Black Pearl is a rock band of various influence and style. Formed in
1991 by Merkel High School students and marching band officionados Judd Burton, Joe Grimes, and Cliff Owen, the trio
brought live rock and roll to the Merkel, Texas area in order to facilitate its musical evolution. Burton and Owen
operated the axes and sang harmonies and leads, with Grimes filling out the bill with thundering drums that were the envy
of Comanche war drums. Joining the group in 1992 was keyboard, trumpet, and violin virtuoso Matthew Cravens, who provided
both basso backbone, lead and rhythm keys, and vocals.
Black Pearl's main venue was the Merkel High School Auditorium on South Third Street.
They regularly transformed the building into a sonic pantheon. Their noon concerts are legend. ....And they all
gathered to hear the word of rock.
In the fall of 1993, Black Pearl experienced a peaceable diffusion, with its constituent members
taking a piece of the musical tribe with them, pursuing other euphonous projects, and destiny in general. Burton and
Owen have collaborated over the years since, performing in the David Luna Jazz Orchestra at Cisco Junior College, the CJC
Polynomal Rock Ensemble, and acoustic projects including the Gorgeous Warts and Guttoral Utterances. Burton played guitar
in the Christian rock groups Plaid Cross and Epic from 1994-2002. Owen has played in a number of bands including Five
Pocket Gin and Core 47. Burton, Cravens, and Owen formed the progressive acoustic trio Acoustica in 1997 (1997-1999),
with Burton on Classical and acoustic guitar, Cravens on violin, and Owen on acoustic guitar. Grimes was lead snare
in the Air Force Basic Training Drum and Bugle Corp before being accepted as Captain of the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corp.
He also played in death metal groups and is now the drummer for the Parkside Community Church in San Angelo, Texas.
The group lost an irreplacable aspect in the person of Matthew Cravens, who died in 2001.
The Black Pearl will never shimmer as it did without him, but it retains its lustre. Cravens was part of the legend,
and legends never die.
Discourse amongst remaining members has been active over the last few years. Each member
continues to write music, and there are plans to create musical alchemy once again both on record and stage. Witness
the return of Black Pearl.
