About the Mars Rovers

The Mars Rovers are a band founded in 2017 in Portland, Oregon.

To contact the Mars Rovers write to richard@homerungraphics.net.

Current Members

Richard Kiely
Bass and Cat Herding

Richard Kiely, the founder of the band, has over four decades of experience as a bassist with eclectic taste, a great ear, and the ability to distinguish that sometimes less is more. He played in the L.A. area in the ’70s and early ’80s, citing influences including the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Rush, YES, and Steely Dan. Moving to the Northwest in 1995, Richard settled down to raise a family and continued to practice diligently until the time was right to resume his passion for music. With short stints in two local bands, he re-honed his skills and actively sought out bandmates who wanted to play music that was a cut above the norm. He’s grateful to have been a part in assembling such talented musicians and terrific people to play music with, and looks forward to sharing a stage with his new friends.

John David Duncan
Keyboards and vocals

J.D. grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the local musical heroes included bluesman Pink Anderson, 1950s rockers the Sparkletones, and the Marshall Tucker Band. The last time he played in a rock and roll band, prior to the Mars Rovers, was in 1989. He spent most of the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest, then moved to California for work during the first Internet boom. He returned to Portland in 2016 with a wife and young daughter in tow. In 2020 he joined with Portland producer Sam Densmore to record six original songs on a record called Camperdown House. He works as a software engineer at Oracle Corp.

Former Members

Shawn Patterson
Lead vocals 2017-2021

Shawn has been singing and playing guitar since he was a teenager in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. He moved to Oregon in 1990 to pursue a not-so-glamorous career, but the itch to play music came back and he became the original lead singer of the Mars Rovers.

Larry Dean Roberts
Guitars and vocals 2017-2021

Growing up in Southern California during the ’60s and ’70s, Larry was exposed to classic rock in its early stages. He formed the band RAWX with his friends while honing his mastery of the D chord and butchering every KISS song they could. Larry played in and around Southern California in the ’80s and ’90s with Visitor and chased the rock ‘n’ roll dream every teenager has, only to find out 6 million other kids have the same dream. He moved to Portland in 2000 and continued the dream as an original Mars Rover.

Chris Moran
Drums 2018-2021

Chris grew up near Chicago and has been playing drums since he was 6 years old. He has played almost every style of music, from heavy metal to Latin jazz. At age 18 he toured the U.S. with Mary Wells, the “Queen of Motown,” and he later played around the Chicago and Detroit areas with hard rock and punk bands that included the Dive Kings and the Osaka Orangeade Concern. After college he pursued a more secure day job, and he eventually settled in the Portland area with his wife and daughter in 2011. He plays locally with an '80s rock band called Members Only, jams with a host of other projects, and has recently started recording in his home studio.

Skip Landis
Drums 2017-2018

Skip has worked as a drummer since the 1970s and as a recording engineer since the 1990s. He joined the Mars Rovers in 2017 on drums, and produced and mixed our first demo recordings in December 2017. He quit playing drums in mid-2018 and served as our live sound engineer for the next two years.