User:Ramongonzalezjr

Ramon Gonzalez Jr was born and raised in Sterling, IL. At the age of three, he started taking piano lessons at the Earl Ricker Studio. There Ramon studied all aspects of piano, including music theory and composition. When he turned seven years old, Ramon showed interest in the violin. The school system had no orchestra program at the time, but his parents wouldn’t let that slow him down. Ramon studied privately for years, and when the school finally picked up the orchestra program, he continued studies both through the school program and privately until graduation in 1984. Ramon’s vocal training came through years of choral performance at the local church, and with the school’s choir groups. He was always very active in Sterling’s local music scene, performing with the Illowa Chamber Orchestra, various Musical Plays Orchestra Pits, and any and all competitions held in the area. In 1982, while a sophomore in high school, some friends from the school choir recruited Ramon to play keyboards and fiddle for his first band, Country Breeze. After being exposed to the immediate satisfaction of live club performing, Ramon knew it would be his calling. He turned his violin into a fiddle, and has been thrilling audiences with renditions of Orange Blossom Special, and Devil Went Down To Georgia ever since.

1985 saw a relocation to Virginia Beach, VA. Along with the change in address, came a change in musical styles. It was there that Ramon got his first hands on taste of Top 40 Dance, and what is now called 80’s Rock. He performed all around the Tidewater area with Whiteline. He landed his first road job with Hits in 1987. He then toured up and down the eastern seaboard. The band also backed Classics IV vocalist Dennis Yost for awhile, where Ramon met and worked with Dennis, “Tossin’ and Turnin’” Bobby Lewis, “Peppermint Twist” Joey Dee and The Starlighters, and “The Worst That Could Happen” Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge. The band then did some time on the cruise ship circuit, working from Bermuda to South America, and L.A. to Mazatlan, MX. After eleven years, the band called it quits. Band mate Earl Davenport and Ramon went on to the next phase, Stampede.

Ramon and Earl started auditioning musicians for Stampede in early 1998. By March, the band had the lineup complete, and started a house gig on the eastern shore of North Carolina. At the end of summer, Stampede went out on tour covering GA, NC, FL, VA, PA, MS, TX, IA, WY, OH, MN, WI, ND, SD, CO, AZ, and NM. Over the next eight years, the band would perform and make friends all over the country.

In January of 2006, Ramon moved to Fargo, ND. He joined The Great Outdoors. Now he gigs every week, touring only a few weeks out of every month. His off time now is spent writing songs, gathering contacts, and running his publishing concern, Sydney Skyler Music.