BIOGRAPHY | Rollin' Solands

Most of my family is from Omaha. Mom met Dad in the early forties while auditioning as a vocalist. He played sax in a swing band and it was love at first sight. They got married, started a family and in the mid-fifties we moved to Arizona. Tucson needed a good surgeon and TMC's Doctors Band needed a tenor sax man. The jazz sounds of the Great American Song book filled my head early on. I started playing clarinet in grade school.

I married my soulmate, Susan, who lived down the street. Her father, a foreign service officer, retired in Tucson to study the birds (watch "The Birder's Daughter" video on my Originals page). We began courting at Palo Verde High School. She loved dancing and song leading and I played in the marching and jazz bands. It was the sixties, and I became fascinated by the Mersey sound coming out of Liverpool and picked up guitar and started singing. Upon graduation I attended NAU in Flagstaff. I played in the NAU marching and concert bands and became blissfully immersed in Flagstaff's guitar picking folk scene.

After graduation, Susan and I married and moved to Flagstaff. We worked odd jobs and I played in a local folk/rock band. After two years we put our belongings in storage and spent 3 months camping across the country. After this incredible adventure we came back to Flag. We needed to find real jobs, settle down and start our family. We packed up and moved back to Tucson.

Now, fast forward 45 years. After a long and rewarding career with Tucson Federal Credit the kids are grown, Susan's still dancing and we love sharing our music with you!