Rock Shop owner has rock in his blood

March 25, 2005

BOB MARTINSON/Frontiersman reporter

WILLOW - Whether he's playing some hard-driving licks on a metal guitar or shooting an archer's bow, this guy's a real rocker.

Doug Theiner and his wife, Marcia, own the Rock Shop in Willow. The shop was located on Bogard Road for many years, but is now located along the Parks Highway on prime real estate in downtown Willow. It sells a variety of goods used for arts and crafts, such as beads, furs, feathers, fossils and, of course, rocks.

It's not just these kinds of crafts that Doug is into; he is a well-known archer and is widely known for his handmade bows and their quality and design. He's been on the cover of "Primitive Archer" magazine, and he even taught bow-making classes at Mat-Su College for two years, showing students how to make high-quality bows of their own, from scratch.

"The Rock Shop" is a good name for Theiner's business, as he is also a bona-fide former rock star. His band, "Ravage," from the late '80s, was featured in "Hit Parader" and "Metal Hammer" magazines. The band opened many major rock shows in Chicago, selling albums worldwide. Those were the days Theiner went by the stage name D.D. Rand and had big hair, as shown on the band's "Wrecking Ball" album cover.

When he was a 16-year-old in the early '70s, Theiner heard his first major rock album at a friend's house.

"It was the 'Grand Funk Live' album and right away I decided I had to play, that's what I wanted to do," Theiner said. "So I bought a used Sears guitar and amp. I think it was 55 bucks and I didn't know how to play, I didn't know anything, but I had a friend who had a band. Well, I told them that I wanted to come over and play, and I badgered them and they let me come over and plug in. I didn't know how to play at all and they all laughed at me."

Theiner went home and practiced by himself.

"I just learned how to play out of sheer will power, basically," he said. "My mom and dad threatened to have my guitar and amp impounded by the police and my mom would yell and throw stuff down the stairs at me."

But after six months of self-training, he got another audition with the band.

"I came in and played and after about one song their lead guitar player just got up and unplugged his guitar and quit the band, right then and there," he said.

Theiner had gotten better, much better.

Theiner went back to Illinois in the summer of 2004 for a high school reunion and the former lead guitar player was there and said to him, "Man, the first time we saw you, you couldn't play a lick and then when you came back you were like this superstar or something, it was so weird!"

Theiner told the man he hadn't wanted him to quit the band, but that he just wanted to play with them.

Theiner played in several different bands and when he was 19, he moved up to northern Wisconsin, where he met Marcia. He put together a three-piece band. The band played all over the area and in Canada, but Theiner wanted to make it big, so they moved back down to Chicago. This was when Ravage began.

The band recorded "Wrecking Ball" in 1986 and it received good reviews, lots of airplay and sold well around the world.

"We were really getting big, we had four record companies wanting us to record and the label we signed with, Shrapnel Records, is known for being a guitar player label, they did all the guitar virtuosos, so that was quite a feather in my cap," he said.

Theiner played a Gibson Les Paul and wrote about half of the songs for the band, which had great momentum until personality conflicts occurred. The band suddenly broke up and the label still had a contract for the band to do two more albums.

The record company became very upset, but there wasn't much the band could do to get along. Theiner began to have second thoughts about a music career. The band mates all decided to go their separate ways. The lead singer moved to Los Angeles and, a year and a half later, called and said he wanted to get Ravage back together.

"But he still had this really bad, 'I'm better than anybody' attitude, and after that experience, I really didn't ever want to be in a band again," Theiner said.

Ravage never made another record and the Theiners moved to Alaska.

After his brush with superstar rock, Theiner felt the draw of Alaska for its hunting and fishing opportunities, because they were what he truly loved.

Once here, the couple started the Rock Shop, because Marcia had experience from her parents' lapidary shop in Wisconsin, where she learned metalsmithing, jewelry-making and how to cut and polish rocks and gemstones.

Doug got into hunting, guiding, and making bows.

Now that he's been in Alaska for some time and his knees are hurting from all the years of hiking and guiding, Theiner's favorite tool to pick up is once again his Les Paul.

His new CD, "It's All About Me," is on sale at Budget Tapes and Records in Wasilla, and he wrote every song.

He plays acoustic solo and sings at the Great Bear Brewing Company in Wasilla on Thursdays, from 8-9 p.m., during its songwriters night, which features rock, blues and classical music, and is planning some events with his newly forming rock band.

Theiner is scheduled to play at Great Bear on March 31, April 7 and April 21.