Ron (or is that Sam?) Baker

Birthday - June 17

Favorite Color: Any that end in urple

Bass Style: Any that suck

Circumference: Diameter X Pi

The self professed master of ceremonies, Ron started his musical career as a band geek in Forest Lake, Minnesota's Central Junior High School symphony acting as a trumpet blower. This experience proved to be priceless as he learned to pretty much blow on every other instrument he would ever play. Drums was actually the first instrument he picked up (actually, you can't pick up the drums) in the 8th grade playing in his first band with childhood friend Mike Lichey (later to be guitarist in legendary british pop band Badfinger...actually, that's the truth). After a move to Antioch, IL, he realized that even sucky bass players can get gigs so he migrated to playing both bass and rhythm guitar.

Honing his chops under Yngwie J. Weber's acute tutelage, he played such famous music halls as Salem Junior High's Grade School's Auditorium. Senior year of High School saw him catch his big break as he formed his first official band Safe Haven with Weber and Chris Lienhardt (who would become world famous as the Awful Truth's photographer). Countless sold out house parties at the Baker Household would lead to a chance meeting with Mike Lawrence and Doug Burke as they were making out with two chicks at a Def Leppard concert. This led to many successful Lawrence-Baker bands including M.T.Gunn and the groundbreaking Upside Down with Weber, Lawrence, Baker, Ryan Ward on Keys and Emmitt Lipinski on Bass. Other variations of this lineup flourished and awards (including a complete trouncing of the competition in the Antioch High School Battle of the Bands) would follow.

Eventually, "real life" would beckon as college graduation put an eventual end to the lifestyle. A long torrid life of broads and booze would put him into a spiral....wait a minute, that's from my future text for "Behind the Music." Anyway, over a decade later, the itch overcame his ability to scratch and years of talk turned into the creation of the Antioch Supergroup - THE AWFUL TRUTH.