SAMMY ALVARADO
Bass Guitar / Vocals
When he was 8 years old, Sammy's father (who played guitar in an LA Mexican band) taught him a few chords on the guitar. At nine years old he toured with his father's band from California to Texas, mainly as a novelty, strumming chords.
A few years later, while in the Sixth Grade he began playing in his first band called, “The Reflector’s”. They played school functions, assemblies, and house parties in the neighborhood.
In 1973, at age 14, he traded his guitar for a bass and joined "Country Roads" a country band out of Pasadena. They played all the dive bars, honky-tonks, and “animal clubs” (Moose, Elks, Eagles) in the LA basin from Bakersfield to San Diego. Being underage Sammy would hide behind amplifiers, speakers, and curtains off stage, an experience he would never forget.
When he hit his 20th birthday, Sammy started & fronted a country-rock band called “Sammy and the Bandits”. Once again, he was back to playing those same old venues but occasionally toured up and down the west coast.
A few years later, when Sammy moved to Victorville, CA in 1986 he played off and on with the rock band “The Educators” (which was made up of schoolteachers) and occasionally with a band called “Phoenix Rising”.
Sammy changed things up again in 2000, He joined the variety band “Mainstream” and played at a variety of fairs and festivals all over Southern California.
When he moved to Golden Valley, Arizona in 2010, he jumped right into the music scene and played with a few local bands. He even found time to play with Johnny Cash impersonator, Mr. Jimmy Cantrel on his Las Vegas gigs.
In 2015 Sammy was on the move again, this time he moved to Grand Junction, Colorado where he played with a blues band and a Grateful Dead cover band.
Two years later, when Sammy moved back to Arizona he had a chance to sit in with "Country Fever" where he met their vocalist Linda Dorado When she went on to form a new band she invited him to play in it. The seeds were sown for “Arizona Thunder”. Sammy has been with the band ever since.
