Band Bios & Pix
Chris Clifford - guitars, vocals, songwriter
Chris Clifford comes from a musical family of educators. At the age of 4 he was ‘earing out’ the pieces his mother played on piano, tapping the keys and mimicking her fairly accurately. Exposure to ukulele and piano was supplemented with guitar after seeing the Beatles on TV. After a few lessons at the old Wallach’s Music City, guitar became Chris’ passion. In 1968 by age 15 he met his first songwriting partner, Steve Hammer. As Hammer & Clifford they began writing and playing their own material, soon forming a trio. The Hammer, Clifford, Daniel band, eventually reformed as a country rock band, Woodwork.
Woodwork was a notable act on the local LA scene throughout the early 70’s. They were signed to a development deal and in a later configuration were joined by drummer Alan Malarowitz, of the band, Sweetwater - a favorite opener for Maria Muldaur and her band, and Phil Lees, (son of Gene Lees, world renowned writer and jazz critic) and fronted by Gloria Goldsmith, who the band backed, including in TV appearances.
The 80’s found Chris writing original material and studying guitar with famed master Ted Greene. Other opportunities opened for Chris and as a member of the Younger Brothers and as a sideman, opened for Las Vegas acts and throughout SoCal. One notable gig brought Chris into Sneak, a local Redondo and college circuit favorite.
Chris has performed at many major LA venues, including the Troubadour, the Ice House, Filthy McNasty’s, the Palomino. Currently, we find Chris as a founding member in this newest band, The Silver – a solid unit of veteran players who create their own compelling songs which resonate with audiences. Chris is a prolific and extraordinary songwriter and much of his solo and collaborative material populate The Silver’s set list. - and the rest will be future history.
Kevin Greig - keyboards, vocals, songwriter
Kevin comes to us as a native of South Africa. Classical piano lessons at an early age paid off handsomely. You must come to a gig to hear Kevin begin a solid rock tune with Bach's Toccata & Fugue in Dm. And because he’s from the bottom of the planet, Kevin learned to play upside down. He plays keys, guitar and has sung lead vocal and harmonies in groups since 1969. Kevin's experience includes his opening acts as solo and duo acoustic.
Several of Kevin’s bands include Village Green, Raven, Buttercup (which had a hit single “Baby Love Affair”). A position with Performing Arts Council of Transvaal saw Kevin as sound and lighting engineer for Breytenback Theatre in Pretoria. Other gigs include music retail management, supplying instruments for top bands. A full time job with professional Pop Group Pendulum saw Kevin gig in many top venues in S.A. as well as recording a number of hits in the Top 10.
He has played in various groups in the Johannesburg/Pretoria circuit, including first percussionist and conductor in a semi-classical brass band. Projects included the gospel group Gift, the Kevin Duke band, both with CDs of original material. Kevin paid his pub scene/private party/corporate dues with Undercover and Not Fragile, performing a wide range of cover material. Radio airplay came again with Dixie Hillbillies as keyboardist/lead vocalist. Kevin moved to California permanently in 2016. As you can see from the photo on the left, Pendulum had a great sense of humor. Those wacky pranksters hoped you'd seriously buy into the outfits. If you get an outfit like any one of these, you can be in the band, too!
After a brief stint with the Sterling Sylver Country Band, Kevin was offered a position with the Brent Payne Band as keyboardist and backing vocalist, performing at Disneyland where Kevin met Chris Clifford and decided to leave the Brent Payne Band and join up with Chris. The two have been inseparable ever since.
Kevin Greig is a master songwriter, among his other skills. You can find some of Kevin’s material and more pix on https://www.reverbnation.com/kevingreig and Kevin Greig YouTube
Mark Elson-guitars, vocals, sax, harmonicas, songwriter
When I was born, I was very young. Growing up in Detroit, I absorbed Motor City Soul, jazz and Motown like a sponge. As a teenager in San Diego, I was exposed to SoCal folk and the nascent folk-rock music scene.
Two friends and I formed a Peter, Paul and Mary-type group in high school in the late 60's. Got my first acoustic 12-string, which I still play in The Silver (shown here). I began listening to music from all genrés, time periods and cultures. All-time faves: Igor Stravinsky, Nino Rota, composer of many Fellini films, and The Four Tops. My first rock band was The Mark Four in 1965, named after either the Lincoln Continental or an air conditioner brand which had a cool logo. We played USO functions, frat parties, clubs, Top Gun officer's events at Miramar Naval Air Base, weddings, etc. I saw the Beatles in 1965 Balboa Stadium, San Diego. I knew then that a guitar would always be my best friend.
