Shinebox

Richard Raines -- Lead Guitar / Vocals

Richard grew up in Carthage, Texas, home of Jim Reeves and Tex Ritter. Playing guitar since age twelve, he found himself onstage with older musicians by age sixteen. In high school he played bass guitar in the school jazz band, and at the same time joined the first of 3 rock bands. As his reputation grew he landed the job of lead guitar player with Joe Murphy and Midnight Express. This country group featured Shayne Morrison on bass guitar, with whom he would later form Perfect Stranger in 1985. While playing guitar for Perfect Stranger, he toured the world, appeared on CNN, CMT, GAC,TNN and national television in Japan. Perfect Stranger played every state in the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Bahamas, and even on the deck of a ship in the middle of the ocean leaving Jamaica! The group also enjoyed a #4 Billboard single in 1995, which garnered a nomination for "New Group of the Year" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. All this time he constantly felt the pull of his roots in classic rock and Texas blues. In 2003 he left Perfect Stranger and teamed with drummer Marty Arbter and bassist Donny Hyles, bringing him back to where he started, playing the music he loves with two of the best musicians in Texas.

Marty grew up in Longview, TX and began to play the drums at the age of five. By the age of fifteen, he was playing country music in the local honky tonks of East Texas. In high school, Marty played in several different local rock bands. After high school, he attended North Texas State University and Kilgore College. Marty also attended Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA. After returning to Texas, he became friends with Perfect Stranger guitarist Richard Raines. This led to Marty performing with Perfect Stranger for eight years. He also spent three years on the road playing drums for Nashville recording artist Ricky Lynn Gregg. Marty has played in a variety of bands, ranging from heavy metal to blues to pop to country. He has performed in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and Japan. He is just as comfortable in the studio as he is on the stage. Marty's musical influences range from Aerosmith to Diamond Rio to Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Donny Hyles has been a well-known player in the Texas music scene for more than thirty years. A musical career seemed inevitable, as his father was a founding member of the Rangers Quartet, one of the most successful recording and touring gospel groups of all time. This early influence led him to get his first guitar at age eleven, and he joined his first working band by age twelve. He began on guitar, but has been primarily a bassist for the bulk of his professional career. He has since worked in all styles and genres with musicians and performers from all over America. The varied musical backgrounds he has been exposed to allows him the opportunity to play most any kind of music, and this shows in the depth of his experience. In the recording studio, he has a long list of corporate and business clients for whom he has provided his musical skills, including names such as Radio Shack, Dr. Pepper, Best Western, Mitsubishi, as well as a host of Texas area businesses. Among his peers, he has shared the stage, either as a support act or in a sideman role, with a wide range of national and international musical acts including Willie Nelson, Freddie King, Chuck Berry, B. J. Thomas, The Guess Who, Steppenwolf, Edgar Winter, Billy Squier, Iron Butterfly, Trapeze, Black Oak Arkansas, Meat Loaf, Head East, Rusty Weir, Point Blank, Steve Marriott and Humble Pie, and East Texas natives Neal McCoy and Ricky Lynn Gregg among others.