A testament to perseverance and forging ahead even when apparently functioning for extended periods of time in a vacuum, New York City's The Baghdaddios amaze most people by their resilience. The band has survived well over a decade amid a series of key defections at critical junctures in the group's development, poor timing, lack of budget, incompetent management, and just plain, bad luck.

In the group's first 15 months, their personnel would feature no less than three bassists and three lead guitarists alone! Founding member Kenn Rowell estimates that the band has had eight managers in ten years, one not even lasting a month! By the time of their debut CD release (1997's Willie Horton Hears A Who) their bassist, John Sidoti, had left the band and drummer and fellow founding member, Neil Richter, had been unceremoniously dumped from the lineup, leaving front man and songwriter Rowell and surviving member Jim Ievollela with the task of promoting the disc and doing acoustic shows to offer minimal support.

The group was founded in November of 1992 when lead singer & rhythm guitarist Rowell met Richter at an AIDS benefit show (then with different bands) in the former's birthplace and hometown of Nyack, NY. A quaint, arts-based community 20 miles up the Hudson River from NYC, Nyack was the epicenter of the mid-80's to early 90's Hudson Valley indie scene, which spawned such diverse talents as the earthy Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan, seminal alterno-rockers The Horse You Rode In On and the Scarsdale-born singer-songwriter Patti Rothberg. With Richter's band going on permanent hiatus and Rowell's group going nowhere, a mutual friend suggested forming a new band featuring Rowell's hook-laden, pop-punk compositions with Richter on drums and the rest of the lineup being filled out with local talent.

Within 10 days, The Baghdaddios pulled together enough original and cover material to assume the shows that were originally booked for Rowell's indie-rock college band The Magnificent Pagan Gods which landed them at hallowed punk stomping ground C.B.G.B.'s for their third gig ever! Over the next several years, the group evolved from a "three chords and punt" punk band with pop overtones to a hard rocking unit with a big-drum sound featuring buzz saw guitars with an occasional slower-tempo anthem thrown in for good measure. Paul Zlotucha would join the group, first on a temporary basis while on leave from the hardcore ensemble Terror Zone in late 1996 (his first appearance with the band was at NYC's famed Hammerstein Ballroom), eventually becoming a permanent member for the next several years, while a virtual revolving door would produce a plethora of bassists, none ever staying for too long. A Zen-full Jim Ieveollela would anchor their sound for nine years, lending lead guitar riffs reminiscent of arena rock icons Jimmy Page and Brian May, beginning in 1994.

Before Willie Horton Hears A Who, The Baghdaddios had issued Steal This Tape, a collection of demos that prominently featured their most popular composition at that time, Abbie Hoffman. On the strength of some very strong reviews in regional and national circles, the band found themselves approached by Cevin Soling of the fledgling NY-based indie label, Xemu Records, to provide a song for the soundtrack for the art-house feature Crimson Lights. Everyone's A King would give The Baghdaddios their first taste of national and overseas exposure, being associated with a festival-award-winning film that made the rounds in America, Europe and Asia. At the same time, Steal This Tape was finding its way onto some college play lists, paving the way for Willie Horton. Recorded at Wildcat Productions by Gary Solomon (of The Power Station: Bon Jovi, Cher, Steve Forbert), the CD would absorb 4 of the demo tracks from the previous release garnering impressive airplay in stations the world over. Get Up And Go; would be selected by the Village Voice; as a "Critic's Pick" song of the week and the group found themselves tabbed as a "Great New Band" in a Zima advertisement featured in The New York Press. Released on the local, Nyack-based Roma Records, the album never had any promotion or budget to push it to the next level (true, there wasn't even a full band to tour in support!) and the regrouped outfit was relegated to their familiar NYC club circuit, oftentimes sharing the bill with such luminaries as the aforementioned Ms. Rothberg, Epic Record's Emmett Swimming, fellow-Hudson Valley scene members Johnny Bravo (Arista Records, 1996) who attended rival high schools in the same area, Mary Ann Farley, speed metal gods Fates Warning, Joy Ryder (Polydor Records, RCA), Joe D'Urso and even pedal steel guitar legend Buddy Cage (Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage).

