Bob Boyd: 'Always smiling on the inside'

From the upstate hills of Rochester, New York, Bob Boyd was born into a family of musicians. His father was a piano player and conductor. Bob played piano while growing up, graduating from high school in 1976 and studied music at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.

He left college early and formed a band called Flash, playing piano, with a goal of ending up in warm Florida. Flash was a show band and their first tour was the “Great White North.” They went as far north as Thief River Falls, Minnesota when the temperature was -20F. They had to buy a heater to warm the oil pan of the band’s bus. From there to Sioux Falls, North Dakota, then Indiana, and finally, they got a month-long gig in Englewood, Florida in 1986 on the Intracoastal Waterway. They made their way down to Key West playing at the Pier House that same year.