Band Bios

John "Pokey" Spear

John was born and raised in Southern California and grew up in a home where country music was the only music played in the house. Some of John's earliest influences came from riding in his Dad's truck and listening to some of the true legends of country music like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Jim Reeves and Hank Williams.

John started playing the guitar and singing at the age of 15. Some of his best memories include sitting around the campfire after a long trail ride and entertaining his friends and family. John graduated from Antelope Valley High School in the early 70s and continued his studies at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. While attending Pierce, he participated in several extra curricular activities including livestock judging and saddle bronc riding on the schools rodeo team.

John spent a few years chasing the rodeo circuit and ending up moving to Billings, Montana in 1983. While in Billings, he started performing with a couple of local bands and began writing original country songs. In 1986, John pulled up stakes and headed back to California, settling in Palmdale. John's singing and song writing talents were soon recognized by the local radio station and he began writing and singing radio jingles for KTPI radio.

In 1993 the morning DJ on KTPI asked John if he would be interested in fronting a new country band comprised of top notch musicians. John took the gig and the Red Eye Ranch Band was born. John fronted the band for several years until the band broke up in 1998. John and the Red Eye Ranch Band opened up for several of the top country performers during this time including Ricky Van Shelton, Tammy Wynette, Joe Diffie and Jo Dee Messina.

John teamed up with the late Bruce Davis in 2000 and formed the Runaway Train Band. The band has been performing at local valley clubs and special events for the last four years. Some of the bands past AV club performances include Vincent Hill Station, Cactus Kate's, Schooners and Cattleman's Bar and Grill in Tehachapi.

John is also a strong believer in giving something back to the community and he and the band have performed for several local charity events. Some of the benefits he and the band have supported include Thunder on the Lot, the Valley Oasis-Battered Women's Shelter, the Children's Center and the American Cancer Society's Walk for Life.

John's love of traditional country music becomes evident when this cowboy hits the stage. Whether he is singing a classic country ballad or a rocking new country hit, his rock steady rhythms, showmanship, and pure country vocals commands the audience's attention and defines the Runaway Train Band sound.

Teri "Wild Child" Villani

Teri's love of the fiddle and country music began in the formative years of her childhood when she used to travel with her grandfather to play and sing at bluegrass festivals across Northern and Southern California. It soon became apparent that she was a natural when she picked up his fiddle one day and began demonstrating an uncanny ability to copy some of his licks even though she had not had any formal lessons. Her grandfather decided it was time to nurture her natural abilities so he bought her a 3/4 scale violin and paid for classical violin lessons.

Teri played classical violin in school and local orchestras as she was growing up but she never lost her love of bluegrass and country music. After graduating from high school, Teri moved to the Los Angeles area and started playing with a few bands on the LA circuit. Some of the clubs she has performed at include the world famous Palamino and the Crazy Horse Saloon.

Teri is an amazing musician and the other members of Runaway Train refer to her as "The Showstopper". Her blazing solos constantly bring the house down and she receives standing ovations while strutting her stuff on country classics like the Orange Blossom Special. When the "Wild Child" hits the stage stand back and give this little lady plenty of room as the bow hairs and rosin will be flying.

Rob Saranpa

In 1980 Rob started playing bars in northwest Florida at age 17 as a drummer. In 1984, (after drums were repossessed), moved back to the San Fernando Valley and started playing the bass.

Late 1980s were spent in the “Hollywood” scene; Troubadour, The Roxy, Wolf and Rismiller’s Country Club
Impossible to list all the bars and nightclubs. “I’ve been in more bars than Budweiser”.

Toured overseas for the Dept. of Defense Armed Forces Professional Entertainment Organization (AFPEO) - Croatia, Macedonia, Korea, Japan, Honduras, Panama, Marshall Islands, Guam, Okinawa, Hawaii, Iceland, Amsterdam {no details please}, and Germany.