Over the next few years, The Baghdaddios would split time between doing area shows, recording and fronting charitable and community-oriented projects. An annual fixture on the entertainment committee for The New York City Marathon, front man Kenn Rowell founded Blank-Fest, a yearly gathering of international acts that raises blankets for New York City's homeless in 1997. In 1999, the group again tasted national-exposure when their homage to heavy-metal spinning talk show sports maven Scott Ferrall, You Da Man, found nightly exposure on Ferrall's nationally-syndicated radio program in 76 major-market cities (Ferrall On The Bench, Westwood One Radio Network) only three short months before Ferrall was fired, following a dispute with management. The new century saw the release of That Should Hold 'Em, a blistering 4-song EP that showcases Zlotucha's pedal-to-the-metal style and takes the music in a harder, grungier direction. Joked Rowell: "They say that grunge is dead so we felt it was time to release an angst-driven, heavy metal CD....brilliant, really."

These four tunes were to be a hint of bigger things to come providing the cornerstone for their sophomore release, Autopsy-Turvy. 2001 saw the group interviewed in Geoff Wilbur's Renegade Press, the release of their tribute to their beloved alma mater, C.B.G.B.'s, in the form of the punk-Holiday offering Christmas At C.B.G.B.'s) and extensive regional coverage of the 5 Year Anniversary Blank-Fest Concert, at the end of 2002.

It was also at this time that their appearance on the nationally-syndicated LT1 cable TV program furthered the group's reputation, making the rounds of outlets in New York, Nashville and Southern California. But perhaps the biggest highlight of this transitory period was perfectly crystallized in the form of a packed house at C.B.G.B.'s, where a rejuvenated lineup returned "home" to an enthusiastic hometown crowd on May 1, 2002. This show was considered one of the band's best ever resulting in a limited-edition "live" album that found its way onto international radio and actually produced an MP3.com blues chart-topping foot-stomper in the form of the retro-rocker, 1st-album chestnut: Roll Over and Die.

At this stage of their development, the group's emphasis shifted from being mere interlopers on the New York City scene by moving their entire base of operation to the borough of Manhattan. Playing primarily out of the Lower East Side and, later on, the burgeoning Williamsburg scene the group found themselves instantly in demand on the festival circuit. With club DJs, critics and a new generation of college radio program directors rediscovering their debut disc and kept afloat by occasional studio singles and periodic appearances on indie filmmakers' and cable TV soundtracks, The Baghdaddios continued to keep their name out there while years literally peeled off the calendar as one delay after another held up the release of the group's follow-up to Willie Autopsy-Turvy.

Having bounced from producer to producer, the ever-insistent Rowell eventually assumed full-control of the disc's production, along with former Blue Lily front woman, Simone Smith. It was during this time that the re-released single from Willie Horton Hears A Who, the buoyant Welcome To New York emerged as an underground staple first finding itself as the theme song for the Manhattan Cable Network's Frank Wood Presents, which was hosted by local 30-year veteran promoter Frank Wood, and eventually finding its way onto jukeboxes and rock club DJs' play lists throughout the metro-NY area. After supporting national touring act Temptress on the North East U.S. leg of Steve Blush's NYC Rock 'n Roll Tour, the group headed for the first of two heralded appearances as one of several featured headliners at the Texas Ten Acre Jam, highlighting an impressive stretch of touring which saw them grace festival and club stages, while traveling to such diverse hotspots as Boston, Hartford, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Central Pennsylvania, Block Island, R.I. and Atlanta's celebrated Little Five Points club district!

