THE STORY OF BIG DAWG & THE HOWLERS, THE OLD DOGS AND OTHER THINGS. 

One day in 2017, a man named Happy Jack moved to Ritzville. He had long been a guitar player and was looking to jam with some new guys in his new town. He put an ad on Facebook and stumbled across Big Dawg Bartlett. The two decided they should meet up and see if things might work out. Man, they hit it off right away and started looking for other players. Then, they found a bassist named Joel who was a cool dude and they became "The Old Dogs".  After trying out a couple of drummers including one dude who may or may not have had to check in with his parole officer for release to band practice (they found out after his audition - and NO he was not hired), they eventually found Danger Russ on Facebook and he said he could "beat the heads" whatever that meant, and he brought his drumsticks down and had a great audition.  Despite his obvious political differences from Happy Jack, he played along with the band just fine and they haven't killed each other yet.  Bassist Joel stuck around for a couple months even playing a couple of gigs with the band, but then Joel got a fancy job in a hospital far away and moved. That was when Magic "Hayman" Marc joined the band in Jan 2018.  Marc stroked the Bass guitar like Jack Nicklaus swung a golf club - smooth, natural and fearless. Right away the guys opened up for Country Star Jason Michael Carroll and would reunite with him again in 2022. Over the last 7 years, the band has played fairs, festivals, bars, weddings, funerals (well, celebrations of life parties), rodeos, car shows, birthdays, fundraisers and reunions all over the Inland Northwest. The beat went on even during Covid and for several years until 2023 when Danger Russ got sick and the guys had to find a replacement drummer. Enter Mudd. Mudd had many professional years of drumming experience and immediately made his mark in the group. Mudd joined the band and the guys were happy to have him, they played some cool gigs together all around Eastern Washington and evolved from the Old Dogs to "Big Dawg & the Howlers".  But, as things sometimes do, it wasn't meant to be with Mudd. Even though Mudd didn't work out as their drummer, the band remains friends with him to this day and he's welcome on stage with them anytime.  Thankfully, Danger Russ got better and rejoined the band a few months later. Then, Marc started jamming with a couple other people and brought Loretta over to practice on day in 2024.  She was new to the game, but eager to learn and offer to help anywhere the band needed, especially percussion along with Danger Russ!  We call her Sweet Baby Lo-Lo!  She came ready to learn and has worked hard to join the band. Now in 2025, the band continues to gig all around Eastern Washington and is finally working on an original album of their own music. Stay tuned!  

In no particular order here are some random shots someone took over the last decade... MORE TO COME still under construction...