John Tate

It was the Beatles appearances on the Ed Sullivan show that really got me going. Growing up I was a huge fan of Elvis and rockers of that era. They inspired me to pick up a guitar, but it was seeing the Beatles playing and singing as a self-contained unit that gave me the feeling that I might be able to perform in a band. Before the Beatles there were a few bands playing around Leominster doing instrumentals, "Walk Don't Run", "Ghost Riders In The Sky", "Apache", "Sleepwalk...stuff like that. After the Beatles hit, the vocalists, like me, crawled out of the woodwork. And of course the Fab Four was the inspiration for a lot of us to try our hands at songwriting. My influences were/are Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Roy Orbison, Sam and Dave, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, the Beatles, the Byrds, the Stones, the Band, Crosby Stills and Nash, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder and Van Morrison. One moment in my musical career really stands out...my band at the time opened for Rick Nelson at a football field in Newburyport, Mass. Rick brought out a huge crowd and since we were a Rockabilly band we were well received by them. We got a chance to meet him later. Nice guy. We were also scheduled to open for him again the following winter at Jonathan Swift's in Harvard Square Cambridge, MA, but there was trouble with his plane and they couldn't fly out of Buffalo. Not too long after that the plane went down with Rick and his band. Rest in peace. Also: and this is just a little thing, but I was driving home from a gig one night, the moon was full and it was in the wee wee hours. I had the road to myself (along with the police cruisers) when suddenly Buddy Holly's song "Lookin' For Someone To Love" comes on the radio. I turn it up and think to myself, "I love this song and you never hear it." Somewhere during the second verse I realized that it was my band's cover vesion of the song being played on local radio station WCGY (50K watts), and I was doing the vocal.

Sammy Brown

The first time I heard honky tonk piano was my dad listening to Joe “Fingers” Carr, Ivory Rag. At that time I think the impact it had on me was more subconscious than any pursuit of the instrument. My father performed in local minstrel shows and was a frustrated musician, but he had one great laugh and a sense of humor to match. He used to say, “man, I’d love to play the piano like him.” Well, skip forward about 10 years and I was hanging around E.U. Wurlitzer in Boston listening to the Berkley students noodling blues riffs on the keyboards. I didn’t know what they were playing or how to play it, but I was determined to learn.
My first influences were two distinctly different piano players; Otis Spann and Johnnie Johnson. I bought as many Spann albums as I could find and just learned the licks. At the same time I had a good friend who was learning Chuck Berry guitar licks. I was listening to some great piano on those songs. I really didn’t pay as much attention to the “who” as to the “what.” It wasn’t until several years later that I acknowledged that it was Johnny Johnson rockin’ those songs, and he probably had more than a little to do with the writing of them as well. Some of my primary influences were the Allman Brothers Band (Chuck Leavell), Little Feat (Billy Payne) and Lynyrd Skynyrd (Billy Powell). I also love the Boogie Woogie New Orleans Piano of Marcia Ball, Professor Longhair, Dr. John and Mitch Woods and his rockin' 88's. I've played in more bands than I can count...and have the bad hearing to prove it. I've worked with some great musicians over the years, but I consider our current lineup at the top from a performing, writing and producing standpoint.
My goal is and has been to continue to grow as a musician and songwriter. Music has been one of those life-altering forces for me. It has brought me great joy and sometimes greater heartbreak, just like the songs we write.
I coined the phrase, “Boogie Until It Hurts”…I hope that never changes.

Carl Bergman

We always had a piano in the house. Johnny Cash was often on the stereo at home as my twin brother Keith started collecting his albums in 1967. Together, we attended our first concert at the Boston Garden with some free tickets that Keith had won on WBZ Radio for describing JC in one word or less (Fan-CASH-tic). Beginning drum lessons at 10 years old, Ringo Starr was the first drummer who caught my attention; followed closely by Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, John Bonham and Keith Moon. But as much as I liked the drums I liked listening to guitar players more (which is why I’ve always loved hearing CCH’s Joe Hannigan play). It was Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Joe Walsh until one day a friend gave me his copy of The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East . then I was a Duane Allman disciple. Southern Man next influenced my listening, and I could not get enough Neil Young: Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, CSN&Y, his songs all spoke to my soul as did his flannel shirts to my wardrobe.
In High School, I started playing in rock bands, and even spent some quality time in one with CCH’s Sammy Brown. The performance that stands out in my mind was at the Danvers High School Auditorium in January 1975 that featured DHS Alumnus and future rock star, Brad Delp, who befriended me at my after-school job.
After attending the University of Miami’s School of Music and being exposed to the likes of the Dixie Dregs and Weather Report, I realized that there were always going to be players who were better than me and that I should play for the sheer enjoyment.
Joe Hannigan, Charlie Ortolani, John Tate and I formed the original Cold Cold Heart project, shortly after Joe, Charlie and I left the Younger Gang. Together we played Ovations, Circle 9 Ranch and other clubs on a regular rotation. Joe helped to produce our first album, Prides Crossing which was a collection of all original music written by different combinations of CCH band members. With the release of that album soon came a parting of the ways.
In between that, local country talent Bobby Shepherd, asked me to play some gigs over the course of the next few years as did Tex McDonald with his band, Cheyenne.
Sammy, Joe and I first appeared on the same stage together at the DHS Class of 1975’s 20th reunion. We then resurfaced together several years later as TC (Tom Cullen) and the Torpedos playing rousing versions of drink-friendly music.
I met Boston rock legend Andy Pratt (Avenging Annie) at a Gary Shane studio session and in the summer of 2005, rehearsed Andy’s original material then played a handful of gigs.
In January of 2006, Melody and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We invited most of the musicians that had entered our lives over the years. It was on that day that the seed was planted to resurrect the Cold Cold Heart Band, whose web page you have been browsing.