2022 shop personnel

David A. “Rainmaker” Butler

1950’s – present

Airbrush Artist, 1977 – 2017, between 250 – 300 buses painted

David A. “Rainmaker” Butler was born in the 1950’s and grew up in Pleasant Grove, AL.  After graduating high school in 1970, he attended the Ringling School of Art & Design in Sarasota, FL from 1971 – 1974 and received a Fine Arts degree.  In 1974, Rainmaker’s high school buddy Greg returned from Vietnam and wanted custom artwork on the side of his van, so Greg bought Rainmaker a new dual-action airbrush and paints.  In 1975 he and his brother Grady Butler opened a customized van shop called Country Vans at his house in Pleasant Grove, AL, which is how he met Norm Basden and son Bruce of Vulcan Coach.  In 1976 Rainmaker started working as an airbrush artist at Osceola Vans in Kissimmee, FL.  In 1977 he opened his own shop in Kissimmee called Trick Shop, which remained in business until 1996.  Also in 1977, Rainmaker began painting entertainer buses for Florida Coach, the first was a train design on a bus called Floridian.  Around 1984, Jerry Calhoun and Bill Keachman were raising a bus roof 8 inches, and Rainmaker mentioned that while you’re raising the roof, why don’t you stretch it like a limo.  Rainmaker added that Jerry simply needed to tell Eagle to make them 5 feet longer.  Through the years, Rainmaker has worked for bus companies Florida Coach, Florida Custom Coach, Vulcan Coach, Vantaré and Parliament Coach.  He has painted buses for Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Moe Bandy, 2 for Molly Hatchet, 2 for Tammy Wynette, The Judds (including their tractor-trailers), Tito Jackson’s private motorhome, 2 for Ray Price, 4 or 5 for Willie Nelson, and many others.  To give an idea of how fast bus companies wanted a job completed (2 sides and the back of a bus), Rainmaker said “3 days was too long.”  When it was time to paint The Judds bus, their manager Ken Stillman contacted Rainmaker and asked him to adorn it with the car that Naomi drove when she first came to Nashville – a red 1957 Chevy with a white top.  When presented with the bus, it brought Naomi to tears.  Prior to the “Open Up and Say…Ahh” tour, the band Poison had Rainmaker paint their album cover on the back of the bus.  Due to the overwhelming number of fans flocking to the bus, only 2 weeks into the tour Rainmaker had to be sent to Washington, D.C. to remove the artwork in a parking lot.  In 1991, Rainmaker had a bad accident resulting in the loss of all the fingers on his right hand.  Even with this major setback, he painted a bus for The Kendalls with his left hand.  With determination and practice he was able to retrain his right hand to use an airbrush.  The entertainer bus mural paintings ended around 1991, but the last bus Rainmaker painted was for Willie Nelson in 2005.  In 1992, while commissioned to paint an arena-sized Pink Floyd blimp, an indoor promotional aircraft for Pink Floyd’s 1994 album Division Bell, Rainmaker entered a paint store and met his eventual spouse Cheryl “Sunshine” Butler.  Also a graduate of Ringling School of Art & Design, Sunshine completed the lettering on the blimp, Willie Nelson’s last 2 buses and other projects throughout Rainmaker’s career.  Rainmaker was employed by Nickelodeon and Disney as a scenic artist from 2007 until he retired in 2017.  As of this writing, Rainmaker and Sunshine are alive and well and residing in Saint Cloud, Florida.

Mark S. Chadwell

1953 – Present

1975 – Present

Mark S. Chadwell was born in 1953 and raised in Detroit, MI.  During high school he began playing bass guitar for a gospel group called the Orrells and remained with them until 1978.  In 1975 Mark moved to Nashville and began doing session work and working on buses for Milo Liggett at Loch Raven Coach.  On July 3, 1986, a fire destroyed Lock Raven Coach but Mark stayed and helped rebuild the company until it closed in 1988.  In 1989 Mark founded Eagle Nest, bus repair shop tailoring to Silver Eagle buses and remains there to this day.  Mark stated it is important to note the name Eagle Nest is singular, because he only works on one Eagle at a time.  As one of the only shops in the country focused on that specific brand of bus, it is likely Mark and his staff have worked on nearly every privately owned entertainer Eagle in the industry.  As of this writing, Mark is alive and well and living in Hendersonville, TN.

Ricky Lee “Fitz” Fitzpatrick

1955 – Present

Airbrush Artist, 1976 – 2018, over 100 buses painted

Ricky Lee “Fitz” Fitzpatrick was born in 1955 at Travis Air Force Base, CA.  Because his father was in the military, Fitz lived in 13 different states growing up, with his longest residence at Midwest City, OK.  He graduated high school in 1974 and attended the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, PA from Sep 1974 to Dec 1976.  Fitz spent 2 years working as an airbrush artist at Dixie Vans of Memphis before starting a company called Tennessee Show Trucks in Memphis in Oct 1977. In the early 1980’s, Fitz got a phone call and was asked to travel to Corinth, MS to paint a band bus.  He thought it must be a very wealthy high school marching band to have a bus and afford an artist to paint it.  When he arrived he learned it was a tour bus for Southern Rock band, The Outlaws. During his career, Fitz painted over 100 entertainer buses, to the point that his work became independent to buses alone and ended his position at Tennessee Show Trucks in 1984.  Fitz became the exclusive artist for the entertainer bus companies of Senators, Roadhouse Coach, Night Flight, Mountain Coach and others.  On the back of every Roadhouse bus would be painted two guitars, and Fitz once had to telephone Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top to find out exactly which model guitar needed to be on a bus for them.  Another time Fitz had to travel with Cheap Trick to learn design ideas for their bus.  Around 1992 the market for airbrushing on buses dissolved and Fitz started painting murals in clubs, poolhalls, restaurants, and mascots at high schools.  He eventually was asked to paint at the Del Lago Resort in Lake Conroe, TX.  This contract was so large it lasted 6 years.  Throughout his entire career, Fitz never once used a stencil, every bit of his work was done freehand.  While Fitz was in art school, he took a course called Subliminal Advertising, and learned that the two biggest advertising attractions of that era were nudity and death.  Fitz chose to ignore death and used nudity throughout his art, in most of his works you can find subliminal work if you know where to look.  As of this writing Fitz is alive and well and residing in Lake Conroe, TX.