A favorite shot of Speared Bill in '89. Scott Larson, Kevin Higdon, Kory Knipp, and Tim Bilyeu i love you Rockin' the f%$k OUT in Bentonville. AR '92 Ballowe and Higdon '94 A pile of puppies. Speared Bill reunited in '95 With Def Leppard's Joe Elliot in '99 Higdon, normal in 2005 In the years since he received his first guitar as a birthday present, Kevin Higdon has played in such illustrious venues as the Normal Community High School cafeteria, a cave in southern Missouri, the basement of a church, and a warehouse/biker bar in an alley somewhere in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He has performed in the parking lot of a public swimming pool, the parking lot of a country club, and the parking lot of a fraternity house (at this gig, the sound system was so loud the police came and threatened to throw the whole band in jail if they played another note, which would have been cool in a Motley Crue kind of way, but no one in the band could afford bail, so they stopped the show). Born and raised in the twin cities of Bloomington/Normal Illinois, Higdon spent most of his elementary school years down in his basement where he and his friends used hockey sticks as guitars and lip synched the entire KISS "Alive" album. Invariably, there was an argument about who got to be Gene Simmons. At sixteen, Higdon started playing guitar and co-founded his first band, Speared Bill. The orginal line-up included Todd Ballowe, an extraordinarily gifted guitar player who would become not only a good friend, but also a musical inspiration and partner in future projects. Also in the band was Kory Knipp on drums. Kory and Kevin's professional and personal relationships would continue to grow long after Speared Bill disbanded due to the fact that everybody's parents forced them to go to college. They eventually formed another band, Poorhouse, along with Kory's brother Kevin Knipp on lead vocals, and Ryan Martini on bass. Kory and Ryan later went on to enjoy success in the bands Hot Action Cop and Mudvayne respectively. In late '91, Higdon was invited to join an old school friend, Tim Bilyeu, in a band called Fatal Charm based in Northwest Arkansas. For over a year, Higdon played lead guitar with Fatal Charm before eventually heading back to central Illinois and starting an acoustic duo with Todd Ballowe. Ballowe and Higdon performed together for over a year, recording a now lost demo of original music and developing a loyal following before Higdon decided to go back to school and get his degree. Now located in Chicago, Higdon has spent the last three years teaching reading classes across the country, playing out occasionally, and writing songs. Musical affections lean toward anything with loud guitars and drums, hense his unflagging adoration of Def Leppard and the music of Butch Walker. As age and maturity have crept in (rather like a virus) he has also been influenced by Sting (with and without the Police), Indigo Girls, The Beatles, and the acoustic albums of Springsteen. He hopes that all of these ingredients have combined to make a palatable stew on his first EP Normal.