THE INVADERS
Years Playing 1964 - 19??
Members:
         Jack Davis - Guitar
         Jim Akin - guitar
         Arnie Reeves - Drums
         Carl Portie - bass (replaced by Joe Gray, then Greg Bloom)
Releases:
Members came from: The Aristocrats (Falls City)
Members went to:The Del Reys, The Knights of Day, Rick & The Wanderers, The Garden Party, The Barracudas, Lincoln Sinfony, The Enterprise, Cotton

Whenever there is discussion of "great Nebraska guitar players", the name of Jack Davis is mentioned.

Davis moved to Lincoln, NE in 1964 and joined up with Hall of Fame Inductee, Jim Akin playing in the very popular Invaders. Also in the Invaders at that time was Carl Portie on bass, and Arnie Reeves on drums. After Portie left the band (moving back to Beaumont, TX) - Hall of Fame Inductee, the late Joe Gray joined on bass (complete with "Green" hair). Later, Greg "Jeep" Bloom joined on bass. Davis says this was "his favorite band".

Davis later played in The Del Reys, with Rick Cowling, Vance Stone (Hall of Fame Inductee with The Modds), & Stan Jacobson. That group evolved into The Knights of Day, mainstay at Robbie's Happy Corner on Cornhusker Highway in Lincoln (along with other great bands including The Eccentrics & Dani & The Roulettes). That version of The Knights of Day included Davis, Cowling. Joe Gray & Bruce Pursley. He then went back to The Invaders, which then included the great Jerry Jacoby on sax. Davis later played in Rick & The Wanderers (with Rick Simpson), The Garden Party (a Vocals harmony band including Joe Gray and Hall of Fame Inductee, Rick Bell (The Coachmen), The Barracudas, Lincoln Sinfony (with Les Meyers, Joe Hearn and Hall of Fame Inductee Bill Childs (J. Harrison B. & The Bumbles) on drums. In the late 60's - Davis, Tim Murphy, Les Meyers and John Thompson formed The Enterprise, an 8-piece R&B group. A vinyl recording was released by The Enterprise, which is now a sought after collectable. Although many players called The Enterprise their band over the years, a highlight was an occasional appearance of the then 14-year old "wunderkind" Steve Hanson on guitar. Hanson is also a 2000 Inductee into The Hall of Fame. The first live band and later house band at the legendary Zoo Bar (owned by Larry Boehmer) in Lincoln, NE was "Cotton" (aka Cotton Blues Band), that included Davis, Dave Trupp (formerly of The Eccentrics on drums), Hall of Fame Inductee Jim Cidlik (on keys/Vocals) and later George Bryan (Hall of Fame Inductee with J. Harrison B. & The Bumbles) on slide guitar. The Zoo Bar, named the top Blues Bar in the USA on several occasions, is also a 2000 Inductee into The Hall of Fame. After that, Davis played occasionally with Joe Gray and other blues greats in the Lincoln area. In the 60's Davis also worked in the "guitar shop" at Lincoln's Dietz Music (a Hall of Fame Inductee) - showing aspiring musicians guitar licks that they would still be using years to come. Davis has been an inspiration to many rock and blues musicians, still performing throughout the USA. His son, Jason Davis, who grew up listening to blues music all of his early life, is now a nationally known Blues-Man himself, fronting "Baby Jason & The Spankers".