The Quitters

The Quitters is a guitar-and-vocals duo: a right-handed, right-side-up finger picker — Stevie Coyle — and a left-handed, upside-down flat picker — Glenn “Houston” Pomianek. These gents were two of the original members of The Waybacks quintet, and Glenn was the long-time lead guitarist for Americana powerhouse Houston Jones.

Glenn Houston's guitarist influences range from Michael Bloomfield to Doc Watson, as shows in his mastery of both the acoustic and electric guitar. Glenn has been voted Best Guitarist by the Northern California Bluegrass Society and has shared billing with Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, Earl Scruggs, Doc and Merle Watson, Willie Nelson and countless other famous artists. He co-founded the Waybacks in 1999 with Stevie Coyle and Chojo Jacques, and was co-founder of the powerhouse Americana band, Houston Jones.

Stevie Coyle was inspired to take up finger-picking guitar by the first Hot Tuna album. After securing degrees in Theatre and Theology, he hit the road with The Royal Lichtenstein Circus, doing comedy, magic, wire-walking, sword-swallowing, juggling and cat-herding … literally. He has acted in theater, film, TV and voiceover, and has done standup comedy and has toured nationally and internationally, both solo and with The Waybacks. He now owns and runs his own high-end acoustic guitar shop, Mighty Fine Guitars, in Lafayette, CA.  .

To quote the Strawberry Music Festival:
Stevie Coyle and Glenn Houston make up the dynamic guitar duo, The Quitters. Having each quit some of the best bands in the business, both are late founding members of The Waybacks and each have performed at Strawberry in other configurations. Stevie Coyle has a long and illustrious career as an entertainer that began well before birth, and Glenn Houston's well decorated history in music is best known to Berryheads for his founding role of powerhouse Americana quintet Houston Jones. As individuals, both are renowned players in music circles. Now they have joined forces, to the delight of California audiences, to become a right-handed, right-side-up fingerpicking and left-handed upside-down flatpicking twosome.

“Mostly acoustic. Some electric. Much serendipity.”