Miles Bluffton Blues Band

Travel back to Ft. Wayne, circa 1967, and meet the
Miles Bluffton Blues Band.

Mike Madrid - Bass
Gary Sauers - Drums
Cliff Webb - Guitar
Cliff Fortney - Piano - Voice

Gary: Me and Cliff Fortney were really only 15 but lied to be cooler. LOL. We were just a home town band with all the big dreams. The Journal Gazette News paper in Fort Wayne had a "Band of the week or month" thing going on and we got our pictures in the paper by just existing. All of us in this band still play in bands to this day, as a hobby. We just played school dances and birthday parties and for any reason really.

Mike: We played a lot of Beatles, Who, Yardbirds Kinks, and were trying to get a set with all original stuff. We played in the '60s. Parks, schools, Battle of the Bands at the Coliseum.

Gary: At the time of that news paper picture we just got interested in blues bands and fancied ourselves as down and dirty pay en our dues blues cats. LOL. Truth is shortly after that, we went right back into out first love which was and still is the British Invasion music. We loved the music, but we just weren't good enough to sing and play those songs. Blues took very little talent and pretty much no singing or harmony ability at all.
We did not make any records, we just loved playing and
being in the whole 60's scene.

Where are we now?

Mike plays bass to this day mostly in church.
Cliff Webb plays to this day in Fort Wayne and is a fine jazz guitarist.
If you Goggle Cliff Fortney you may see that he did make records with a band he formed called Zelda. He also got 2 auditions with Genesis when Peter Gabriel left the band. If Phil Collins didn't decide to sing, Cliff Fortney may very well got the job. He plays flute, harp, keyboards and sings very well.
As far I (Gary) go, I am a Beatles tribute drummer. I am in rehearsal now with a all Beatles band to start playing this fall called THE BEAGLES.

Wow, what can I say, great contribution from the band, great history, guys that are still good friends, and still play music. Isn't life grand!!