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The Long Players are a group of Nashville-based musicians who have, since 2004, taken classic albums and performed them live in their original sequence. Recruiting guest artists from their exceptional musical community, the band has celebrated over 35 seminal albums over the last four years and gained national notoriety with features by NPR Radio and in The Associated Press. Their faithful renditions of LP’s like Bob Dylan’s “Blonde On Blonde” (with sidemen from the original album, Al Kooper and Charlie McCoy sitting in) or The Rolling Stones “Sticky Fingers” (when Stones sax man Bobby Keys sat in), have raised the bar of what “playing in a cover band” is all about. Their sporadic shows are treated by both fans and the band as a celebration of the music that shaped their lives. The founding members of The Long Players include Bill Lloyd (from 80’s hit country-rockers Foster & Lloyd), Steve Allen (from LA power-pop icons 20/20), Steve Ebe (from Memphis rock band Human Radio), John Deaderick (sideman to Michael McDonald/Dixie Chicks/Patty Griffin/etc.) and Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen’s E. St. Band). When Tallent moved from Nashville in 2007, The Long Players enlisted musician/record producer, Brad Jones (who has worked with Josh Rouse, Jill Sobule and many others) to take over bass duties. The Long Players not only tap into Nashville’s amazing talent pool for their guest singers but also for guest players, when the “platter du jour” calls for horns, strings or other additional players.
At each of the band’s public shows, The Long Players have chosen to take a portion of the proceeds and donate it to charity. On more than a few occasions, the money has gone directly to musicians to supplement health care expenses when insurance wasn’t enough. At other times the money has been donated to organizations like Music Cares, The Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Alive Hospice and others.
With an average of around five public shows a year, the crowds line up early whenever the band plays. As busy as the individual members of The Long Players are, they are committed to finding the time it takes to learn, rehearse and perform these classic albums for an audiences happy to hear their favorite records brought back to life.
www.thelongplayers.com
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