Rick Eidson (a.k.a. The_Juke)

Rick was born in San Diego, California in 1970 and moved to the mid-west in 1973. Starting at a very young age Rick would often attend rock concerts and summer jams with his mother and uncles. Some acts included greats like Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Rush, Foghat, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Allman Brothers and many more. This lay the foundation for a strong musical background that would span decades. By the mid 80's, Rick had attended hundreds of concerts and continues to do so well into the present day. Some notable concerts have been Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Rush an unprecedented 18 times. The greatest influence on Rick would fall to his uncle Tony, who for many years played guitar with bands like the Radio Actives, City Limits and The Night Crawlers. Other family members were also very prominent in the music industry - one of which is a member of the Rock-a-Billy Hall of Fame. Just being around so much musical talent has worn off on The_Juke.

Rick started his first band in mid 80's and would become a member of many bands to come. Most of them were original metal bands; a lot of them just noise. A large portion of the 80’s was spent behind the scenes as a guitar and drum tech or running lights and sound until the death of his best friend, Jim Austin. After this tragedy, Rick left the music industry for almost 5 years.

During this hiatus Rick would marry his high school sweetheart, Mary, and have two children (Brittney BreAnn and Neil Alexander Lee). One is named after his favorite band Rush. Rick would try many times to get a new band together but found it difficult to rejoin with past friends and musicians until 2005 when he and Mark Williams would set out to form RiverGard. RiverGard played many years performing for festivals, private events, corporate parties and many clubs around the KC Metro area.

In 2008 Rick formed another band to host jams and fill the down time when RiverGard was not playing. This band became CrossThread and has been playing strong for the last two years. Rick left RiverGard in 2009 and played full-time with CrossThread.

Rick has also played many dates filling in with Tracy Allison, Trip Hazzard, Rick Wilson and many other musicians.

Rick is a board member for the Jackson County Music Preservation & Thunder Ridge Studios in Grain Valley Mo.