Dave Stogner

Born in a place west of Gainesville, Texas, by the name of Saint Jo. Learned the fiddle in his teens. In the early 1950s, Dave Stogner came to Bakersfield. The Big Fresno Barn featuring Dave and his band became so popular it could have been called “Nashville West.” This became the place where the top Country Western entertainers wanted to perform, and who they wanted to perform with was Dave Stogner and The Western Rhythmaires. The band consisted of Dave, Jed Derusho, Sid Wollver, John Texari, Art Amaril, Pauline Graves, Jimmy Peterson, Bob Rodgers, Bob Thompson, and a couple of horn players used occasionally. It had two fiddles, a piano, a steel guitar, drums, rhythm guitar, a bass, and to make it sound full added horns - trombone, trumpet, saxophone and clarinet.