As the furor from this burst of activity began to wane, the group received yet another shot in the arm with the release of the animated music video for their previously-released Christmas At C.B.G.B.'s Holiday punk anthem which, by this time, had garnered a small cult-following among the club's loyal denizens. Produced strictly as a labor of love by Baghdaddios fan and animator Fred Rawles (H.B.O., Showtime), the cartoon incarnation of the group only increased their visibility exposing the song to literally millions of people, prompting strong praise from none other than C.B.'s icon, Joey Ramone's axe-wielding sibling, Mickey Leigh. Considering that the group continued to function without any major release for several years, many local critics started dubbing them "the band that wouldn't die."

2005 was sort of a year for coming full circle as Rowell proceeded to clean house, shedding most of the hired guns (who were involved in multiple projects) in an attempt to establish a more-solid, stable lineup. While reshaping the group Kenn continued to keep busy, guest hosting weekly shows at Brooklyn's Grand Central Bar, which was gaining a well-deserved reputation for breeding some of the best indie and unsigned talent both locally and abroad, as part of an emerging "Williamsburg scene." It was also at this time that Rowell started billing himself as a solo act, donning a 12-string Ovation and, with the aid of a violinist and nominal support from fellow scene musicians, began exploring new avenues for his original tunes several of which he debuted in this setting. His appearance at one of the several "Save C.B.G.B.'s" shows was broadcast globally via the internet and was the subject of a featured article in the North East U.S. regional publication Steppin' Out Magazine.

After years of estrangement, Rowell and founding member Neil Richter decided to join forces again, re-establishing the original core from which the band's sound originated. In the interim, Neil had gone back to school, worked in radio, played in various side projects and had successfully battled cancer. Never having been really satisfied with any of Ieveollela's successors, the band finally found a worthy lead guitarist in the form of 21-year-old newcomer, Jack Nightrain. Rounding out the new, reformed lineup was long-time Baghdaddios friend and tour companion, Phil McAughk (who might be familiar to most NY club frequenters through his work with New Jersey trip-rockers F.P. ToZ). In another move harkening back to their formative years, the band finally finished the recording and mixing process for their long-awaited sophomore effort by bringing Wille Horton Hears A Who producer Gary Solomon back on board to shepherd the album through the final mixing and mastering hurdles.

Finally, after years of stop-and-go delays, musical-chairs producers and changing band personnel, Autopsy-Turvy has finally been realized, pressed and is awaiting a March 1, 2006 release on the group's third label, Cunning Runt Records. Under the guidance of such studio veterans as Bart Cennamo (Busta Rhymes, Queen Latifah, 98 Degrees), Rich Pagano (Willie Nile, Patti Smith, Ian Hunter) and Solomon and featuring cameos from pioneering indie front man, Richard Barone of The Bongos, EMI alumnus Patti Rothberg, Montreal-bred Cajun fiddle virtuoso Mat Kane, in addition to horns by jazz ingénue Mike McGinnis (Dorsey Orchestra, Ravi Coltrane, Barry Manilow), the album proves to be The Baghdaddios' most ambitious undertaking yet. Stretching their considerable talents over a wider musical horizon, tackling multiple styles and achieving a major-label sound that doesn't betray their original pop-with-a-mutated-twist signature, but serves to enhance it, and encouraging advance critiques that contend that the group has truly outdone itself, Autopsy-Turvy delivers what they had always hoped to achieve: a continuation of the sound first heard on Willie Horton without subscribing to clichés and rehashing.

The Baghdaddios are a textbook example of tenacity winning out, helping the NY natives always the bridesmaids in any "scene" that they've ever been a part of to survive, even as the proudly self-declared "runt" of the Lower East Side's post-Ramones era power-punk litter, eventually outlasting the majority of their original peers. Better bands with bigger budgets, higher profile management, major record label deals, prettier looks and hipper followings have come and gone but NY's fave indie underdogs still continue to chug along after 13 sometimes turbulent, but always exciting, roller-coaster years!

Always approachable, never boring, certainly not pretentious, and above all ALWAYS primed to give a kick-ass performance, New York Citys very own: The Baghdaddios are ready to party. Join them. Go ahead. Dont worry...we wont tell on you...