"20 Years Later" has been made up of various friends from the Mckees Rocks area since 1999. It all started in the Spring of 1999, when Anthony Rizzo, after a long hiatus from the band scene, bought a new Fender Telecaster and started to play again. He talked Jon Sicilia (a former band member and old friend), into dragging his drums out of the "Museum", and the two of them started jamming a little.

A few weeks later, Anthony ran into Mike Pendergast (another former band member and old friend) and told him that he and Jon were playing again (nothing serious though). He asked Mike if he would stop by and play some guitar. Mike agreed and another piece was added.

The three of them played for a few months, relearning some of the old songs and adding a few new ones to the list. In June of 1999 Mike ran into Jerry Lydon and told him that he was playing with Anthony and Jon again. (Not looking to start a band, just messin' around). Jerry offered to add some vocals to the mix, and the only thing missing was a Bass player.

Finding a Bass player proved to be more difficult than expected (it's a long story). So, Jerry volunteered to buy a Bass if the others would teach him how to play it. It took awhile, but he learned to play it (It turns out, he was born to play the Bass), and the band was complete (for the time being).

We started to play at private parties, as favors to friends. Without a full song list, we had to play some songs more than once, but after a few beers no one seemed to notice. It was a chance for old friends to get together, and hear some of their friends play some good old rockin' music. Things went better than expected and people started to ask where the band was playing next.

About that time, George Chieffo started to sit in on occassion, adding his distinctive sound from his Les Paul. George ended up becoming a full time member a few years later, when Anthony had to bow out.

During the Summer of 2003, the band was getting restless and wanted to start playing out once a month, to help pay for new equipment. The first gig was at the Norwood Inn (we played for free drinks). It went over so well, that we were invited back (for money this time and of course, free drinks). Soon other bars started to book the band, and a solid following began to form.

In June of 2004, George had to call it quits, and the band started looking for another guitar picker.We auditioned lots of people. Many were really good, but for one reason or another it wasn't a good fit.

Enter Steve Budkey. He had played with us at a couple of gigs, including our big "Toys for Tots" benefit at the Tap Club. In the past, Steve wasn't ready to play out on a regular basis, so we didn't consider him. Just when we were ready to give up, the bug bit Steve again. He called and asked if the band had hired a guitar player yet. We lied to him, and told him that we had the next Stevie Ray waiting to come on board, but seeing that he was an old friend, we felt obligated to give him the job. (We were damn lucky to get him, you'll know why when you hear him play).

The addition of Steve brings us to our present and hopefully final form. The secret to this band's success, is the fact that we are all friends (present and former members),and of course the good folks who come out and see our shows. We also have lots of friends in the music business. You never know who is going to sit in with us on any given night. Our goal is to keep improving and to start writing our own songs soon.

That's all I've got to say about that.