The Crayons

The Crayons were a classic rock band from Kansas City that formed back in 1982..It was put together with best friends since grade school, Larry Kips and Gary Butler. They recruited the great vocals of Gary Charlson and lead guitarist Steve Davis to complete the group. With the current music direction of the 80's, the group thought it would be fun to re-visit the music they all grew up with. The 60's.... They would get together once a week in Butler’s closet size storage room to re-discover and rehearse the classic songs that were all so special to them. After several months of practicing, some of their friends told them they should start playing out somewhere so others could enjoy their music. They thought about it and approached the owner of The Harris House. A restaurant/club in the Westport district of Kansas City. Playing for a hand full of friends on that Monday night, it would soon grow to a full house over the next several weeks. The Crayons would provide paper and crayons for those to draw on when they weren’t on the floor singing and dancing. The drawings were then taped on their microphone stands for everyone to view. When the summer came around the group started performing on the roof top of The Harris House. It was the happening place to be. The Crayons were developing a very fun, loyal and dedicated fan base. These fans soon became their friends and were a huge contribution to their success. They would bring inflatable crayons and anything else crayon like to help make it a fun event. Kansas City’s favorite party band was now getting requests to perform at other venues like The Hurricane, Blayney’s of Westport, Backstage, Center Stage, The Walrus Inn, Beamers, Brewsky’s and more. Another boost to The Crayons popularity was the beginning of, 101 The Fox radio station. In 1985 The Fox became the first classic rock station in a major market to play classic rock music. The Crayons started getting requests outside of Kansas City and would book events at colleges, universities, corporate and private events. Over those six years, they had a lot of fun and made several friends who still today come out and support them. Their last show was at Blayney’s in 1988 in front of a record crowd. Soon after the last Crayons show, Gary Butler, Steve Davis and Larry Kips along with Jimmy Bond, formed the tribute band Liverpool. Liverpool “A Tribute to The Beatles” was inducted on March 7th, 2015 to the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Gary Charlson continued his solo career performing and writing music. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The CRAYONS REFORMED - 2013 Still very good friends after 25 years, The Crayons original members decided to reform and bring back the songs, the sound and excitement that was so contagious to all. Vocal harmonies are now tighter than ever and the authentic sounds are clearer and crisper then before. Peace, Love and Grooviness. It’s what’s happening...............again!