![]() It was 1969 and Darren Walker was six years old when his parents moved to southwestern Iowa, where he came of age embracing the music of new and emerging rock bands. A few years later, when a teenager, he recalls traveling to a nearby rural community where acres of a cornfield had been cleared so that a flatbed trailer could be pulled in to serve as a makeshift stage for a rock concert. He watched in awe as Head East performed, a unique group whose music he quickly grew to appreciate. This concert essentially represented the opening moment of a journey that came full circle with his becoming the lead vocalist for the band years later. “Our family moved to Lanthrop (Missouri) from Iowa in 1979 and that’s where I finished my junior and senior year of high school,” Walker said. “I was interested in being an auto mechanic and worked for an auto repair shop for about a year and a half. I was then hired as a mechanic at a Jeep dealership and worked there from about 1982 until 1986,” he added. On June 9, 1984, he married his fiancée, Jill, and the couple later became parents to two sons. Tragically, they lost one of their sons to a car accident in 2018. Aspiring to be part of the rock music he enjoyed hearing, it was during this time he auditioned for the band Leather Toys despite not having any formal vocal coaching or training in music. Impressed by his potential, he was asked to join the band, with whom he performed at local bars and clubs for about a year. “After Leather Toys broke up, we put together Bad Gypsy but after about three years, we ran into some problems and that group ended,” he said. “Then I joined Toymaker’s Dream with Glenn Bridger, Greg Manahan and Eddy Jones, all musicians that were later part of our Head East adventure. We played our first show in 1994.” Maintaining full-time employment while also pursuing a part-time career performing with rock bands, Walker worked several years in the construction trade, eventually forming his own small HVAC business that he continues to operate. “There’s a living that can be made in bands—especially cover bands,” he said. “But that has never been my motivation. I always felt that if I did it for the money, I might be let down. I just enjoy creating music or representing that of others in a respectable manner.” Toymaker’s Dream played small shows until 1999, when they made the decision to go their separate ways. Another door of opportunity soon opened when the Kansas City-area band London Drive needed a vocalist, a vacancy that was filled by Walker. From 2000 through 2010, he enjoyed playing rock covers at various small venues with London Drive. Yet it was also during this time that an opportunity arose to become part of a rock band whose music he had fallen in love with more hat a quarter-century earlier. “I was approached by Roger Boyd (founding member of Head East) in late spring or early summer of 2006 about joining Head East,” Walker said. “I didn’t hear anything for a few weeks and thought it had all been forgotten, but in late August I got a call to audition in early September.” Walker, along with several local musicians he had played with in previous bands, rocked the audition with Boyd and were offered the chance to officially become members of Head East. He recalled, “Our first gig was Halloween eve at a Holiday Inn in South Beloit, Illinois. I think we played for about 20 people and 18 hay bales … and that was a little discouraging because the event had not been well promoted and there were so many other events going on in the community.” Their spirits were soon lifted when Head East played their next show at a casino in Hayward, Wisconsin, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of more than 2,000 fans. “That show was off the hook!” he exclaimed. “It was a little uncomfortable at first, to have all that attention on you by such a large crowd, especially since we had been used to playing bars and small clubs. It was both eye-opening and awesome, to say the least.” Elatedly, he added, “And here we are, 17 years later and still doing it.” Head East remains Walker’s musical focus although he still embraces opportunities to refine and maintain his vocal abilities onstage with other bands. In the last several years, he has performed with Purple Strangers, a tribute to Deep Purple, in addition to a Motley Crue tribute band. Other cover bands he has played with include Anthem and Bridger (the latter of which was named for former fellow Head East member Glen Bridger). More recently, he continues to enjoy sharing music with audiences through the cover bands K-Audic and N-Halen, a tribute to Van Halen. Head East has recently released the album “Full Circle” on Cleopatra Records. It features performances from members of the band’s current lineup as well as drum tracks from late drummer Steve Huston and the vocals of original singer John Schlitt. “I grew up listening to Head East and fell in love with their self-titled album (also known as the Road Sign Album),” Walker explained. “That was their fourth studio album but really turned me on to their music and the vocals of John Schlitt, which motivated me to search out their entire back catalogue. “Now, I’m a member of this great band and part of our success is that everyone emotionally climbs into the music to a certain degree and wants to deliver the best performance possible. The love of it … that’s why we continue to do it.” Jeremy P. Ämick is author of “Movin’ On,” biography of the rock band Missouri, in addition to the upcoming biography of Shooting Star.
