Biography
For a few short years, Sawdust Charley rippled the pavement down the arrow-straight highways of the flatlands in their double-van caravan. Aided by truckers, and trying to avoid Smokies, they crisscrossed the heartland, cheered on by the crowds in towns along the way. In these small Midwestern communities they found their calling, delivering their no-holds barred brand of original country-rock music to rowdy, appreciative audiences.
Sounds glamorous and exciting, right? But I'm afraid the reality didn't quite live up to that description. The band followed a schedule of playing three weekends out of town and one weekend a month in Wichita. The theory being that the band wouldn’t become overexposed in their hometown. This also gave the group an opportunity to build a following in the hinterlands, which was a slow and grueling process.
On many nights the band would arrive to play to an almost empty house. It was not uncommon to hear from the few in attendance that, “you should have been here last weekend, it was packed” or, “Pot County Pork and Bean Band is playing nearby, that's where everyone is.” The band started to refer to these situations as "Chuck Luck."
However, it was in these small Midwestern communities, that the band honed their craft of songwriting, harmonies, arranging and musicianship that allowed them to mold their music into something totally unique. Slowly the band began to develop a strong following throughout the region, and It was not uncommon for many die-hard Wichita fans to travel several hundred miles to attend the band’s out-of-town gigs. In addition to the regular road work, Sawdust Charley opened for such luminaries as Asleep at the Wheel, The Earl Scruggs Review, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
Built primarily from the group Sundance, the members of Sawdust Charley had been knocking about the Wichita music scene for almost a decade, playing in various groups, and many times with each other in different bands. When members of Sundance received late night phone calls from guitarist Bat Shunatona, informing them that he was unable to make the weekend gig at the 13th Street Electric Co., due to suddenly being double booked in the Las Vegas City Jail that the band called Jamey Ratzlaff to substitute. For some time, Sundance had been incorporating original songs written by Ratzlaff and his former Boulder band mate Gary Hopper into their set lists. This made the transition a logical and natural process. By the end of the first night, it was apparent that the final configuration was locked in place. The members were:
- Mike Ehrke – Vocals, pedel-steel guitar, acoustic guitar
- Doug Webb – Vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar
- Johnny Dondlinger – Vocals, drums
- Harry Dobbin – Vocals, Bass guitar, electric guitar
- Jamey Ratzlaff – Vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, sax, accordion
- Bob Feldner – Vocals, sound
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