Montrose was born in San Francisco, California. When he was a toddler, his parents moved back to his mother\'s home state of Colorado (his father was from Bertrand, Nebraska, and his mother was from Golden, Colorado). He spent most of his younger years in Denver, Colorado until he ran away at about 16 years old to pursue his musical career. He ultimately spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay area.\n', '

In 1969, he started out in a band called \'Sawbuck\' with Mojo Collins (lead vocals, guitar), Starr Donaldson (guitar, vocals), Chuck Ruff (drums) and Bill Church (bass). They were signed to Fillmore Records, co-owned by producer David Rubinson and promoter Bill Graham (promoter), and toured and opened for major acts. At the end of 1970 and beginning of \'71, they were recording their first and only album, Sawbuck. During this time, Rubinson had arranged an audition for Montrose with Van Morrison. Morrison, having recently moved from New York to California, needed a new band to record his next album Tupelo Honey. Both Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Morrison, but both did appear on two songs on the Sawbuck album which was released in 1972. Montrose and Church also played on the song "Listen to the Lion", which was recorded during the Tupelo Honey sessions but released on Morrison\'s next album Saint Dominic\'s Preview (1972).\n', '

Montrose played briefly with Boz Scaggs before joining the Edgar Winter Group in 1972 and then Montrose recruited Chuck Ruff which essentially ended the band Sawbuck. For Winter\'s third album release, They Only Come Out at Night (1972), which included the hit singles "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride", Montrose recorded electric guitar, acoustic 12 string, and mandolin.\n', '

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