I started writing songs. At UCSD, La Jolla, I also got involved as program director and eventually station manager for the campus radio station (KSDT-FM). It's the only FM station I know of that was situated in the vast eucalyptus groves and was equipped with a cushy living room with a Franklin fireplace. Oh, the stories that room could tell...I also had a cool jazz DJ spot at KDIG-FM La Jolla- an embodiment of Clint Eastwood's character in "Play Misty for Me". Music classes at UCSD were on the bleeding edge (John Cage, Harry Partch, Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick et al). For my final exam, I filled various sized cooking pots with water, banged on them with a spoon, turned and twisted them to produce a crazy "boy-oy-oying" vibrato. For the finale, I opened the quonset hut door to bring in the sound of rain. Suddenly, a police car with siren wailing passed by. Standing ovation. A+! I started writing play scores for drama department productions.
Click on the graphic or this link http://thesilver.us/blog to read about Mark's misadventures at KDIG-FM, La Jolla
After graduation, I pursued various music avenues in LA, composing play scores with the likes of Dale Wasserman (author of Man of La Mancha) and Carmen Zapata, writing and producing radio jingles and songs. In this town it helps to be part musician/part recording engineer/part producer/part arranger. They're all interrelated. I won some songwriting contests and recorded original material in Studio A at Capitol Records on Vine St. in Hollywood at The Songwriter’s Showcase hosted by Len Chandler. I've performed at The Troubadour, The Ice House, The White House (WLA), The Palomino and many other venues. One group, the Crosstown Cabbies, pictured here, developed a solid following in town.
Nine years ago, my father-in-law gave me his 1925 alto sax which was hibernating in a Brooklyn closet since the 40’s. He hated practicing sax in high school, which explains the pristine condition in which I found it. I still don't understand how he could play as a star on Brooklyn's Tilden High football team as "Crazy Legs Cofsky" and then quickly change uniforms to play in the marching band at halftime. Some things must remain a mystery. I will be forever grateful to my father-in-law Shel for the sax.
If you’ve ever heard beginner sax players squeak and squonk, you’ll understand when I now apologize to everyone whom I have tortured. I don’t squeak anymore...well, ask Kevin. Songwriting was the vehicle that got me in touch with Chris Clifford, who invited me to sit in with The Silver. Eventually, when we took group photos, it dawned on me that I was in the group. I am thrilled to be playing with such advanced cats.
Hey Hey! I started playing bass at age 12 thanks to the Beatles. After playing in church bands and high school, got my first big break in ’75 when I auditioned and got the gig with the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones and did their solo shows until ’95. Also with Boyce and Hart for the great golden hits of the Monkees show. Along with Keith Allison from Paul Revere and the Raiders, we toured everywhere: the first American band to play Malaysia and Singapore and we produced an album ”Live from Japan”.
Met and played with singer/songwriter David Castle and recorded his “Istanbul Blues” in the soundtrack for the movie “Midnight Express”. I’m also on one of Alice Cooper’s albums, “Flush the Fashion” and I’m in three of his
videos. I joined members of Yes – Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye- in the group Circa, for the album “Valley of the Windmill” with gigs in South America.
I played onboard the Moody Blues cruises and live concerts on William Shatner’s “Ponder the Mystery” tour. Was in the group Fortune with two albums – “The Gun’s Still Smokin” and one live from Rockingham. Played England several times and in Italy. I’m also in a popular Eagles tribute band – Dark Desert Highway and a cover band Wayback Machine. And now, looking forward to get started playing with the SILVER! Whew! Just gettin’ started - and here we go!…love…
John Penney - drums, percussion
John’s first exposure to the percussive arts was the now defunct “Royal Cavaliers Youth Band”. Marching, coupled with local drum instruction, most notably with Joe Lester, he developed a life-long love and respect for marching band and drum corps playing. As time passed, he played in all the organizations provided by the John Burroughs High School music program. John had tremendous respect for the instrumental band director, Robert Rose. He was a dedicated musician and educator who made you feel as though your musical development was the most important thing to him. John played in the marching band, stage (big) band, orchestra, Dixieland band and also backing up the choir. Not content to purely “legit” applications of drumming, he was open to any opportunity to jam with other kids (and older musicians) in the area. John moved on to study music at Los Angeles Valley College, studying music theory and the percussion ensemble. This was a fertile time for any young musician’s development. From the mid 1960’s to mid 1970’s, music in general was evolving at a rapid pace and this phenomenon was not lost on John. Genres were morphing and mixing into exciting new hybrids and new genres were being created and exposed. John absorbed as much of this germination that he could. His personal mantra was to be as versatile and authentic in all styles that he came into contact with. After this period, family and day jobs took priority but drumming was never far behind or forgotten. If anything, further study and exposure to even more information helped to mature and hone his musical approach. John’s goal became ‘serving the musical objective’. Playing in local cover bands helped to scratch the drumming itch. In addition, John became involved in some original projects such as “Woodwork”, “Clear County Line”, “Xylo” and “Grumbletummy”. Presently, “The Silver” has become John’s primary focus. After 50+ years of musical life, it all boils down to this group and the fresh, new music that is being created. John is striving to make that music feel good, with a touch of uniqueness and his personal style thrown in. The Silver’s future is bright with recording and performances on the horizon.