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![]() The passing of a parent can lead to strife within a family as arguments can ensue regarding the true intent of one’s final wishes and the distribution of assets. The Zilligs, an early immigrant family to the Brazito area, suffered such a situation that resulted in a legal entanglement between sisters eventually settled through a decision of the Missouri Supreme Court. George Zillig was born in Bavaria in 1845 and, according to his obituary, immigrated to the United States in 1869. He went on to become one of the early settlers in the Brazito area and married Henrietta Werkmann in 1872. Seeking to provide for his family that grew to four sons and three daughters, Zillig opened a blacksmith shop in addition to farming. Very active in community affairs, Zillig was a charter member of Friedens Church in Brazito when it was organized in 1902. As a pillar within the community, he was also offered a special position of service to his neighbors. “Charles Arnhold has resigned as postmaster of Brazito,” the Daily Post printed on October 25, 1915. “His successor has not been named for the reason no one seems to desire the job and responsibilities attached thereto at the small salary paid. Mr. George Zillig has been offered the position.” Arnhold, like Zillig, was a charter member of Friedens Church and operated the Arnhold Store, established years earlier by his father. George Zillig purchased the store and it was later run in partnership by his children, Herman, William, and Lydia. “Mrs. George Zillig passed away this morning at the family home at Brazito,” reported the Daily Democrat-Tribune on November 26, 1923. “Mrs. Zillig was 74 years of age and highly respected in that community.” The concerns of family property and the beginning of strife between siblings began to unfold three years later, with the passing of their patriarch. The 80-year-old George Zillig died April 23, 1926, and was laid to rest alongside his wife in the cemetery at Friedens Church. At the time of George Zillig’s death, four of his seven children were living with him at his home in Brazito—his sons, Henry, William and Herman, and his daughter, Lydia. For many years, Lydia had helped care for her parents while also working full-time. In his will, Zillig left his land and home to Lydia, explaining that his other personal property should be auctioned and distributed among his children. The Zillig family operated the store until the mid-1930s, at which time the business was sold to Norman George Busch. A suit filed by Lydia against her younger sister, Emma Patzer, in the early 1950s noted, “Before this suit was commenced, all three brothers died single, unmarried and without issue.” Two years after their father’s death, in 1928, all of Zillig’s children conveyed to the Brazito Farmers Telephone Company for the sum of $50.00 a tract of land 100 square feet in size for the telephone exchange building. In 1934, Lydia deeded to the State Highway Commission a strip 40 feet wide of their home place for the construction and right-of-way for State Highway 54. The general merchandise store operated by the Zillig family for many years was never in question since the building had been rented and the business operated by George’s children. “(Patzer) contends that her father failed to name or provide for her in his will, and, therefore, died intestate to her; and that under Sec. 468.290 she was entitled to one-seventh interest in the land and has inherited additional interests from two of her brothers …” explained a Missouri Supreme Court case summary. By the early 1950s, Lydia Zillig, who never married, was planning to sell the homeplace and move to Kansas to live with her brother Otto. The suit would determine whether she had the legal authority to sell the property. “We think the reasonable construction of the will is that only Lydia was to have anything more than an equal share of (her father’s) property and that he meant that, except for the specific property given to Lydia, everything else went to all of his children equally,” the March 12, 1956, opinion noted. It added, “We, therefore, hold that (Emma Patzer) has no interest in the land involved.” The Miller County Autogram printed on October 21, 1954, “Several people from this community attended Miss Lydia Zillig’s sale at Brazito on Saturday.” On the same date, the Eldon Advertiser shared, “Miss Lydia Zillig, who has lived in this community almost her entire life is leaving for Kansas City to reside.” Lydia Zillig lived out the remainder of her days in Overland Park, Kansas, where she made her home with her younger brother. She was 89 years old when she passed away on August 3, 1972. Her body was returned to Brazito and interred in the cemetery of Friedens Church. “One only has to watch aging siblings scrap over the worthless pots and pans and scuffed furniture of a deceased parent's estate- like toddlers over toys- to see how desperate is the need to wrest some last, pathetic, tangible measure of their parent's devotion,” wrote author Victoria Secunda. What should rise to the top of the legacy left by George Zillig is that of a young immigrant who imparted his best in helping establish the Brazito community and a church, both of which have outlasted and outshined any remnants of forgotten family strife. Jeremy P. Ämick is author of the history compilation “Moments on the Moreau.” |
AuthorJeremy P. Ämick is an award-winning author and historian and dedicated to preserving music, military and local histories. Archives
July 2024
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