Turning Back

Groove and Soul. They're feelings that can't be taught. You either have them or you don't. They're what get you excited, get you off your ass and on your feet screaming and shouting 'til the sun comes up the next morning. Groove and soul, that was High Noon!!! High Noon was formed in early 1989 when childhood friends and California natives, Ken Hitsman (guitar) and Sam Persons (bass), left their previous band to form one more to their liking. Ken was working at a local guitar repair shop, "Music Works", when drummer and New Jersey native Mike Patterson came in one day. "I noticed Mike was wearing a Drummers Collective t-shirt" recalls Ken. "I asked if he wanted to jam and we had the core." The three core members, along with friend and soon to be band manager Jim Foote, came up with the name "High Noon". An ad was placed seeking a vocalist in a local music magazine called "Music Connection" and the audition process began. In June of '89 vocalist and recent Buffalo, New York transplant, Jim Zappa, spotted the ad, liked the name and made the call. Jim, unlike many others who auditioned, came in and started improvising on the spot. "I remember them running all over the rehearsal studio like it was a show" recalls Jim. "In addition to saying to myself 'who does this at rehearsal?' I said, 'this could be fun' and started singing. That was how I came up with ideas anyway so it was a natural thing for me to do." It was that skill and great range that landed Jim the gig. The band quickly wrote a set worth of tunes and booked the first of many High Noon gigs on July 31st 1989. High Noon was soon playing all over Southern California from 89 to 93. A majority of those shows were on the infamous Sunset Strip in Hollywood, Ca. Gazzarri's, The Whiskey, The Roxy and the Troubadour all played host to High Noon at one time or another. The band would also travel regularly to Orange County to perform at The Marquee. San Diego, Arizona and even Cabo San Lucas played host to High Noon shows. Many of those shows were in support of national headlining acts of the day such as: Badlands, Babylon A.D., Hurricane, and Rhino Bucket to name a few. The band also established strong friendships with members of Badlands and Great White. Greg Chaison, bassist for Badlands, personally invited the band to open for them at a gig in San Diego. Great White keyboardist/guitarist Michael Lardie would help start the recording of the bands second demo. Later those tracks were added to by friend and legendary producer Michael Wagener (Skid Row, Dokken, Extreme) who also mixed the entire demo. Working with "Wags" was an amazing experience and one which the guys are still grateful for to this day. That demo was shopped to record companies and garnered some interest but unfortunately no deal was ever made. It did, however, gain the band some worldwide acceptance in Europe and Japan, even placing "Have My Heart" in the top 10 in Belgium. Unfortunately, like so many bands before and after, High Noon started having internal problems. Original drummer Mike Patterson left the band to attend to personal matters in February 1992. He was replaced by former "Funhouse" drummer Jaime Harris. The band carried on with Jaime for about another year and a half, but with the coming of grunge the writing was on the wall. High Noon played it's last show on August 15th 1993 and rode off into the Hard Rock sunset. The guys still stay in touch and remain friends to this day. Mike and Jim both eventually relocated back to the east coast, with Mike back in New Jersey and Jim now in Orlando, Florida. Ken, Sam and Jaime still remain in Southern California.