith.

 

By age 16, Rey had become a good rhythm guitarist and an even better vocalist.  While playing a talent show he was approached by another Mrs. Smith (Shirley) who wanted to book him for birthday parties and other events around Fort Worth.  This resulted in an association that lasted a couple of years the apex of which was performing three songs in front of the curtains at Tarrant County Convention Center, one number in costume with dancers and meeting Spanky McFarland in 1975.

 

 

Fast forward to 1996 when Rey met Bill Bateman while both working at the City of Arlington.  Soon they discovered they both played guitar and the collaboration began slowly.  First, playing Christmas music for other departments during the Holiday Season and then becoming founding members of Silver Rail in 2005 along with Bobby Combs on bass and Jessie Norcross on drums. 

 

Rey was the front man for the band from 2005 to 2011 when he decided to leave the band and start an acoustic group.  Bill Bateman joined him and they formed the acoustic duo After Six.  Bill continued playing with Silver Rail and joining Rey at smaller venues in After Six.  By 2013, they invited Jessie to join them and provide percussion, guitar and backup vocals to their acoustic music and turned After Six into a trio. 

 

When Silver Rail disbanded, there were several gigs they performed that still needed a full band to cover the events.  Low and behold, After Six invited David Norcross to join us for the full band events and ultimately decided to keep the full band version active as well.

 

Rey says, “I really think this was Bill’s way of coercing me back into full band mode all along.  He’s a sneaky guy!  But I’m enjoying this go round a lot.  We work well together and have played long enough that we know how to adjust for each other as we play.  It’s incredible when it all comes together.”

 

Rey now lives in Burleson, Texas with his wife Sheila.  His influences range from Jim Croce to Willie Nelson to ZZ Top and many points in between.  Currently, he is enjoying listening to singer songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Walt Wilkens and Guy Clark.  They are influencing his efforts to write more songs of his own and be a true singer/songwriter when he grows up…LOL!

 

I started playing guitar at 10 years old when Dad showed me the first of many chords to learn. The journey included spending many years playing on Dad’s 1968 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar and I remain a big Gibson guitar fan.  I love playing the guitar as you can always learn new techniques and riffs.

 

During childhood Bill was involved in many activities including Football, Baseball, Basketball, Track and Field, Bass Fishing and playing Golf. I joined the choir in 9^th grade which gave me the first experience playing guitar in front of a live crowd. I sang and played guitar with a group of four at the school talent show coming in third place. Bill earned a football scholarship to Baylor University but continued playing guitar when time allowed.

 

Bill was born in May 1964 in Ft Worth and was raised in Bedford, Texas. I moved to Arlington in 1987. I began working for the City of Arlington in 1991 and just a couple years later met Rey Gonzales who worked for the City at the time. We had no idea how our friendship was going to evolve and change our future in music! 

 

I made the decision in 1999 to put full effort into my guitar playing and forming a band. I stayed up late for many years taking lessons, learning songs, scales, and different techniques. When I met up with Rey Gonzales in the mid 90’s and we started performing at various functions as a duo.

 

In late 2005 Bill and friend Bobby Combs decided to try and start a full band. Of course, Rey was the first thought for a lead singer, but we still needed a drummer. The first audition was with Jessie Norcross, and we immediately asked him to join Silver Rail!  The band quickly took off and played many venues throughout the metroplex. Silver Rail grew to the point of playing in front of over 10,000 people! David Norcross joined Silver Rail in 2010 to add keyboards, guitar and additional voice in the band.

 

After a grueling schedule Rey wanted to leave Silver Rail in 2011 and move towards acoustic style music. The acoustic duo of After Six with Rey Gonzales and Bill Bateman was born! Bill continued performing in both bands until Silver Rail dis-banded after a great run of 11 years! In 2013 Jessie Norcross joined After Six to become the After Six Trio! The trio has been performing regularly throughout the years but kept getting requests for a full band from Silver Rail and other clients. Simple solution was to call David Norcross and we now have the After Six full band version!

 

Bill has a variety of influences from all genres of music including Country, Rock, Blues, Oldies, Funk and Disco. I never wanted to be just one style of guitarist but play many different techniques.  My biggest influences include Scotty Moore, James Burton, Jerry Reed, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Les Paul, Tom Scholz, and many others. Favorite artists and bands include Elvis, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Strait, Van Halen, Boston, Rush, Night Ranger, Triumph, and Journey.

 

Bill enjoys writing music and recently teamed up with David to publish their first original song which received positive reviews. All members of After Six have written songs and look forward to putting the artistic talents of the group together to create an original CD. Bill says, "I believe with our many years of experience and diversified musical background, we could create a CD that almost anyone could enjoy."

 

"I view playing live music as a privilege and never take it for granted! The best part of being with After Six is all of us are good friends and having that chemistry makes performing a load of fun! We play golf together or take the families out to eat and enjoying the evening. In my opinion there is no better feeling when the band is tight, and people are up burning up the dance floor! I am excited about the next few years to see what the musical and entertainment talents of After Six can accomplish!"