John D. Cuda

John D. Cuda, 53, of Anaheim, Calif., formerly of Westerly, died Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, of complications related to long-term diabetes.
Born in Westerly on May 28, 1956, he was the beloved son of Rita (Rose) Cuda and the late John P. Cuda.
John was a well known and accomplished drummer. He started drumming at age eight and continued playing in the junior high school concert and marching bands. He played popular rock music at YMCA dances and house parties and played with the Westerly High School concert, marching and jazz bands.
John graduated from Westerly High School in 1974, where he was class president and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper "The Barker." He also wrote a music column keeping everyone in tune with the latest releases of the popular bands of that time. John had already begun a record album collection which included many original versions and grew to over 1,000. He loved music of all kinds especially Rock and Rhythm and Blues, delving into the background of each new upcoming band. He became the local musicologist of his time.
Following his graduation, he toured New England with several club bands and appeared in over 100 venues. In 1981, John moved to Dallas, Texas, where he joined a country rock band "Dion Pride Band," a band put together by Pride's father, country singing star Charley Pride. He played in the Texas Club concert circuit for three years before joining an all female band "Chastity Fox" which toured major west coast cities and northern states.
With growing opportunities, John moved from Dallas to Anaheim in 1985 with his wife Sharon (Jacob) Cuda and son Sean and started "Barra Cuda Enterprises" a tribute band booking agency and managed over 60 bands with carbon copy portrayals of the greatest original artists. He became so popular that his bands were in demand worldwide. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as being "The King of Make Believe." As John's business and musical career continued to flourish he joined one of his own tribute bands "Wild Child," a tribute band to the late 1960s dynamic group "The Doors." The group included Robby Krieger, an original Doors guitarist. John played with the group at sold out venues including the Roxy Theater and The Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood. In 1991 and 1992, John toured with the band throughout Europe where they were joined by Ray Manzarek, the original Doors keyboardist on several occasions. The European tours continued in 1993 and 1994, and John appeared on several of Italy's major TV shows one of which "The Maurizio Costanza Show" was equal in popularity to "The Tonight Show" in the U.S.
In 1995, John joined a "surf" band from Newport Beach, Calif., "The Shout" and performed in many top concert clubs in southern California. He later formed a band called JC and the Cruisers who played favorite hits of the '50s. Other more recent groups John played with included the "51-50s" and "The Bar Flys."
John's other interests besides his impressive record album collection were collecting Beatles memorabilia and original marquee posters from rock concerts. He was an avid concertgoer and attended a countless number.
John also grew many varieties of hot peppers at his home and used them to make and market his own line of hot sauce appropriately named "Stairway to Hell" after one of his favorite group's top hit "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.
John passed away surrounded by his family and many of his California friends. Besides his wife Sharon and son Sean, he is survived by a brother, James and his wife Sally Cuda of Westerly; several nieces; and many loving aunts, uncles and cousins.
Visiting hours will be held at Rushlow-Iacoi Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 64 Friendship St., Westerly, on Friday, Feb. 19, from 5 to 8 p.m.. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. at St. Pius X Church, 44 Elm St., Westerly. Burial will take place at St. Sebastian Cemetery, Westerly.
For online condolences, please go to www.rushlowiacoifuneralhome.com.
Donations in John's memory may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, New England Chapter, Rhode Island Branch, 2374 Post Road, Suite 203, Warwick, RI 02886.