Dockside Band Legacy

The Dockside History

Members of any band come and go, but they are never far from your thoughts…   The Dockside Band has had a few people come and go and it would be unfair to not mention them as they helped grow the Band to what it is today!

Kip Tomlinson – Lead Vocals
Originally from Columbia, SC, Kip moved to the upstate of South Carolina 15 years ago.  Kip has been singing his whole life from kindergarten to college.  His influences includeRyan Adams, Van Morrison, Garth Brooks, The Eagles, and many other artists from various genres.  Most of all he just loves good music. Kip was with The Dockside Band from 2009 until 2011 as our lead vocalist and will be appearing with us from time to time.

Travis Ridley – Lead Guitar
Travis originally partnered with Derrick to form The Dockside Band in 2009. Travis’ took up guitar though he is a seasoned and talented drummer who has played in many bands throughout the area. Travis left The Dockside Band in late 2010 to pursue other music interests.

Bill Beall – Keyboards & Vocals
Bill has been around the block a time or two, having played as a professional solo act for many years in DC. His styles cover everything from modern to 50s. Bill performed with The Dockside Band from 2009 through July 2011.

Bennie Waddell – Lead Vocal
Bennie is a Greenville native who picked up the guitar at the ripe old age of 13 with plans to establish the next Aerosmith. While his other axe-grinding teenage friends were attempting to learn the latest licks of Joe Perry, Brian May and Jimmy Page, Bennie’s passion became an endless pursuit of emulating the charisma, vocal strength, and range of Steven Tyler, Freddie Murcury, and Robert Plant. In and out of local bands in the early 1980s, Bennie was hired as the lead singer of Jackyl at the height of the “hair band” era.  After two grueling years on the road, Ben decided to settle back down in his hometown working in the more stable environment of the studio. The hard work during the Jackyl years paid off leading to recording sessions in Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. He and his long time song-writing partner, Joe Porter, have a collection of close to fifty original songs.  With family now established in the Greenville area, Bennie began playing mostly acoustic solo, due, or trio gigs during the early to mid-2000s. A pursuit of a career as a visual artist in 2004 kept all musical endeavors on the back-burner until joining The Dockside Band in July of 2011 and played several gigs through September 2011

Chip McDonald – Lead Vocal
Chip found his love for singing in high school chorus and achieved all state honors five years in a row. Chip has been in “Who’s Who in American Music”, won a high school talent contest singing “Sweet Home Alabama” and from then on was hooked! After high school, Chip played in various garage bands then went professional and sang with The McCoys in Pennsylvania (They did the hit song “Hang on Sloopy”). Chip’s career took him to Texas where he was lead singer for Shadowfax and Silent Majority. In 1986 he returned to The Upstate and joined a local band called The Merge which played in the Clemson area for 8 years. Chip performed with The Dockside Band from September 2011 until April 2012.

John M. Hoyt – Bass, Vocals & Guitar
Originally from Fayetteville Arkansas where he played from 1978-1988, first in the country band “Easy Pickin’s”, then rock/blues bands; “Don’t Pass Go!” & “Drastic Measures” before moving to Los Angeles. While in LA, John did session work, played in multiple bands & performed at venues such as The Viper Room, The Whiskey, The Roxy and The Troubadour. Since moving to SC in 1998, John formed the Christian band “Jesus Fish” and took on pick-up gigs as they presented themselves. John joined up with The Dockside Band in 2010 as bass player, vocalist, writer, promoter and technology director. John wrote and arranged the fun “Carolina Baby” which the band played out at a few gigs but never was able to get a studio recording of. His wife, Pamela, served as audio, video and lighting engineer during his stay. They parted ways with TDB in April of 2012.

A few songs we did with these guys:

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off – Joe Nichols

Two Pina Coladas – Garth Brooks

Pretty Good at Drinking Beer – Billy Currington

The Truth – Jason Aldean

Drunker Than Me – Trent Tomlinson

Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band

Hey, Soul Sister – Train

My Kind of Party – Jason Aldean

Your Man – Josh Turner

Beach All Year – Original by Kip Tomlinson

Lights – Journey

Standing in the Dark – Original by Chip McDonald and former band

Carolina Baby – Original by John M. Hoyt