STEPHEN HUGHES-------
NOEL TAUSSIG-------------
ROB MACINTOSH--------
JONATHAN ANDREWS----
MICHAEL MURDOCK------
DEAN GALLANT-----------
CLAUDE SAMSON---------
RYAN VELTMEYER
Influences
The number twenty bus, cats and dogs, AM radio, LP’s, EP’s, TV’s, days off, fixing instruments, learning new instruments, forgetting how to play old ones and basically everything and anything that gets in front of our eyes and ears and occasionally mouth.
We are The Blown Gasket Orchestra, and we play music. Although it is just myself writing this at the momont, I'll use "we," and pretend that the whole band is typing this all at once. Which would be hard, as there a quite a few members in the group. So now it's time to talk up the band just enough let you know that we don't have low self esteem, but not too much to seem conceited. Here it comes. "THE BLOWN GASKET ORCHESTRA ARE AN INNOVATIVE BAND THAT HAVE BEEN MET WITH POSITIVE REVIEWS AND GROWING CROWDS." Most bands feel that it's hard to describe their music, and no one wants to be pigeonholed, especially pigeons, so let's put it like this: We incorporate several different styles of genres. Some songs can create a swinging jazz feel or a tight pop sound, others provide a funky wall of avant-garde rock. The arrangements often have innovative time signatures that stretch the imagination, and instrumentation that sets an animated scene that grabs the listeners attention. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Our members include musical director, (that's me) STEPHEN HUGHES, showing off on the Wurlitzer stage piano, bass, acoustic guitar, vocals and occasional trumpet. Saxophonist ROB MACINTOSH will take you on a wild ride with his growling tenor, while fellow saxophonist MICHAEL MURDOCK sustains the energy with the low end roar of his baritone. On electric guitar JONATHAN ANDREWS rips it up with his distinguishing sounds and slick solos while DEAN GALLANT keeps the bass driving so the audience can not help but move to his groove. NOEL TAUSSIG plays a jack of all trades as he sings, dances and provides a varity of sounds and rhythms with his bag of percussion and alto saxophone for the odd song. Then there is wild man CLAUDE SAMSON securing the beats on his shiny white drum kit. BREAKING NEWS! We have a new member named RYAN VELTMEYER, who plays the trombone. Welcome to the band Ryan! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ONE LAST PITCH IF YOU'RE NOT SOLD YET! We put on an energetic show in an uninhibited manner that will make you feel less self conscience, thus inspired into a good time. If you get a chance, don't miss us, of we'll miss you. Thank you and good day. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Here's the review for BGO's debut CD, "Rock City" as it appeared in The Coast in December of 2008.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It’s hard not to get caught up in the blast this septet is having on each of the dozen tracks of Rock City. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Hughes, who’s written these songs, has assembled an expert outfit of musicians who have helped him make successful forays into rock, funk, R&B, soul, breakbeats, acid jazz and jazz (bebop and swing). Each guy is an expert, so there are no rough seams, no stumbles.
Shouldering a big part of the burden is the rhythm section of Dean Gallant (bass) and Claude Samson (drums). Noel Taussig adds percussion and the party-starting vocals. The brass kicks ass throughout this album. Rob MacIntosh (tenor sax) and Michael Murdock (baritone sax), along with Hughes on occasional trumpet, give a lot of oomph but often work best in counterpoint with Jonathan Andrews’s guitar---as on the reggae-themed instrumental track, “The Beet Treatment.” Andrews provides moody melodies on slide guitar for that song and the one before, “Fifteen Minutes,” and really makes those songs, while reminding you how cool and underappreciated good soul guitar playing is.
Outside those tracks, “Bobby Nice” and “Walkin’ Around” showcase Hughes’ solid but sweet voice, closing out the album on a high note. There’s a good dose of weirdness and humour here, too. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sean Flinn
The Blown Gasket Orchestra's Friend Space (Top 23)
I'm hitting the road in a couple of weeks to raise money for War Child, Coast-to-coast – 50 cities – ALL PROCEEDS TO WARCHILD. Why? 66% of all war victims are CHILDREN. Shocked like me? War Child helps these children that have been affected by war. Check out the new blog – the whole story is up there. Love to have you be a part of it.
You’ll find a Blog, Tour page and a Bio page. I’ll be blogging daily from the road.
Just stopping by to say hello and give you some news. The new album 'Coolgilly and the Freakshow' from Centascope is now available worldwide from CD Baby and directly from the merchandise page of the official website. You can also get the album from Apple iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon and many more.
you have to watch the entire series!! SO FUNNY!!! I swear, my whole Saturday went by before I knew it, just watching one show after the other. I'm such a loser, I know, lol. Anyways, got any plans for next weekend? ... cuz i doooooooo! oooh, I think the pizza's here, I'm so freakin hungry right now, but it's all good. and that survey thing i was doing - THAT YOU WAS MAKING FUN OF ME FOR DOING!! - i just got paid! $76 for my first check, and since i got paid, I'm gonna do more of em, but I'm already at $184, so I'm loving it. They're so seriously stupid tho - the one I got last night was about my hair and stuff - like what kind of shampoo do I use, do I normally use conditioner ... for real, so easy. you should do it, i'm tellin yah. i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is:
YES! I do too, but I can't breathe, I can't sleep and my head is throbbing....I went to the Pharmacy last night and she hooked me up, so I hope with these meds I can get to feeling better. I am not coming in this afternoon to work. We might actually do that. Send a text my way and remind me, if you don't mind. I'd love to do that! We are SOOO loving our vacation time and love being around people too. the extra money we made from taking those paid surveys online helped out so much!! you should really do them too; i mean, hey, the extra money comes in handy, right? i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is:
www. workforblingsurveys. com
anyways, so, I will see you next Tuesday. Have a great day!
I'm baking Christmas cookies and rocking out to Rock City! What a great album! I particularly like Pumpkin Delight and the little spiel before the song Rock City. Can't wait to see you guys play again!
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