Randy Quick Lead Guitar

Carl Dean Lead Vocals

Eric Thorn Rhythm Guitar

Jack Miller Drums

Kephen Hanks Bass Guitar

In the summer of 1992 after going out on dozens of auditions, I came across a group of guys called Thorn. They were a tight, heavy band with some really great originals. The were, Mark Wiethorn (aka Eric Thorn) rhythm guitar, Randy Quick - Lead guitar, Kephen Hanks - bass guitar and Jack Miller on drums. I remembered these guys from my Centerfold days. We did a show together at Thunder Rock. We seemed to hit it off really well and they asked me to join. Soon we has a pretty good song list going. We did some really rockin' tunes, from Metallica, Megadeth, White Zombie, Queensryche and others.

They had some really good originals from before I came along such as "Street Fighter", "Lady Fringe", "Deep in the Moonlight" and "Jump in the Car". We spent several months in the practice studio, writing new originals and tightening up our act. We began playing in all the hot clubs around the Dallas-Ft.Worth Metroplex. We started small. The first few shows, we didn't make a dime. We did public access TV in Irving, Arlington and Ft. Worth.

No pay there either, but we got some great video footage. The Irving (Rock Wars) footage wasn't so great, the video was good, but the sound was terrible. This really surprised me because we did the same show when I was in Centerfold. The Ft.Worth and Arlington footage was much better. We did shows at clubs like Smokin' Dave's Rock Room,The Abyss, The Agora, On the Rocks, Dallas City Limits, Savvy's and the Basement. By May of 1993, we had saved enough momey to go into the studio for some demo work with me on vocals. Up until then, our only recordings were with their old singer. We picked Sumet Studios in Dallas. Our engineer had worked with ZZ Top and the Dixie Chicks.

We layed down tracks for 3 songs over 3 nights and then did the final mixdown on a warm night in June. We did "Lady Fringe", "Deep in the Moonlight" and a new song that Mark and I had collaborated on called "Night Child". Our engineer, Mark Petty did a really great job. Whad a bunch of cassettes made up and began giving them away at the shows. The idea was to get people interested in buying the CD were planning to put out the following year. We stayed pretty busy the for the next six months doing shows almost every weekend. All the money that we were making, we were saving for the CD. Then came the fateful night.

We were booked to do a New Years Eve bash at Mongo's Place in Grand Prairie, Texas. The show was going great, we were bringing down the house, when all of a sudden, Marks amp/effects rack falls off his speaker cabinet. He was convinced that Kevin knocked it over and he was furious. Things got pretty heated and that was the end of Thorn. Mark refused to work with Kephen and Kephen refused to work with Mark and neither would budge. There wasn't a lot that the rest of us could do. Mark owned most of the equipment and could be pretty stubborn. Things got pretty heated and that was the end of Thorn.  Jack and Kephen went on to form a blues trio with a really tallented blues guitarist named Matt Snow. His life was tragically cut short when he died of a drug overdose. Mark played for a while in a band with a couple of my old Centerfold band mates, Jimmy Young and Cody Gillis. Neither of those projects lasted very long. A couple of years after the breakup, I talked to Kephen and he had been Playing with Vince Vance & the Valiants.

2015 Update: I have kept in touch with my old Thorn bandmates sporadically. I think Jack is the only one of us still active in music. Last I heard he was living in Texarcana. A couple of the bands that I know about that he was in was Wes Jeans and Red Dirt Renegades. I saw a post from him a couple of weeks back that he was looking for another band. I talked to Kephen a few times and he has settled down and he has married and making a living as a freelance stage lighting designer. So he is still tied somewhat to music, if not on stage.

And Mark, he is still Mark. A unique character in every way. I believe he still has hi blinds business and still dabbles in music, but not in a working band. Randy passed away a couple of years back, a victim of pancreatic cancer. I was totally shocked when I got the news. He was one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. In fact, I have fond memories of all these guys. Kevin Greer recently put together a Thorn reunion and they performed one show. I saw videos that Mark shared and I could see they were having a blast. Jack wasn't there and I was not specifically invited, but I know I would have been welcome to jump up on stage and sing one of the songs with them if I would have shown up. Thats just the kind of guys they are. Kevin Greer has always been exceptionally cool to me, even though I was his replacement in the band. He still performs regularly with his band Bezel and I wish them the best of luck. In a lot of ways, I am envious because, yes, I do miss it. Music gets in your blood and it is always there. So rock on my brothers! I am with you in spirit.