1998 Golden State Country Music Association Bass Player of the Year.

1st Place - January 31st, 2005 Christian Lyrics, Nashville Song Service

2004 Composed “The Night Jesus Met Santa Claus” children’s book with music CD sung by Randy Travis’ brother Ricky Traywick.

August 2006 – Performance Kern Co. Fair – Gospel Days **Asked to return in 2007

2006 – Signed by Lamon Records and record debut solo CD “Am I Worthy?” released January 9, 2007

November 2006 – went to Indonesia as bass player for International praise team to open the first ever Christian radio Network in that country.

Joined The Runaway Train Band 11/14/07.
 

Jimmy Lewandowski

Jimmy is a native Californian who was born in Torrance, California. When he was five his family left the LA basin and moved to the Antelope Valley. Jimmy always had a love of music and as a child he was constantly beating and banging on something in the house. When he was 11, Jimmy joined the elementary school band and began playing the drums.

He got his first drum set when he was 14 and started playing rock and roll with his lifelong friend Bo Griffin. Jimmy and Bo played in several bands over the course of their friendship, most notably Chapter 13 and the Bo Griff Band. When Bo moved to Alaska in the early eighties, Jimmy took a 15 year hiatus from playing and concentrated on building his own business, Tip Top Arborists. Although Jimmy was a highly successful businessman there was always something missing in his life, music.

Jimmy and Monroe met in the late 70s when they were both were playing at the Delta Lady Saloon and other clubs on the Antelope Valley circuit. The two of them sparked an instant friendship but lost touch over the years when Monroe moved to LA. They resumed their friendship several years later when Jimmy came to a jam session hosted by the Rum Runners. After hearing Jimmy play, Monroe asked Jimmy if he would be interested in dusting off his chops and joining the band. The two of them have been playing together for the last 10 years and have formed a tight and inseparable rhythm section.

Jimmy met John Spear in the late 90s and began playing with the Red Eye Ranch Band as a side project to the Rum Runners. Over the last few years Jimmy has developed a deep appreciation for country music and the messages and values contained in the songs. When John asked him if he would be interested in playing in a country project again the answer was yes, but only if he could bring his own bass player with him. Jimmy and Monroe joined the group in April 2003 and the rest is history. Jimmy's rock solid drumming and his team player spirit is the cornerstone of the Runaway Train Band's driving country beat.

Jerry Mulkins

Jerry began playing the guitar at 14 years old and has played in dozens of bands since.
He is currently the lead guitarist with Runaway Train Band, Cheap Yellow Mustard, Gary Mazzola and the Usual Idiots, and Bold Witness, a Christian band.
He is also head musician for the High Desert Emmaus Walk Organization and guitarist and Minister with St. Malalchy’s Catholic Church.

Lisa Bowman And the Wild Ones was the last country band Jerry played with before joining the Runaway Train Band. For several years Lisa Bowman And the Wild Ones were the second house band at Buck Owens’s Crystal Palace in Bakersfield (the buckaroos being the first house band, of course).
The Wild Ones charted three top 50 songs in the mid nineties and were being played nationally on fifteen hundred radio stations. During that time, Lisa Bowman And the Wild Ones opened for Wynona Judd, Jon Anderson, Trace Adkins, The Smoking Armadillos and Big House.

One of the things that Jerry has brought to the Runaway Train Band is a bit of the “Bakersfield Sound”. His tasty riffs and blazing solos have become an integral part of the Runaway Train Band’s sonic image. Over the last few years Jerry and the “Wild Child” Teri Villain have developed a mutual respect for each others playing and have treated our fans to some amazing and blazing solo exchanges. When these two start, “the train keeps on a Rollin”!

Jerry is also a talented composer and jazz guitarist. Jerry wrote the band “Cheap Yellow Mustard’s” first album and the second album is nearing its release.

Jerry and the bass player Rob Saranpa also play together in “Bold Witness” and are working towards the recording of their first album.