Rhett's very first band gig, drumming on stage with his mother's band at a wedding reception

Rhett was the original Gopher.

A musical prodigy from a very early age, Rhett took up the drums in elementary school and developed a proficiency with them was hard to believe.  He wasn’t just a drummer, however.  In his 32 short years, he wrote, recorded, produced, and engineered countless recordings and never ceased to impress everybody who knew him.

Rhett almost literally dragged his three younger siblings into music, spending afternoons after school recording covers of songs by Yes and Bachman Turner Overdrive in the basement room that would one day become the Nuclear Gopher recording studio.

At the age of 12, Rhett began performing with an oldies cover band called Hubcaps and Hearts.  All the other members were adults in their 20’s or 30’s but Rhett routinely demonstrated himself to be the most versatile and talented musician on stage.

Rhett gets a present from the other members of Hubcaps and Hearts

In 1986, at the age of 13, Rhett formed The Lavone with younger brother Ryan and a recording partnership that would span 17 years began. For the first three years, Rhett was practically the entire band. As Ryan struggled to learn to play guitar and contribute Rhett became a skilled keyboardist and songwriter, composing the majority of the music on the first three Lavone albums.

Rhett also excelled at making the most of the limited recording technology available to the group. He did extensive overdubbing even before they acquired a four-track in 1989. He never stopped pushing the limits of whatever recording technology he laid his hands on, routinely recording songs with upwards of 40 tracks such as Floatin’ on The Lavone’s final album, Isotope.

Anybody who knew Rhett knew this facial expression

Tragically, Rhett passed away on the 4th of July, 2005 due to blood clots that formed in his legs after a small bone break. At the time, The Lavone was no longer active, but Rhett was working with his second band Beyond Thompson, performing songs from his recently released solo album Londa, and working on a third solo album. He left behind his loving wife Anna and son Ian as well as thousands of friends.

Discography*

Solo

• I’m a Little Hummingbird (unreleased, 2005)
• Londa (2003)
• Rhett! (1993)
• Pink Static (unreleased, 1988)

* In addition to his solo discography, Rhett performed on and/or produced and/or engineered every album in The Lavone’s catalog, Visor Minds by Purple Triangles, both albums by The Frog, all three Sy Park albums and many others.

Rhett and His Beloved Wife Anna