STEEP GRADE

For the past 6 years, six-piece funk band, Steep Grade has been bringing their high-energy performances to audiences all over CT. With every performance, Steep Grade's tight grooves and solid feel have kept the crowds coming back for more. With bigger and better shows on the horizon, SG is sure to keep spreading their exceptional music and stage presence to larger crowds all over New England. With their second album on the way, SG expects to broaden the scope of their market and book a 2-month promotional tour. One thing is for sure according to lead man Damien Teed, "The beats won’t stop. We're wired and loving the feel of the crowd right now."

Steep Grade started in 2005 in Fairfield, CT as a three piece funk/rock band with Damien Teed (guitar), Dylan Teed (drums), and Pat McCarthy (bass). Their close friend, Anthony "Rocky" Gallo, who was just getting started as a recording engineer and producer in NYC heard the music and offered the band the opportunity to record their first album. This is what turned Steep Grade into a serious band. The band quickly started auditioning local singers before realizing that the best fit was guitar player and front man, Damien Teed. Damien, initially resisted the idea of singing but soon starting writing lyrics with his original, jazz/funk guitar melodies. The album that followed, "Suckerpunch" which was released in 2006, contains many of Damien's first attempts at song writing and singing as well as Rocky's first full length album recording.

The band, now with a singer, began searching for a lead guitar player. It wasn't long before they ran into Rob Maresca. Damien met Rob at an Allman Brothers concert through a mutual friend….weed. After talking music for a few hours, they decided to try jamming together. The chemistry was perfect. Rob's unique sound and insane technical ability sealed his fate as the 4th member of Steep Grade. Rob immediately joined the band's studio sessions for "Suckerpunch", writing many of his parts just minutes before recording.

Just before "Suckerpunch" was released, Pat McCarthy took a hiatus from the band to pursue a future with Echoing August, a band that he and Dylan Teed had founded with Nick Martucci (guitar, vocals) back in 2001. Dylan stayed behind to finish the album with Steep Grade. Rob introduced the band to one of his long time friends, Pete Orlanski (bass). All it took was an hour of jamming and Steep Grade had a new bass player. Pete brought an entirely different feel to the band, utilizing his jazz background to mellow the bands melodies and simplify the song structure. This new disciplined sound made room for a new instrument.

Around the same time, Damien moved into a new apartment in Bridgeport, CT that his friend Matt Lane (recording engineer) was trying to find tenants for. Matt told Damien that he already had one tenant who was a “cool dude from Oregon” but he needed one more to make it affordable. Damien wasn’t against moving in with a stranger, especially since Matt vouched the guy, so Damien moved in with 19 year old John Britto. After the first week or so of living together, Damien heard John playing the tenor saxophone in his bedroom and was blown away by John’s raw talent. He brought John to a practice with promises of having found the missing piece of the puzzle. He was right. All it took was one practice and the vote was unanimously in favor of making John the 5th band member in early 2007.

About a year later, Pete decided to go back to college and finish his master’s degree. Before leaving the band, Pete helped write songs such as “Go to Hell”, “Livin Genuine” and “Change Your Mind” which will all appear on Steep Grade’s sophomore album set to release this year. The timing of Pete’s departure coincided with Pat McCarthy’s return to the CT area. Pete was out, Pat was back in and the band immediately got busy playing as many shows as possible. At the same time, the members of SG (with the exception of Damien) began working with close friend, singer/songwriter Jim Wolf. Jim had just started a big push to record and release “Sleeping With Strangers." Nearly everyone in SG is featured on the album. Jim’s acoustic pop/rock sound was a perfect way for the guys in SG to showcase their diversity as musicians. "Sleeping With Strangers" has gone on to be licensed for multiple primetime tv shows as well as recieving a 4 star review from USA Today. While playing with Jim, SG’s members were introduced to Brian Borrelli (trombone). Being a high school band teacher, Brian was well versed in the importance of chemistry and contributed a great deal of depth and harmony to John’s sax. In late 2009, Brian was welcomed as the 6th member of Steep Grade.

In early 2011, Pat once again decided to leave SG. One of Pat’s side projects was gaining attention, offering shows all over the country. This meant that Pat wouldn't be able to contribute as much of his time to SG, but with opportunities such as that, the band strongly encouraged Pat to see how deep that rabbit hole goes. This left the bass slot open for a third time in the bands short history. Rob brought fellow music teacher Mike Knox (bass) to the band. Mike is the most recent addition to Steep Grade, brining years of teaching experience and a solid, jazz/funk style with him. As the band focuses on wrapping up the recordings for their second album, they are also landing some of the best gigs they’ve ever had. Although SG has shared the stage with acts such as Cyrill Neville and Toots & The Maytals in the past, their most exciting gig yet will be this April 21st, when they play with Soulive and Nigel Hall at The Field in Bridgeport. The band promises many more high profile shows in the future as well a full length free album by the end of the year.