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Dick 'Chico' O'Connell
Chico found the band in 1978- however until the mid-1990s it involved being in his room playing with only himself. His desire to play with someone else led to him seeking out Dr. IGG!'s brother, to whom he paid
$30 to join the band. Together they formed The Cornerboys, dedicated to the preservation of angry Celtic and Gypsy music. In addition to his classical guitar stylings, Chico is now shaping his sound with his Roland midi guitar and banks and banks of effects. Lazer-style is opening new possibilites for Chico's ego and the band's musical sound. Chico is also the group's recording engineer.
Chico plays guitars, mandolins, the banjo, and a South American stringed instrument called the charango. See Chico's Page for a more thorough biography.
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Richard 'Dr. IGG!'s Brother' Ball
A now reformed soccer hooligan and ethnomusicologist, Dr. IGG!'s brother was exiled for many years to Eastern Europe and Asia where he studied music and collected instruments which he incorporates into his jazz compositions. Dr. IGG!'s brother met Chico at work one day, chased him up a fence and punctured his lung with a meathook. This led to a life-long friendship and Chico asked Dr. IGG!'s brother to form a band. Dr. IGG!'s brother was apprehensive until he was offered a sum of money. This sealed the deal, and the all but broke Dr. IGG!'s brother squandered it away on chiclets. Dr. IGG!'s brother is a recovering werewolf who must avoid eating flesh and going into Walmart at all cost, less he resort to his old ways. He also writes most of the bands songs.
Among other instruments, Dr. IGG!'s brother plays saxophones, flutes and folk flutes, pan pipes, guitars, electric and acoustic basses and is messing with the cajon and other percussion instruments. We are sad to say he also plays the bagpipes and the accordion. To learn more about his history and the instruments he plays, see Dr. IGG!'s Brother's Page.
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Dugg 'Meckles' Spalding
Meckles got great joy from slapping the sides of a cardboard box and flinging stuff into a barrel. He showed up with a box taped to himself while the Cornerboys played one day. Chico and Dr. IGG!'s brother perceived him as dangerous. The Cornerboys had never really met anyone dangerous before, and began hanging around with his to enhance their 'bad boy' image. Now a trio, 'Before the Rain' began to carry out a unique brand of musical terrorism, which involed playing on the street and then running away before the police could catch them. It was during on such get-away that Meckles was afflicted with Meckle's Diverticulitis, and spent several week in the hospital's jail ward. When it was determined that having a strangulation of the small intestine as a genetic trait was not illegal, Meckles was released, and the band stopped running away. The Cornerboys eventually became annoyed with the cardboard box and smashing glass and pitched in to buy Meckles a djembe. He later added some other hand drums and some shakers and cymbals. A few years ago they built Meckles an actual drumset from some old stumps and road-kill dogs; the device upon which Meckles now expresses most of his existential angst. Check out Meckles' Page for more detailed information about his sordid past and links to sites about Meckle's Diverticulitis.
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Gusto
The progeny of dancing bears, multi-instrumentalist Gusto has spent his life in the spotlight. Gusto had played with Dr. IGG!'s brother for many years after they were first thrown together in a fighting pit in the early 1980s. Not quite knowing what to do in the pit, they burst, spontaneously, into song. They were recently reunited in 'Before the Rain' when Dr. IGG!'s brother knew they needed Gustos rhythmic sense, as they were having difficulty keeping a beat. Gusto is the only member of the band to have contributed a new word to the English language (recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary,) 'Gusto-maina!' referring to those mad-capped days in the 60s when Gusto was king of the pop charts. 'Gusto-mania!' later became a Broadway musical review featuring Gusto immitators. In it's drag version, 'Gusto-mania!' has recently become the second longest running show in the London theatre district. Gusto also is the owner of the massive garage-mahal, where 'Before the Rain' recorded their last CD.
Gusto is a recovering drummer who plays electric and Hawaiian guitars, electric and acoustic basses, the steel guitar and he is quite a crooner in his own right.
Gusto's Page is an award winning site, which will further link you to information about the fez and the history of gas stations!
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Tyson 'Keys' Bennett
'Eighty-eight fingers' Keys is more than just a nick-name, it refers to an actual mutation of Keys' left hand, on which he has seventy-four more fingers than his right! Being loaded with fingers led naturally to a musical life, but Keys took the hard road and tried to become an investment banker instead. Then he became a basketball player, and a fireman and a chiropracor and a librarian and the promoter of all-night cosmic bowling. Disgruntled with the world, Keys set out to the desert to seek his fortune. It was while on a bus tour of Syria tha Keys met Dr. IGG!'s brother. Dr. IGG!'s brother hired him to help with his taxes, and then the two were kicked off the bus and had to ride back on camels. They ended up in a bar in Lybia, and Dr. IGG!'s brother showed him some of his tunes on the piano while they waited for bottled water to be brought in. Keys asked if he could try the piano, and it turned out he actually could play! Keys brought a level of musicality to the band that they had never experienced before: Keys understood all about how to play more than one note at a time, Keys introduced them to songs other than 'Little Brown Jug,' and Keys knew how to solve the Rubic's cube! Keys has continued to grow musically, and has tried to take some of that music off by avoiding saturated fats. Check out Keys' Page.
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Jim-o
Socrates: Jim-o and Dr. IGG!'s brother go way back.
Plato: In fact, they were in diapers together.
Socrates: And what can we learn from that?
Plato: That they wore diapers as opposed to not playing diapers.
Socrates: Well, no, that's not really it. In fact, I really cant put my finger on it.
Nixon: That its disgusting for two grown men to choose to wear diapers rather than pants?
Socrates: No, look here under my toga.
Plato: But at least you're wearing a toga.
Socrates: I must agree with Mr. Nixon.
Plato: Perhaps he has his own website.
Nixon: If he does, it is an error that will ring through the ages.
Socrates: Oh, mighty Zeus... oh I give up, let's drink hemlock.
Nixon: Yes, let's.
Jim-O's Glee Club Page
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Ken Jones
Ken has been our favorite guest artist for a couple of years now. We love playing with him enough that we consider him a member of the band. We wanted to give him a suitable Before the Rain name, and settled on ‘Slappy,’ but Ken held his breath and said that he wouldn’t breathe again until we gave him a better name, so we settled on Ken Jones… although we’re pretty sure he was breathing though his nose. Ken worked hard at didgeridoo playing as a small child. It was only after graduate school that Ken discovered that the stick he was blowing into must be hollow. Ken is a peaceful man, so we often wonder why he chooses to hang around us. We think he may be a mole for the probation department, even though those charges didn’t stick!!! He is going to have a more difficult time watching us from his new location in Seattle, and that is why we must travel there frequently to be watched.
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