John "Skip" Graham
12-09-1961 - 03-11-2026

I first met Skip when I was 13. I was working my first job at Schroeder's Music Store. We both shared a love of music and guitars. We were just starting our "garage band" phase, which eventually turned into playing in real bands and small gigs that sometimes paid us. By the time we were 15 or so, we were both in working bands and would occasionally get to see each other play. His first official band was "Night Crew" with Carl Brown, Mark Vaquer, Dave Curry, and David Steinhauser. Later, Carl and Skip joined "Five Miles High", which was a pretty big regional act. After several years on the road, Skip settled back home and joined Billy Murphy, Mark Vaquer, and me in a group called "Breeze". Billy left, and Tim Anderson joined to mold a new band, "The Jetsons," in a slightly different direction, plus we had really good-paying house gigs. Skip eventually moved on to a real career but kept playing with bands like "The Turbo Brothers", "The Rogues", and "The Classics". He began taking his keyboard chops more seriously and took lessons from two of Savannah's finest musicians: Kenny Palmer and Joe Jones. Skip would frequent the local jazz club "Hard-Hearted Hannah's" and sit in with Joe, Ben Tucker, Eric Vaughn, Randy Reese, and many other true jazz stars that played there. He and I were also founding members of the "Otis Brothers," an 18-piece horn band fronted by Thad Stickand. We only played 2 jobs as benefits, and the club paid us in beer! (I think they may have lost money). Around 2000, Skip, Tony Arata, and I got to work with a talented young lady (Kristina Train). She has since played with some of the biggest names in the music world, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tal Wilkenfeld. 

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Skip is probably one of the most talented musicians I have ever had the privilege to work with and, without a doubt, one of the finest to ever hail from Savannah, and the world needs to know.​

Phil Hadaway