ABOUT WILDCARD

Debbie has always had a passion for music. In high school she joined her first band which took her on the road for a couple of years. Debbie then took a position with a national retail chain and it was during this time she was involved in Calgary's first singing telegram company. Debbie later took on a role with a major record label where she was employed for many years as a promo/sales rep for southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.

She has performed jingles and sung on numerous projects in the studio with other artists. Debbie has played in many bands over the years and is happy to say that she is one of the original founding members of Wildcard.

Gary has been a drummer since his early twenties. He started his musical career playing the Cabaret circuit in Calgary. Gary would often freelance for many groups and enjoyed participating in various local jams. Gary performed in numerous groups as opening acts for Prism and Emerson Drive. He is proud to be one of the original members of Wildcard!

 Jeff has been playing bass since he was 12 years old playing the Toronto bar scene as a teenager. He then pursued a career in the record business helping A list artists achieve their dreams and goals. He is a successful songwriter who has had some airplay and has even written a song that appears on a Fred Penner album. Now that's eclectic!

Mark was born in Scotland at an incredibly young age. He learned to play guitar as a teenager in a desperate attempt to get girls to like him. As a child of the 80s, he was heavily influenced by Glam Rock and Heavy Metal bands that either dressed like women or sang about the devil... Mark is still quite confused about that to this very day.

Having lived in Scotland, England, Saudi Arabia and now Canada, Mr. McKegney has been there, done it all and got the t-shirt - which was then promptly returned because there was a weird stain on it that gave him the screaming willies.

Mark loves playing anything with 6 strings on it, but mainly plays Gibson and Ibanez guitars, as well as Jeffrey's bass when he is not looking. His musical influences are extremely wide and varied, much like his waistline. His guilty secret is a CD by The Spice Girls, which he keeps hidden behind the toilet cistern next to his DVDs of the Twilight Saga.

Above all else, Mark loves being in a band with musicians that share his warped sense of humour (See biography for details).

A true drifter in the underbelly of the Calgary musical cover scene for the last several years, this rogue songstress can’t get enough of a fresh rendition of an old song. Lately, she's been aggressively hitting the contemporary tracks with a vengeance.  Sometimes it's butchery, but on occasion it passes for artistic expression. 

Melody proudly embraces an overly eager attitude to perform and is addicted to mash-ups as well as messy dancing. She sees it her mission to bring an element of overblown high notes and melodramatic trills to every stage she can. Music is her weapon of choice. Her banter is inappropriate, but amusing. She aspires to have fun and get the crowd to as well.

A true show-woman devoted to entertainment in all its aspects, and with a penchant for cursing, she delights in the dramatics and is standing by to bore or shock…whichever comes first. Sounds like a show…

She believes band life is a journey, and a night of music should be no different.

With movie soundtracks for inspiration and wardrobe from every decade, she gives great regard to a musical theme. 

She likes to sing almost everything – specializing in the soul, pop, rock and power ballad vein but she’s also dabbled in jazz, musical theatre and has been a voice for many a cartoon and jingle.

Most recently Melody has been trying to rap... God help us all.

Mom by day, musician by night, with a day job and a thorough treadmill regime in place, Melody is happy to call this city home.

She hails from Toronto, but don’t use that against her.

At the tender age of six, Ryan began tinkering away on the piano and shortly after, picked up guitar and bass. He studied vocals and piano at Southwest Texas State University—mostly because the fashion department rejected his application. Since 1993, he’s played in several quintessential Texan rock and country bands (Derringer, Sheila Marshall, The Triumphs), toured southern US, Canada, and Mexico, and grew the biggest ego anyone had ever seen—because everything’s bigger in Texas, right? Don’t worry. He got over the fashion thing and became a beloved music teacher. And he also managed to wrangle in that rock star ego. 

But if you request Van Halen, you might see it make an appearance.