Mike Miller began playing in various Rock and Roll bands while attending Villa Grove High School. He went on to major in Jazz Performance at Eastern Illinois University, where he played the trombone. Mike joined his first full-time band in December of 1979 and left EIU to tour the upper Midwest and Northwest with GI Drury. He returned to the Champaign Urbana area the following year and continued to perform in several local bands including Twister and Southern Cross. During this twenty-year period, Mike followed the advise of his guitar-playing Father. "Son, if you can't be really good, be really versatile." Consequently, Mike has played drums, guitar, keyboards and finally bass guitar.
      Mike is the third-oldest member of the band, thanks to Howie and Dyke ; ). He is also the only grandfather!

    Andy comes from a large family of hillbilly musicians who play by ear, but can’t read a lick of music. Given that, Andy took piano lessons at age five for about
two years. Tired of notes, and not playing anything he heard on the radio, he quit lessons and began about 10 years of non-training on his own. At age 15, Andy
joined his first rock band, Therapy. That gig lasted exactly one gig and two rehearsals. At age 16, Andy began playing in his first bar band: a nameless,
classic rock band that would play at any local watering hole that would allow them through the door. His first regular paying gig was in the Beatles
tribute act Rubber Soul in 1996. In 1997 Andy also started playing part time with Effingham based band Free Clinic, which performed original music in the
greater Effingham metropolitan area. After that ran its’ course, Andy joined funk/party band Turkey Manhattan Project. Andy took a short hiatus from
bands, and moved to St. Louis where he occasionally sat in with Clarence Walker and the Morticians. Upon returning to central Illinois, he came across an
advertisement for a band seeking a keyboardist in the Parrot Republic newsletter. A call was placed to Jake and nearly seven years later the Boat Drunks are still going strong. When the Boat Drunks have an off night,
you can catch Andy in the 80’s hair metal band Leather Pistol.
    As far as being a Parrot Head, Andy has been listening to Buffett music since he was introduced to Living and Dying in 3/4 Time in 1991. Aside from meeting
hundreds of great fans and musicians, Andy’s favorite moment with the Drunks came in 2004 when he turned on the CMA awards and saw Doyle Grisham and Michael Utley on TV, two days after they had shared the stage with
the Drunks in Key West.

drums

    Multi-instrumentalist Michael Favreau originally hails from suburban Fairfield, Connecticut. Michael can trace his musical beginnings back to Fairfield High School, where he won numerous band geek awards and figured out that time practicing the saxophone was directly proportional to the amount of cute redheads he dated. From there he went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. While there, he took some time off school to do the European Tour of Leonard Bernstein’s “On the Town” in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. After graduation, Michael returned to the New York/Connecticut area where he played with various rock, blues, funk, jazz and classical ensembles, taught elementary, middle school and high school band, built a popular private teaching studio, roasted coffee and managed and engineered at a recording studio.
    Michael has done a fair amount of traveling while employed by Princess Cruises and has played in places like Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia. He has also played with artists like Phil Woods and Johnny Mathis, recorded the candidate theme to “Good Morning, America” and is currently featured on albums by NYC songwriter Mitch Linker, CT pop group “The Dent” and NYC bluegrass outfit “Red Rooster.” Michael recently earned his Masters Degree at the University of Illinois in Jazz and Improvisational Music Studies and is currently in the process of moving to Chicago where he’ll be playing when the Boat Drunks are off. His girlfriend, Amy is moving from Australia in August to attend the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
    The Buffett connection? Michael won a trip to Jamaica and he and his girlfriend decided to call it quits at the Margaritaville in Ocho Rios...

pedal steel, lead guitar

    Dyke Corson got his start in the music business at age 12 working in a local music store. He was playing gigs by age 15, and now 35 years later he’s still working in music stores and playing gigs! His musical career includes stints with regional acts Pork and the Havana Ducks, Flatland Band, Gator Alley and the Modern Cowboyz - not to mention 22 years at the Rose Bowl in Urbana, IL (5 of them with Jake!). He has also played steel guitar with many Nashville artists including Allison Krauss, Del Reeves, and Hank Thompson.
    Dyke played his first gig with the Boat Drunks on pedal steel guitar in March of 2005, and has been around ever since, recently taking on more lead guitar duties as well. He has been playing  Buffett songs on pedal steel and lead guitar since the mid 70s. Dyke finds Buffett songs and Boat Drunks original material the perfect music to play on pedal steel guitar!

Todd Lindsey, Manager
Bill Schnake, Sound Tech/FOH
Bill Gaines, Equipment Driver
Steve Hough, Legal
Dr. Kristen Jacobs, Physician

Ryan Leatherman, Sax
Bill Herriott, Sax
Deb Lister, Vocals, Piano
Brian Ball, Drums
Steve Morrison, Drums
Brendan Gamble, Drums