The Fabulous Thunderbirds was formed by vocalist, harp-player Kim Wilson and guitarist Jimmy Vaughan (older brother of guitar-slinger Stevie Ray Vaughan).
Wilson, a Detroit native raised in Southern California, had zigzagged across the American West and Midwest as a solo act for several years before meeting up with Dallas-born Vaughan in Austin, Texas, in 1974.
Christened by Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds soon became the house band at Antone’s, a lively Austin blues bistro (later saluted in the Tuff Enuff instrumental, Down at Antones).
Muddy Waters caught one of the band’s early shows there in 1975 and was so impressed that he hyped the Thunderbirds to club owners and interviewers across the country.
Aside from a few early flirtations with success – opening for The Rolling Stones in 1982, and recording T-Bird Rhythm with Nick Lowe – the Thunderbirds spent nearly 12 years simply taking the ambience of their boisterous Antone’s gigs to clubs across the US.
The band had no record label between 1983 and 1985, and many people wrote The Thunderbirds off.
Accustomed to playing their rollicking, no-nonsense barroom R&B nearly 300 nights a year, often under combat conditions, their fifth album, Tuff Enuff (1986), brought the band unexpected fame and fortune.
Kim Wilson
Vocals, harmonica
Jimmie Vaughan
Guitar
Keith Ferguson
Bass
Mike Buck
Drums
Fran Christina
Drums
Preston Hubbard
Bass
Michael ‘Duke’ Robillard
Guitar
Doug ‘Kid’ Bangham
Guitar
Gene Taylor
Keyboards
David ‘Kid’ Ramos
Guitar
Johnny Moeller
Guitar
Mike Keller
Guitar
Randy Bermudes
Bass
Jay Moeller
Drums
Jimi Bott
Drums
Kirk Fletcher
Guitar
Richard Innes
Drums
Ronnie James Weber
Bass
Steve Hodges
Drums
Willie Campbell
Bass
Nick Curran
Guitar, vocals
Troy Gonyea
Guitar
