Nate “The Great” Van Vleet was born and raised a stone’s throw from the Ocala National Forest in Florida. It was here that Nate was introduced to the guitar by the magical creatures that live in the swampy Ocala Forest. His days were spent idly jamming with the gnomes, imps and unicorns that inhabit this nether-region, but are never seen. Revered by all of the other forest creatures for his ability to fight off angry gators, he quickly gained favor among the mythical beasts, especially the swamp mermaids who called him “Gato-Grande”.  His relationship with the swamp mermaids soured however when Nate mistakenly killed one of them, mixed her up with mayo and relish, and ate her on a sandwich. Little did he know that this isolated sandwich faux-pas would lead him to greatness. You see, it is a little known fact that when one eats a magical mythical creature, one inherits their magic, and this new found magic gave him guitar finesse beyond his wildest dreams. Upon discovering this, Nate set out to kill and eat all the mythical creatures in the forest. After devouring every unicorn in Florida, Nate made his way north to seek his fame and fortune. Instead, he found The Hillbilly Jones Band. Armed with his magical-unicorn-guitar-prowess, Nate became musical director of this rag-tag bunch, introducing them to new musical concepts such as “the quarter note”, and “the quarter rest”. Nate currently resides in Mansfield, IL where he enjoys waterboarding stray cats, combing his hair, and green jello.