Stephen Henry Perry (born October 8, 1963) is an American musician, best known as lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the Oregon ska-swing band Cherry Poppin' Daddies.
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Early life
Perry was born in Syracuse, New York, to a physicist and a social worker, and raised in Apalachin, outside the industrial city of Binghamton. He described Binghamton as being "a poor, run down, loner-class town", which would later serve as a significant influence on his songwriting.
After graduating from Vestal High School in 1981, Perry moved to Eugene, Oregon, to pursue track and field and chemistry in the Honors College at the University of Oregon, where he befriended fellow student Dan Schmid. After being exposed to the Northwest punk and hardcore scene, Perry became inspired to follow a path as a musician, teaching himself guitar at age 20. Finding himself more interested in "drinking beer and going to punk rock shows" than attending college, Perry dropped out in his junior year in 1983 and formed the punk trio The Jazz Greats with Schmid and drummer Joe Brooks. Perry was also briefly involved with Snakepit alongside Billy Karren, Joe Preston, Laura Mcdougall and Al Larsen before performing with the Paisley Underground-styled band Saint Huck with Schmid and drummer Tim Arnold from 1984 to 1987. That trio went on to form what would become the Cherry Poppin' Daddies in late 1988.