Color me catfish, but I found myself back at my favorite guilty
pleasure hangout—Whitey’s Fish Camp, where I again schmoozed with vivacious
co-owner/ operator Elaine (looking fabulous) and checked out Wild Card, 
a band I ran across two years ago at one of those faux battle of the 
bands gigs. That was the bogus BOTB that made me give up judging those 
rigged contests—forever. In most cases, BOTBs are designed to bring fans 
of the various band into the club and sell mucho booze and eats.

Cut to 2004 at Whitey’s, the Wild Card bunch turned out to be a tight rocking
band, that got the Whitey’s crowd on the dance floor and rocked this restaurant
marina fish camp with great enthusiasm.

WC includes an all-star lineup, with Robert Grigg on lead guitar and vocals,
Gary Hilliard on keyboards and vocals, John Kincaid on drums, Don Taylor
on bass, Wayne Williams on congas and vocals, and Tim Hilliard on, percussion,
harmonica, and sound mixing.

Individually, each member has an impressive resume of musical accomplishments
Robert has been playing music for twenty-five years. He plays guitar,
harmonica, bass, sings, and composes music. He moved from Norfolk, Va. to
Jacksonville in 1996. Robert holds down a day job as an electronics technician
at the Naval Aviation Depot, and he rocks out with Wild Card on the weekends.
Robert said that Wild Card gets booked about once every two months at Whitey’s.
But they play many other venues around the region.

Elaine told me she really likes this band because they get the people on dance
floor quickly and that means they’ll stick around to enjoy the rustic
environment at Whitey’s. I noticed that there were many people enjoying the
outdoor deck. With the door open to the lounge, the deckites were able to dig
the band.

Keyboardist Gary Hilliard has been into music his entire life. He studied music
in school, and took private lessons. He plays guitar, harmonica, percussion,
and sings lead and backup. He likes playing with Wild Card because the members
are all friends an they love to play out.

Wayne Williams, on congas, is a Jax native who has enjoyed singing and playing
percussion. By day, Wayne works in the construction equipment parts business
and loves gigging with Wild Card on the weekends.

Wayne is very animated on stage and a real audience pleaser.

Drummer, John Kincaid is an experienced trapsmeister who began playing drums
in elementary school. John served six years in the Navy and when he got out he
went to work for NADEP in Norfolk, Va. John is also proficient on the washtub 
bass and considered a virtuoso in bluegrass circles. When NADEP closed in 
Norfolk, John moved to Jacksonville to work as a civilian for the Navy. John 
continued his musical interests and joined Wild Card in 2001.

Don Taylor, on bass, is another experienced musician who is originally from 
Ohio. He moved to Jax in 1972 as a mechanical engineer and journeyman machinist
by trade. Don, like the other members of WC, enjoys the camaraderie among the
members and he loves to play out.

Wild Card will be playing Monkey’s Uncle on San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin on May 
21st and at (Sorry Coyotes Cancelled) Coyotes in Orange Park on May 28 & 29. To find out more about this 
band, log onto www.wldcard.com Note: there is no "i" in the website name.