J. Jody Jones, a member of the Quarter Draw Band as a bassist player, singer, and producer, as well as one of the true nice guys who played the second ‘Stache Bash in 2007 -- passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday morning, Dec. 18, 2009, from pancreatic cancer.

As his bandmate and brother in mustache Marty Richter wrote of Jody, “It was a privilege to know Jody and to play music with him. He will be missed. A lot.”
 
A resident of Wood River, IL, Jody listed his age as “old enough to remember Howdy Doody and Hopalong Cassidy.”  After seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, he talked his folks into buying him a six string acoustic guitar, which he promptly modified  into a four-string bass.  The first song he learned to play was Bill Doggett’s 1956 classic, “Honky Tonk.”
 
Jody played in numerous bands over the years – country bands, blues bands, hard rock bands, classic rock bands, top forty lounge bands, horn bands, even a grunge band.  He played in a country band in England, a lounge band in Colorado, blues and pickup bands in Florida, and what had to have been one of the only hard rock bands in the Persian Gulf in the 70s.  His first band, the Jagged Edge, played the old Collinsville Ballroom in the 60’s. 
 
Always self-effacing and affable, Jody described his style as “holding down the bottom ... just keepin’ it ‘tween the lines, in the groove.”  He could play any style, from walking honky tonk two-steps to blues shuffles to rock, and was a gifted harmony and lead vocalist.  He also was the primary producer and engineer for Quarter Draw Band’s studio material.  He truly was the heart and soul of QDB. 
 
Jody was a Vietnam veteran, and worked as a maintenance instructor for an airline.  At his request, there will be no service for a few months.  We’ll provide more information when we have it.