The year: 1993. The venue: a community college guitar class in the modest suburb of Pleasant Hill, California. The players: "Smokin'" Jay Jackl (rhythm guitar & vocals); Jimmy "Kiko" "Hollywood" "Midnight" Wrenn (bass & vocals); Josh D'dami (lead guitar & vocals); and Joe "The Studboy" Lujan (drums & snacks). Four guys with big dreams and relatively open schedules set out to take the tri-city area by storm. After some underwhelming early gigs that included a church smorgasbord and a one-off at Bronco Billy's Pizza Palace, Josh eventually left for greener pastures to join future Smokin' J guitarist and vocalist Kevin Kennedy's band Tubmblin' Dice. 

As fate would have it, Kennedy disbanded his own group (expressly, according to Kev) to join The Js. After hundreds of gigs, amassing a sea of adoring fans and an awareness of the band that began to extend beyond immediate friends, family, and local law enforcement, this "Classic" lineup recorded the mega-hit album Thank You For Smokin' in 1997, featuring an impressive array of cover tunes and several originals (copyrights pending).

As time passed and certain members' work furlow stints with the band wrapped up, The Smokin' Js ultimately morphed into the 1998-2015 "Golden Era" lineup of Jay Jackl (bass & vocals), Dave Andre (guitars & vocals), and Tim Carter (drums & vocals). Since that time, Carter departed to play lead guitar in the UK powerhouse band Kasabian, with close friend and drummer extraordinaire Roger Glomb taking over the Smokin' Js drum throne. 

The current-day Smokin' Js include the acoustic duo of Dave and Jay, as well as the acoustic/electric trio of Jay, Dave, and Roger.