Musician Bios
- Mark Robinson
Guitar, Vocals - At the age of twelve, Mark began to borrow his brother's guitar and bought a book on guitar theory. One year later he purchased his first guitar, a used Silvertone with a Heathkit amplifier. In high school he joined the school jazz band and formed a Chicago-style rock band that eventually placed second in the state regional battle of the bands. Attending college at Duke University he joined a jazz band, and later became interested in both country western and bluegrass music and learned to play banjo. Moving to Olympia in 1978, he played in the Stony Point bluegrass band and later joined the Smokey River band featuring popular country-western artist Tommy Denton. Missing his rock and roll roots, he began forming The Ragged Edge in November 2001.
- Rocky Rush
Bass, Vocals - Rocky Allen Rush was raised and educated in Vista, California (San Diego). He began playing guitar at age 11, playing surf music and rock, graduating to fusion rock and jazz in the late 70`s. Rocky became a professional musician in Fairbanks, Alaska, playing all around Alaska for 15 years during the pipeline boom. He has played in several successful area rock bands including Bits & Pieces, The Blue Hotrods, Tracey Mayo Band, Hoss And The Hitkickers, Crazy Jayne, and Five Cent Freak.
- Maria Shimshock
Vocals, Keyboards,
Percussion - Maria grew up in a musical family listening to a wide variety of music from pop to jazz to polkas. Her dad surprised her with an upright piano on her 9th birthday. Several years and several bands later, including doing studio recording with members of her family and friends, Maria was looking for an antique desk in the March 2003 Olympian classifieds when she came across an ad titled "Vocalist wanted-keyboards a plus" erroneously set between "Thomasville dining room set" and "Wickes sofa and love seat". She answered the ad, figuring it was God's way of telling her THIS was the band! A couple of auditions later Maria was tagged as "TGITB" (The Girl In The Band). She's convinced that she's met her "soul band mates" and will never want for another band for the rest of her life.
- Steve Mazepa
Vocals, Keys, Harp, Percussion - At age four, Steve's musical and criminal careers started simultaneously when he brazenly ripped a toy saxophone out of its packaging at a department store in Allentown, PA. His mother's embarrassment and the store manager's condemnation turned to surprised delight when Steve immediately played Mary Had A Little Lamb, then started taking requests. It turns out that old piano in the garage had been doing more than just collecting dust. By kindergarten, he was playing pied piper to a gaggle of children on the school playground with his Hohner Marine Band. By high school, he was singing, synthing, and Hammond B-3ing clubs in NJ and dance halls in PA. Steve joined The Ragged Edge in March, 2003 hoping to polish the band's harmonies and increase their already eclectic range. He also plays in an acoustic/vocal folk trio.
- Terry Brodsky
Drums, Vocals - Terry was born in Norman, OK. From the time he was in grade school, he became passionate about music, joining his first garage band in high school. After graduation, he played in a working power trio in Phoenix, AZ that was well received and featured covers of everything from Rush to David Bowie, and a bass player that roller-skated around the bar while playing. Terry went on to become a member of a Country Western band, adding a whole new dimension to his repertoire (and theirs), playing two years in hard core Arizona 'honky-tonks. After this loss of sanity experience, he regrouped by studying the entire summer of 1980 with Charlie Lahr of Cut Time studios in Glendale, AZ. He went on to play with a variety of bands, including The Plain Tickets in Phoenix (an 80's big hair, hard rock/metal cover band) before moving to Olympia, WA in 1996. Since then, he has played in bands featuring hard rock, oldies, and country and western. Joining The Ragged Edge in summer 2004, Terry brings his brand of over 25 years of experience, strong backing vocals, and tasty chops and fills.