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* Korrie Wenzel, drums/lead vocals: Korrie, of Wessington Springs, S.D., comes from a musical household. His parents have a long history with live music. Craig played lead guitar for 30 years, including in the full-time road band Fools Gold and the regional weekend band South Gulch. Penny was the South Gulch drummer. Korrie was the founding member of the Jimmy River Band, which worked for six years, playing in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
He has been known to play harmonica while drumming, and also has made numerous appearances as lead singer with our bro band, the Black Water Band from Huron, S.D. In 2008, he worked more than 20 shows with the BWB throughout South Dakota and Minnesota and had the grand honor of opening for 38 Special at the 2008 South Dakota State Fair.
Korrie, who attended Dakota State University, is married to Cheryl, with two sons. They reside in Mitchell.
At present, he plays a Roland V-9 electric drum set, which he purchased at the start of 2009. He also plays a Gretsch accoustic set with Sabian cymbals and a Mapex accoustic set with really miserable cymbals.
* Rick Larson Jr., bass guitar: Rick, of Plankinton, S.D., spent almost six years in the Jimmy River Band, but his musical experience spans several bands. Most notably, Rick has been, and still is, a bass player in the local Army National Guard band. Not only does he play one weekend a month with the National Guard band, but he also tours with the group for two weeks each summer. The group, Sgt. Rock, has cut a CD and has played throughout the nation, as well as out-of-country.
Rick also has played with the bands South Gulch, Out of Order, Seven Days Gone and Aurora Nights. He lives in Mitchell with his wife, Jessica, and a young son, Ricky.
Rick plays a five-string Fender bass.
* Billy Lurken, lead guitar: Billy joined Korrie and Rick in 2008, playing for a bit as Jimmy River but also taking a part in the transformation to Signal 21 that began in the summer of 2008 and became official in October 2008.
Born in Rochester, Minn., he moved to Mitchell at an early age. He started playing guitar at age 9. He learned the basics through lessons, but learned his chops by listening to British Invasion bands, such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Hollies. Billy attended Moorhead State in Moorhead, Minn., and studied rock, classical and jazz guitar, as well as music composition. He graduated with a degree in music comp.
His former bands include a high school band called Lower Level, a hard rock cover band called Exit, an alternative band called Third Eye, a bluesy alt band called The Elements and an original band called Sir Troy. Billy has played on various studio projects and put on a bunch of miles with the band Natty Jack, a country band based in western Minnesota. He lived in Nashville for 10 years, playing guitar in music showcases for labels and on rock, country and hip-hop demos and spent a couple years as guitarist for the Charlie Degenhart Band. He still tours in South Dakota as a solo act, playing his catalogue of original songs.
Billy plays a Fender Stratocaster and a Gretsch Electromatic Hollowbody through a Fender Twin Reverb amp.
The alumni of the early and various forms of Signal 21:
*Al Aymar, lead guitar: Al, of Ree Heights, S.D., played with the Jimmy River Band for six years before moving out of state at the end of 2007.
*Matt Nepodal, bass: Matt, of Corsica, S.D., played with the JRB at various times as a fill-in, especially during the summer of 2006. He last helped out in the summer of 2008. He formed the band Star 69 and still plays with Starfire.
*Dennis Jager, lead guitar: Dennis, of Alexandria, S.D., helped out for a few shows in late 2007 and early 2008. He has a solo act called Jagermeister and also plays with the band Stompbox.
* Dave Sietsema, keyboard: Dave, of Mitchell, played with the JRB until November 2003.
* James Van Oort, bass: James played with the JRB until September 2002.