The Heartbreak Kids

Near the end of music school, I decided that I needed something more reality based so I went back to school for Economics. My parents, thinking that at last I might be suitable for a desk job felt that I had hit a new low when I joined a traveling band instead of taking that corporate position like my brother.

The band was called “The Heartbreak Kids.” It was really a back up band for a female country singer who had a single out called the “Heartbreak Kid.” She didn’t last very long and when she dropped out, we decided to keep the name and play rock and roll. I started running things and we became Heartbreak Kids Inc.

Musically, the band was one of the best and we quickly became very popular. The show’s production was very labor intensive so I set about designing and building our staging, sound and lighting equipment. I was back doing two things that I loved “building things and playing music.” Our show was much larger than most and went up and came down faster than anyone’s. We were working about 50 weeks a year, up to 49 consecutive shows over several states without a day off. We became a popular opener or backup band for headliners either on their way up, on their way down, or back at it because they ran out of money!

A new band!

Early Band photo.

Starting the concert tours with Steve Lynch. This is “Autograph’s Turn up the Radio Tour” It was sponsored by a pen company.

This was the Robin Trower tour.

This one is about the same year.

Early days in Jacksonville, FL

One of about 30 different versions of Heartbreak kids.

We survived on a steady diet of fast food. February, 1988

The band was very popular with the military.

Jim Marshall of Marshall guitar amplifiers checking out the “Chastain version of a Marshall amplifier”

Playing 90 - 91