Band Members

ROGER BOYD Keyboards & Vocals Roger grew up in Carlyle, Illinois. He is a founding member of Head East and has been it's keyboardist and leader for the past five decades. He started piano lessons at an early age, and went on to play trumpet in the school band. He played in local Illinois rock bands in the mid-60s before forming the TimeAtions with drummer Steve Huston. The TimeAtions were formed by merging the best players from both Roger's and Steve's bands. Over the next few years the TimeAtions would evolve and the band adopted the name Head East in the summer of 1969. In 2005, Roger completed his doctorate degree in public policy studies at St. Louis University. He worked as an associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville until the end of the 2011 spring semester, when he left to devote full attention to Head East.   EDDY JONES Drums & Vocals Eddy was born and raised in St. Joseph, MO. He received his first drum kit and began playing drums at the age of 5. Eddy's interest in music was fueled by his grandfather who played violin, pedal steel and electric guitars in country bands for square dances and county fairs. And he played his first paid gig with his grandfather at age 12 for $25. Eddy played and recorded with many Kansas City area bands prior to joining Head East and has played with jazz singer Queen Bay and Kansas City jazz legends guitarist Sonny Kenner and bassist Milt Abel. He has studied Jazz and Latin Drums with Gary Chaffee, Todd Strait, John Cushon, Kent Burnham, and "The Drum Counselor", GoGo Ray. Eddy plays Sonor, Yahama, and Pearl Drums, uses Remo drumheads, and Vic Firth drumsticks. He is endorsed by Soultone cymbals and Carmichael drum thrones. Eddy enjoys teaching drums and has worked as a drum instructor for PJ Olsson's Rock Camp.   GREG MANAHAN Bass, Guitar, & Vocals Greg was born in Los Angeles but has lived in the Kansas City area since the age of 5. He began playing guitar at an early age and transitioned to bass guitar in 1990 when the opportunity arose to play full time throughout the Midwest with the Kansas City based band London Drive. He has also played and sat in with many other KC area bands over the years, writing and appearing on several CD releases. In addition to playing bass guitar for Head East, Greg also plays six-string electric guitar on a few songs and provides background and some lead vocals. He plays Fender Precision and Jazz basses through Ampeg amplification and also plays Gibson Nighthawk or Gibson RD Artist guitars when on six-string. Greg's also writes and his new song's "So Long Lady" and "Prisoner" have quickly become fan favorites in concert.   DARREN WALKER Lead Vocals & Bass Darren was born in Oakley, Kansas but grew up in the small western Iowa town of Exira, where he first developed an interest in singing. He sang along with the record player in his basement as he played his favorite songs by Journey, Black Sabbath, Boston, Foreigner, Aerosmith, and as fate would have it Head East. The summer before his junior year in high school, Darren's family moved to northwestern Missouri where Darren would join his first band a few years later in 1982. He sang lead vocals and played bass guitar until 1988 when he left to join the band Bad Gypsy. He put down his bass guitar and became the band's lead vocalist until the band dissolved 5 years later. Prior to joining Head East, Darren joined the Kansas City area bands Toymaker's Dream and London Drive where he shared lead vocal and bass duties. He also shares these roles in Head East, playing bass on a few songs enabling bassist Greg Manahan to play six-string guitar adding to the band's versatility. In addition to singing and playing bass on a few songs, Darren has also contributed new material to Head East's live performances. Darren's new song "Say Yeah!" is a crowd participation song that really gets fans going and saying "Yeah!" to Head East.   MARK MURTHA Lead Guitar & Vocals Mark was born in Kansas, but his family relocated to North Carolina, Texas, and New York before finally settling in the Kansas City, Missouri area. He enjoyed playing guitar and keyboard in his elementary school years, but dedicated himself to guitar when he was 15. He and Greg Manahan were classmates in junior high and high school, and played in several bands through those years, and eventually in London Drive. Mark still recalls how Greg taught him some techniques and songs in their early days that helped improve his playing dramatically: bar chords, Takin' Care of Business, Johnny B. Goode, and Dust in the Wind. Mark operated his own recording studio in the early nineties, and produced recordings for many area groups. He taught computer science and communications classes at a local community college for over 20 years, until he retired in 2016 to play music on a full-time basis. He has worked as a studio musician playing guitar, steel guitar, and keyboards on recordings with Terry Ilous (XYZ and Great White), Jack Russell (Great White), Greg D'Angelo (Anthrax and White Lion), Sean McNabb (Dokken, Great White, Lynch Mob, Montrose, Queensryche, XYZ, and others), Glen Bridger (Head East and Bridger), and a variety of other artists across the United States and Europe. Mark joined Head East in 2022, and enjoys bringing Mike Somerville's fantastic guitar ideas to the live shows and studio recordings.

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