Most of my life I have considered myself a huge fan and follower of classic rock and roll music until I found myself in the company of a pretty good professional guitar man and the legendary rock journalist, Steven Rosen. I soon learned that I knew almost nothing about rock and roll except for, maybe, the name of the song and, maybe, some of the lyrics. I decided to ask around to see if others felt the same about their knowledge of the individuals who brought us the music of our lives. Although many felt they knew pretty much everything about rock and roll based on the fact that we all actually lived it, few were able to give me the names of members of the band except for the obvious players who were in the spotlight like Jagger, Page, Clapton, etc. This new found information prompted me to think that maybe we would all like to get to know these great music makers a little more intimately! Being a lifetime entrepreneur the thought occurred that we should actually bring these guys center stage and give them their fair due! Hence we bring you RockGodz Hall of Fame!
Singer / Keyboard Rocker Francis Buster Akrey started his musical journey in Greece, New York. Classical recitals from age 5 soon turned into Rock and Roll stages and Buster’s unique style of live and recorded performances began. Honored with an MMA Rock Record of the Year Award in 2011 for his solo album “Red”. Buster is considered to be one of the great Singer, Songwriter, Hammond players in the music industry today.
“ There’s only one Buster. Precision, passion and amazing solo’s, love his work, always a first call. “
Rob Jacobs Grammy Award Winning Engineer and Producer
Buster’s long list of credits include: The Power Rangers, Steely Dan, Peggy Lee, Zacka Creek, Burt Bacharach, Danny Gans, Shaka Kahn, Loveland, The Wheels, Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp, Power Cuts, Stevie Wonder and Jimi Blyss just to mention a few.
Kevin “Dugie” Dugan has been in the guitar tech trenches with some of the best guitar players in the world. Beginning in late 1980 and early 1981, he made sure bassist Michael Anthony had everything he needed to perform his duties as one-half of the rhythm section in Van Halen. Within a year, he was promoted to band crew chief. He would later serve as Anthony’s bass tech in Chickenfoot. Along the way, Dugie has worked his magic with everyone from the Raspberries and the Romantics to Fleetwood Mac, Lita Ford and Poison. Dugie is a rare blend of mad technical skills and an innate ability to stay calm during a crisis and fix the problem. He wears many hats and over his four-decade plus career has acted not only as bass tech but as guitar tech, drum tech, stage manager, road manager and security. In 2015 Dugie was inducted into the RockGodz Hall of Fame and presently he remains as Michael Anthony’s guitar tech and travels with Sammy Hagar’s band Circle.
With an unmistakable style that can best be described as innovative, Daniel has been a professional musician and touring artist for 25+ years. A long time drummer and producer, Daniel is also now expanding his attention to guitar and the growth of his newest venture, Sixx Gun Music, an online as well as brick and mortar retail site for his custom built guitars, amps, and all of the other world renowned brands. Credits include NBC/CBS studio sessions, and performances with artists such as Meatloaf and J. Geils. Daniel was also selected to perform as well as work as one of the music directors for president Clinton's second inaugural ball. Currently he divides his time between live and studio work, as well as the expansion of his custom instrument line at Sixx Gun Music.
Southern California based photographer Don Adkins has been photographing the world of music or over 3 decades. Don has extensive archives of more than 200,000 images to showcase some of his favorite & significant rock images. Self taught as a photographer, by first borrowing his father's 35mm camera, Don learned by trial and error . Always technically savvy (being an engineer by background), he was able to figure out the technical aspects of photography and marrying this with his great passion for music, photographing musically important events and having the inherent sense of timing of which moments to capture. Along the way a coupe of lucky breaks occurred, being at the right place and right time during the formation of local groups such as Berlin, Toni Childs & Motley Crue, but also seeing the rise of artists such as Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Queen and more. Don was able to build relationships with artists, managers and record companies which has turned into over 20 record covers, various publicity campaigns and assignments for publication as well as rock TV shows that have appeared on MTV networks, FUSE TV and Showtime. In addition to photography Don worked a day job in the world of aerospace, being a program manager and director for several spacecraft related activities. Don has since retired from aerospace and now focuses shooting major artists as well as working with emerging and independent artists and also shows fine art images regularly at galleries in Southern California.
Spanning over 50 years as a successful executive in the music entertainment industry, Bob Bender has worked in almost every facet of the music business. His outstanding
accomplishments include producing over 300 tours, festivals, and concerts throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Japan, along with managing and working at multiple record labels. As a Tour Manager, Bob was a part of the 1989 Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band tour, along with representing such artists over the years, including Billy Preston, Dwight Twilley, Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam, Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter, A Flock of Seagulls, Mark Lindsay, heavy metal act Anvil, the 1990 New Kids on The Block tour, and the legendary Gene Pitney among so many others. While Manager of Artist Development for Curb Records, Bob represented such artists as Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Jo Dee Messina, and Hank Williams Jr. He oversaw Curb’s Christian retail segment helping develop it into a million-dollar division which led him to become Curb’s Director of Sales for the label. After leaving Curb Records, Bob went on to represent legendary Michael Martin Murphey’s record label, WestFest Records. Under Bob’s direction, Murphey re-released his 1970’s hit single “Wildfire” with popular country group Lonestar. Murphey’s new mix made its way to mainstream radio after an absence of over 20 years with 400+ plays by country radio stations as well as being featured on CBS’s Late Night with David Letterman. Other television career credits include promotions and infomercial marketing campaigns for various country, pop, and Christian artists. Bob produced, co-produced, and marketed numerous concert DVD projects, including Johnny Cash’s brother Tommy Cash’s Fade to Black concert special. A sought-after speaker and podcaster, Bob speaks on the business aspects of the music industry at various industry and consumer events including Canada’s annual Indie Week, the Ultimate Music Business Summit, Smartist U, and Podfest, the world’s largest annual podcast convention featuring over 70 speakers from around the world. In addition to hosting the hit podcast show “The Business Side of Music”, which has been ranked as one of the Top 7 music industry podcast shows to listen to by Spotify, and has over 300,000 listeners in 120 Countries around the world, he’s also producing other podcast shows, including “2 Dudes Talk Money and Music” and the hit podcast series “War Paint with Lorrie Morgan” thru his Lotta Dogs Productions (LLC) Company. He’s currently in development on a 3rd podcast series titled “Stories My Father Told Me” which he will be co-producing with his daughter Erin to coincide with his upcoming book. Bob lives in Nashville TN with his wife Debbie, dog Buddy, and cat Finnegan, and is a 2023 inductee into the “RockGodz Hall of Fame.