Morris "Monk" Barnes (A.K.A. "Monkdafunk") Like so many others from his generation, "Monk" first started his career in music playing guitar as a result of "Beatlemania. When he was ready to start his first band, he had no problem finding guitar players, but nobody wanted to play bass. So Monk decided to switch to bass. He considers this move one of the best decisions of his life.

Monk's talent was quite obvious and he was selected to play in some of Texas' finest groups through the years including: The Stone Heavy Band, God's Gift to Women (vocal group), Pain, K-Flavor, The Perfect Timin' Band (a group that had had several Hits in the 80's), The C'vere Band, Phil Blackmon, Eddie Guyton Revue, Grady Gaines & The Texas Upsetters, and the list goes on. In addition, Monk has worked with and/or shared a stage with numerous well known local artists as well as national recording artists including: Bo Williams (Band Director) Blues Artist (Marvin Sease) The Time, Charlie Wilson, The Manhattans, Roger Troutman & Zap Band, Midnight Starr, Cameo, Melba Moore, Millie Jackson, Lavert, Trudy Lynn, Victor Wooten, Conrad Johnson, Bubba Thomas, Kim Yvette, and the list goes on & on.

According to Monk: "I've been blessed to travel to South America, Japan, Singapore, Cancun, as well as all over the U.S.A….Playing my bass guitar, how cool is that? I love all genres of music. A few, but definitely not all, of my favorite artists/performers are: Sly & Family Stone, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Satchmo& Duke, B.B. King, Miles, M.J. George Strait, and of course Barry & Bobbie Sea.

Morris "Monk" Barnes is also a recording artist himself, with several funk & smooth jazz songs on ITunes & MySpace. In addition to being one of the finest bass players around, Monk is also an outstanding vocalist with wonderful stage presence.