Who we are

Michael Cantu - Michael grew up in Columbus Georgia, but has been a resident of Florida since the 1980s. Michael began to reveal his talent for music when he was asked to sing solo in the church choir at the age of nine. At the age of 13 Michael taught himself to play guitar and piano, and by the age of 21 was on the road with a rock band preforming at venues all across the country. Michael is also a talented songwriter that received some local airplay for a song that he penned called “EZ come EZ go.” In the early 90s Michael was offered the position as lead singer for the world renowned Derek Trucks band, which he was forced to decline for personal reasons. Michael has played in several local bands over the years including Bite the Bullet, The Lucky Dogg band, and Rodeo Drive, performing at Church Street Station and Disney World, and other local venues, Michael has opened up for many recording artists over the years including Charlie Daniels, Foghat, Toby Keith, Keith Urban and many more. Michael is a world-class singer, songwriter, and musician, and is arguably one of the most versatile vocalist in the nation. A cross between Lou Gramm, Paul Rogers, and Steve Perry. Michael’s vocal style is guaranteed to astonish even the most skeptical critic.

Jerry Hemby - Jerry grew up in Florida. He was born in West Palm Beach Florida, and moved to Deland Florida when he was 5 years old. Jerry became interested in music at the age of 14, and started playing in bands with his brother Thom. Jerry is a talented guitarist, singer and songwriter. At age 19 his music was reviewed by a record company out of England, and he was soon contracted with London Records to put out his first record, and his band started touring and opening up for the great Alice Cooper. After some years that band dissolved and Jerry moved back to Deland, where he regrouped with some of his former band members and started a band called Fantasia. Fantasia toured the southeast circuit for many years. During his southeaster tours he ran into many influential people like Kerry Livgren from the band Kansas. Jerry was also asked to play in the band Starbuck, who had the number one song in the US at the time. He was unable to accept the position, but was honored for the consideration. Many years later Jerry was able to work with world renowned guitarist Greg Howe, which helped improve Jerry’s guitar skills tremendously. He is very versatile with his guitar and and vocal backup work and is guaranteed to leave you pleased with his performances.

Alan Elam - Drums/Vocals, was born in Peoria Illinois, the son of a professional bassist/vocalist who worked everywhere from Chicago to Lake Tahoe to Nashville to Branson and everywhere in between. The family relocated often going wherever the gigs could be found, and were rarely in one place for long. Naturally, Alan’s direct exposure to everything musical - practically from birth - ensured he would follow in his father’s footsteps. He began singing at age 3, and teaching himself guitar, bass and drums at 8 years old. By 13, he made the jump to drumming professionally in bands with his father and other seasoned veterans who took him under their wings. He now has over 35 years as a gigging musician under his belt. In addition to his rock solid drumming skills, he has also logged considerable experience as bassist and guitarist in bands and duos around Central Florida. He has opened locally for National acts such as Johnny Rodriguez, Rick Derringer, Tracy Lawrence and Uncle Kracker, and travelled everywhere from Laughlin, Nevada to as far across the globe as Sweden. Previous bands prior to CHEG include: The Visit Wail, Cheap Thrills, Baby Punch Face, The Chris Hiatt Experience, The Buzz Band and Crashrocket, to name but a few. Alan’s rock solid tempo and vocals makes him one of the most sought after drummers in the state of Florida.