It all started in 1996 as the Chebon Tiger Band, featuring Chebon (guitar/harp/vocals), Mike Satawake (guitar/vocals), Donny Cofer (drums), and a rotating cast of others. The band, based in Oklahoma, shared a love for blues, rock, and soul music – not the kind you hear from wedding bands, but the gritty music that was born in the American south.

After playing regional gigs for three years, Chebon took an opportunity to move to Seattle, WA, where he put a band together and began gigging within two months, and immediately started garnering attention on the festival circuit in the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, Donny put in a stint with Scott Keeton, touring the country and playing with legends like Bo Diddley. Mike stayed busy playing over 200 gigs a year with the Sugar Free Allstars, playing gigs in a regional circuit that included Memphis, Fayetteville, Little Rock, and all over Oklahoma.

In late 2003, Chebon came back to OKC, reunited with Mike and Donny, and spent some time playing festivals, writing songs, and searching Oklahoma for the perfect bassist to round out the lineup. After a few months of different players rotating through the band, Clint Strickland (bass/vocals) found his way to the group. Clint’s classic bass lines and warm tone matched up perfectly with Donny’s tasty-yet-solid funk, and everything else was easy. Chebon and Mike have been playing together for so long, and play together so well, that most people assume they’re brothers.

The current members of the lineup combined have over 50 years of professional gigging, and have jammed with and shared stages with such seasoned pros as Gov’t Mule, Stanton Moore, B.B. King, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Gamble Brothers, Delbert McClinton, Indigeneous, Echo and the Bunnymen, and many others.

All four knew at the first jam session that this was it – the lineup that everyone in the group had been waiting for their whole careers. And just like that, HOUSE was off to the races…