The Cactus Rats
From The Secret History of the Cedar Valley
History
A Classic 80s 90s cover band with some originals. "A Party Band." Jason Lippard was a reall treat to work with. He's an Ames music master with a degree and a bottle of good whiskey. He taught me how to grunt and say "ahhhh the fuckers" in place of any person place or thing. He's an English teacher in Nebraska now.
While not any members coolest band they were ever in, The Cactus Rats were definetly something sonic for the band members to do while they finished college or got married.
Chuck Hoffman and Tyler Vincent came up with the concept for The Cactus Rats. They had met at the Cedar Falls Wal-Mart that Vincent works at, and where Hoffman invited Vincent to his birthday party and was surprised that he actually showed up. The two became fast friends and began looking for people to join their new band. Badker was the first to join, and the band made it their after-practice ritual to hang out at a bar/coffee-shop on College Hill called The Oasis, where they met Lippard. Since they had wanted to find a saxophone player from the beginning and got along with Lippard really well, he was in. Originally the band played without a bass guitarist, but later Badker recruited Johnson. The repertoire was a mix of originals with "classic alternative" covers, and the band had started to become fairly popular around Cedar Falls, but unfortunately things ended kind of badly, for reasons that are difficult to analyze but may have had to do with exacerbating the mental instabilities of just about everyone involved with alcohol consumption. Suffice it to say they had to end the band to save their friendships.
Band Members
- Jay Johnson - Bass
- Tyler Vincent - Drums, Vocals
- Blake Badker - Guitar, Vocals
- Chuck Hoffman - Guitar, Vocals
- Jason Lippard - Sax, Vocals
Discography
 Self Released CD ??? |
 Self Released CD 2005 |
