About Us

Autumn Poultry began as the brain child of Brian McHale in 2014.  Brian recruited Denis Milonas while they both sang in the Saint Mary Choir in Fort Walton Beach.  They started as a duet where Brian would provide sweet guitar sounds and lead vocals, and Denis set the pace and harmonizing vocals while playing bongos or cajon.  They had several gigs playing at the local Props Brewery and other places until, tragically, Brian developed brain cancer and passed away in April 2016.     

 Denis soon joined the Fort Walton Beach Community Chorus (FWBCC) and in November 2016 they performed Handel's "Messiah" at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Denis and Jesse Flores Sr were both on stage at Carnegie, coincidentally standing right by each other.  It was on that trip to NYC that Jesse asked Denis if he had considered resurrecting Autumn Poultry.  Denis jumped at the opportunity to perform again.  By March 2017, they were ready to perform, and the next phase of AP began as another simple duo. 

 Denis and Jesse performed at private parties and eventually had a gig at Enlightened Studios, in 2018, where David Fordham (also of the FWBCC) asked if he could play a bass that was conveniently located on stage.  The very next day, Denis asked Dillan Brainerd who played cajon with the St Mary Catholic Church Choir if he would be interested in playing for us.  Dillan, who was only 16 at the time and had to ask his parent's permission.  They agreed.  The duet had just become a four-man band, and was soon playing gigs all over town.  In June 2021, AP successfully released their first original album "First Crack" with songs written by Denis and Jesse.  It was produced by Doug Bowers with Three In One Productions.

  In November 2021, Dillan left the band to join "Beyond Misconception," a young evolving metal band, and JP Nelson became our drummer.  Not long after, in February 2022, Denis moved to The Villages in Central Florida, and left Jesse as the new leader of the band.  It was very difficult to replace Denis, since he was one of the founding members of the band, but Rick Esguerra brought a huge level of musical experience to the band,  and continues to provide outstanding vocal harmonies.  Together they  released "Dreamin' of a Holiday", a nice little reggae ditty, with more tunes on the horizon.

Jesse Flores started playing guitar late in life after his retirement from the US Air Force.  Jesse has traveled around the world and is glad to have settled down in Fort Walton Beach where he can play music all over the Emerald Coast.   Jesse also enjoys a solo career, but he prefers to sing with the band.  He released a solo album "The Berwood South Sessions" available on iTunes, Spotify, etc.  He actively sings with the St Mary Catholic Church Choir.  He is also a member of the FWBCC where he had an opportunity to perform with the Chorus singing Handel's Messiah at Carnegie Hall.

  Rick comes to us from the Philippines.   He grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and learned to sing and play guitar in high school.  After graduation he joined a traveling show band and spent a year on Okinawa with the band.  He's been in the Fort Walton area for a while after retiring from the US Postal Service.  You can find Rick playing solo gigs almost every night of the week, except when he plays with our band.  He has a sweet tenor voice that blends perfectly with Jesse and David to provide a nice three part vocal harmony.

JP has been playing drums since high school and he played with a couple of classic rock cover bands in high school.  He served proudly in the US Air Force and retired after more than 23 years and finally settled on the Emerald Coast.  JP just happened to be available at the right time when the FWBCC needed a drummer, and that led to him replacing Dillan as the band's drummer.  There's something to be said about being at the right place at the right time!