The Union Pacific Band goes back a long ways, as we described in our About UPB section. Since a lot of personnel have come and gone, below is some information on the current lineup.

Dave Donahoe – Lead guitar, vocals

Dave began playing acoustic guitar at 15, his inspiration being early rock and roll & R&B pioneers, particularly Chuck Berry, Otis Redding and many others. But the most favored style for Dave is Jimmy Reed’s vintage brand of blues. >> Learn more.

Ray Wilkerson - Keyboards, vocals

A seasoned veteran musician with 40 years of live performances, Ray is an “old school” keyboardist with roots in the 60’s and early 70’s. He relies on the sounds of the Hammond organ and various pianos that were prominent in the rhythm and blues, soul and early rock and roll days. >> Learn more.

Gary Crane - Bass guitar, harmony vocals

Gary got his start with several bands while in high school, including Linny, Dave & Co., and Union Pacific Band. He later worked with Nite Flite, Phoenix, Frontline and Night Shift. Gary could be considered the beginning and the end of the Union Pacific Band.  >> Learn more.

Bill Lockhart - Drums

Bill started playing music early in life.  He was in his first band at age 12 and they were called "The Invaders".  They played mostly Motown stuff, and since Bill was younger than the other guys his parents had to take him to practices and gigs for several years.  In high school, he and Ray Wilkerson began playing together in a rock bank called "Sad Sunshine." >> Learn more

Dave grew up surrounded by music. His mother was a musician and choir director and his father sang as well. Dave and his brother each had their own ukulele at a young age and learned to play and sing along.

Dave began playing acoustic guitar at 15. His inspiration was early rock and roll & R&B pioneers, particularly Chuck Berry and Little Richard, along with many others, plus an early and continued love of Blues after hearing Jimmy Reed's haunting guitar, harmonica and vocals.

He joined three bands while in college in Utah, with each band cutting a 45 rpm record (5 of 6 cuts recently found for sale on the web in 60's compilation CDs). The last of these 45's was with the Todes and was a top 5 hit in Utah and a chart hit in several western states.

   He played in LA on the Sunset Strip in the summers and recorded in two LA Studios.

After college, Dave returned to Richmond where he hooked up with a National Guard buddy and formed a duo. This quickly grew into a four piece band known as Linny, Dave and Company.

Linny, Dave and Company had several different bass players and drummers over the next four years until finally evolving into the Union Pacific Band. UPB became a well known, high-profile East Coast Entertainment band, working extensively at Virginia colleges with a truck full of equipment and a three person road crew. Family and work demands ended this in 1982 and Dave intended to do a duo. Instead, Nite Flite, another five piece “in demand” band resulted, but in 1987 Dave needed to reduce band time demands again, so Nite Flite ended.

But Dave didn't retire, as he played church gigs with friends for a couple of years, and then two former members of Nite Flite joined Dave and his friends to form the Jukebox Brothers. They played regularly in the early and mid 1990’s, and still play occasionally.

The year is 1995, as fate intervenes, the Satisfaction band was formed by Dave and Ray Wilkerson. Satisfaction was a “one bar” band until, one by one, the original members of UPB started to resurface, and in 2005, UPB was re-formed.

Dave's musical endeavors include many years of participation with his wife in a traveling church choir and accoustic guitar accompaniment for his wife, daughter or son in their vocal solo performances.

“Music is invigorating, creative and renewing and live performance can be magical” claims Dave. "R&R bands have also blessed me with the immeasurable PLUS of decades of close friendships in a brotherhood of great people.

This must be why he refuses to retire that guitar!

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Bill started playing music early in life. He was in his first band at age 12 and they were called "The Invaders". They played mostly Motown stuff, and since Bill was younger than the other guys his parents had to take him to practices and gigs for several years. In high school, he and Ray Wilkerson began playing together in a rock band called "Sad Sunshine." After high school he concentrated on college and did not get back into bands until after he was married in his mid twenties.

He played with several Country bands around Richmond, and then moved on to Rock/Top 40 bands. Some of the bands were, MainStreet, the Accelerations, MainStay and 45RPM. In the mid 90's he reunited with Ray to form the Satisfaction Band for a few years, and Ray recruited Dave into Satisfaction at that time. In 2009 Ray called with an opportunity for a second reunion in the Union Pacific Band and the time was right for Bill to "go around one more time".

Bill's favorite band while in high school was Three Dog Night, and other favorites over the years include, James Brown, Joe Cocker, Santana, Little Feat and Delbert McClinton. He prefers playing Rock music with underlying Funk and Soul influences, as that is where the roots of his music career are anchored.

Bill chooses to play extra deep drums, called "power toms" to achieve a richer, full-bodied, low end, and a driving sound.

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