Bent Reed

Bio:

Hello fellow music lovers... My name is Sheldon Ziro, I started playing the harmonica and singing in 2002. I absolutely LOVE to sing and play and it's literally changed my life! I grew up in church and started singing there. I played clarinet in Jr. High, Highschool, and eventually, in church too. I really enjoyed it and it seemed to come naturally to me. Unfortunately, I stopped playing music all together for over 18 years (which is another story all together). Then one day, I thought, "Jeeze, I really miss music"! Soon after mentioning that to my mother, she sent me an acoustic guitar the following Christmas. A few YEARS later, I went online to sign up for a college beginners guitar class. Long story short: it was full. But, listed right below that, was a Harmonica class, with an emphasis on the blues. So I thought, "that sounds like fun"! So I attended that class every week, for an hour and a half, for 8 weeks. I started going to local jam sessions right before that class ended, and BOOM! Life hasn't been the same since. Which is a good thing! I eventually formed and fronted my own band, that I loved, called "Bent Reed & Co." Bent Reed is a name my father came up with after hearing me bend reed, after reed, after reed! It seemed to fit well, and I like it! I thank God for the musical gifts that He's blessed me with and I plan to take it as far as He allows. It all started like this. In 2002 right after I started playing the harmonica, I met several local musicians at one of the coolest little jam sessions on the north end of Seattle, a little place called the Plaza Broiler. Unfortunately, the Plaza Broiler nor the weekly jams there no longer exist. But many of the things I learned there do. I played at several local jam sessions and eventually met, then hooked up with a couple of great guitarist that I met at these places. We started off doing duo's at local dinner house's, small clubs, and private parties, learning and building a repretiore to somewhere between 50 and 100 songs. Seattle Guitarist Dan Baker and I played as a duo for over 2 years before we finally added a drummer and then finally (after several tries!) adding a bass player too. We eventually built a solid 4 piece band that included some of the best musicians that we could find in the Seattle area, that blended well with what we were creating. The musicains you hear on the tracks posted above are: Dan Baker on Guitar, Billy Spaulding on Drums, Jeff Davies on Bass, and myself on Vocals and Harmonicas. (With the exception of "Pity The Fool" which was recorded live in Portland, OR. with Phil Wagner, AKA Suburban Slim, on Guitar and Vocals, Marco Savo on Bass, and Jimi Bott on Drums, and myself on Harmonica. They were pure pleasure to play with!) Forming and fronting a band is no easy task! But if you play your cards right, (and the stars align just perfectly) eventually, what you should get is a dynamic band that has a lot of fun playing the music that you love. We played a lot of our favorite tunes, and tried to put our own flavor into each. For us, it was blues, old school R&B, old school country, a little old school rock & roll, a few standards, and some originals too. We tried to play "Music you can Feel". Because, if you can't feel it, what the hell's the point!? Music has been a life changing experience for me and I'm so thankful for that. It truly is the universal language. I don't think I've ever met someone who didn't love at least some form of music. And if there is someone out there that doesn't, I feel for ya man! Music is the one thing that invades our senses without our permission. It's just like a drug! It can create so many different feelings in us. I've always loved music but now, it's definitely become my passion. I've been doing magic, close-up sleight of hand to be exact, for over 20 years now. It also was a life changing experience for me. Not to mention a whole lot easier than this whole "band" thing! When I did magic professionally, all I did was show up with a deck of cards, a little change in my pocket, a pack of smokes and I was good to go! With a band you have to make sure that your band, in my case 4 people, get there on time, bring tons of equipment (instruments, amplifiers, P.A.'s, microphones, mic stands, gobs of cords, etc.) entertain the crowd, have a good time doing it, split the money 4 ways, then pack it all up, head home, and wonder how in the hell you just pulled that off!?! Doing close-up sleight of hand was a little easier! The same amount of money that I made in just one hour as a magician by myself, I ended up splitting between 4 guys that I just spent 5 hours with trying to pull off a real miracle when I had my band! But, music is my passion. So I'll keep going through the things that we musicians go through, because I love the music. It's just something I have to do! I'm currently on the road to Music City USA. For those of you who don't know, that's Nashville, TN. I plan on making many stops along the way, meeting as many new people as possible, and playing with musicians in new and different cities along that path. If you happen to see me in your town, please don't hesitate to stop me and say "Hey, I read your story on MySpace"! And if we don't have a chance to meet in person, please drop me a line right here. I do my best to answer every comment or message that I get. And if I know that I'm heading to your town, I'll be sure to drop you a line to let you know I'm heading that way. Then, when you come to my town, be sure to let me know! So until then, may music fill your lives with the same joy that it's filled mine with, and hopefully much more than that. Music is a wonderful thing. And you can do so much with it, the possibilities are endless! Hope to see you real soon! Sincerely, Sheldon Ziro AKA Mr. "Bent Reed" ♪♫

Member Since:

October 18, 2006

Members:

Dan Baker on Guitar. Jeff Davies on Electric and Stand-up Bass. Billy Spaulding on Drums. Sheldon Ziro on Vocals and Harmonicas. ..

Promote Your Page Too.. Bent Reed Solo on the Dance Floor

Influences:

BLUES:Muddy Waters, Little Walter Jacobs, Big Walter Horton, Sonny Boy 1 & 2, Albert King, Johnny Guitar Watson, etc. etc.***************************************************************************************************************************** VOCALIST: Al Green, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Bobby Blue Bland, Dean Martin, etc. etc.***************************************************************************************************************************** COUNTRY and SONGWRITING: Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Willie Nelson, etc. etc.***************************************************************************************************************************** INSTRUMENTALIST: Tony Ziro, Mickey Raphael, Otis Spann, J.J. Milteau, Chuck Berry, T-Bone Walker, Louis Armstrong, etc. etc.***************************************************************************************************************************** LOCAL (Seattle,WA.): Paul Green, Dave Prez, Paul deLay.************************************************************************************************************************** And on every level mentioned above, many, many others, too numerous to list at the moment. I may add more later!

Sounds Like:

Bent Reed & Co.! Actually, we like to cover a lot of our favorite old country, blues, and R&B tunes, then try to put our own signature feeling into it. In other words, if we sing it and play it, we try to own it! Bent Reed Duo
Bent Reed - Sweet Lolita
Bent Reed performing "Mojo" @ the Tradewinds in Catati, CA.

Record Label:

There's a few out there that I really like!