By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Senior Correspondent
Venue: The Skipperdome at Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa, Florida–November 30, 2025
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Band Facebook: Billy Ray Wheaton, Skipper Road Revival,
Disclamer – or maybe disoysterer? This is Tampa’s version of a supergroup, storied members of other bands that got together to form a new baby band, made up of the grandparents! I’ll not that I’ve long been acquainted with several members of this band; I worked with “Downtown” Jerry Brown (guitar and harmonica) in the late 1990’s at the former Thorobred Music, which was bought out by Sam Ash. If you’re a regular reader of Rock at Night, you might hark back to my review of Fred Chandler’s TeknoTeq CD in 2017, and you’ll recognize his photo. Of course, the Skipperdome has been around since just before I came to Florida, they opened in 1980 and I showed up about a year and a half later. Always featuring an eclectic mix of world class artists doing blues, reggae, Zydeco, rock, bluegrass, jazz, folk and world beat, from as far as the British Isles, Russia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Nigeria, Madagascar, Kenya, Zaire, South Africa and Australia to local now-world famous artists like Damon Fowler, in 2001 it was named Best Blues Club in America. I mention all this because it’s the perfect setting for recording a live album, and this was the second session of three, the third planned for Sunday, December 28, 2025. If you are anywhere near Tampa, it’ll be worth the trip!
Of course, while the band was getting ready and making last minute suggestions for album content – old school, no three-piece-suit wearing marketing bros planning every detail of the 1000 takes the typical pop pabulum producer might ask for today, they needed an opener, and found on in Billy Ray Wheaton. No website yet, but he’s gaining a following on the usual social media outlets for his original songs, original blues rock with more than a little humor involved – like in The Unicorn Song (no relation to the Irish version, and NSFW!). Billy has a whole set of Florida Man songs, and they are everything you would imagine – and more!
Then it was time for Skip Griffith Jr. (lead/rhythm guitar, vocals) to take the stage with his bandmates, I’ve seen their faces for years. Blues-rock with a hippie-era vibe, there were eight people on the stage including Fred’s wife Patty singing backup vocals along with being the band’s manager/booking agent! Also we had “Rudi” OFarrell on acoustic guitar, John Vaccaro on bass, Billy Bryant on drums, and Augusto Robles on Congas and backup vocals! Oh, and Sharon and Pops were there as well, dancing to their song! (Literally, they have been together forever, over 60 years, and still regularly go out dancing!)
Look for the album early next year!
When not in custody, I've been involved with music, photography, and writing my entire life. Ever since I was a young boy and played those silver tunes, I've had the beat, but being a drummer didn't suit me so I became a lead singer, which lasted a few years. Settling down, sort of, I translated my knowledge of audio and glib tongue into mobile emcee work, and my training as a photographer and videographer into a living in the wedding, party, bar/bat mitzvah, and entertainment industry. During this time I also managed to bamboozle my way into a master's degree in writing, worked for a couple of magazines (yes, I took photos for a nudist magazine!), have photographed hotels, done commercial work (shot the cover of Tablet and Capsule magazine), published a few articles, hosted some public access shows (a couple times in drag, but that's another story), and generally made a nuisance of myself until I landed here.
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