Hill Roberts- Bass Guitar & Vocals/
Leeaire Valentin- Drums/
Bret Alford- Bass/
Bret Ryan-Guitar & Vocals/
Will Groth- Drums/
Ben Taylor- Drums/
Ray Dombrowski-Bass/
Influences
Django Reinhardt, Hank Williams Sr., Chet Atkins, Grant Green, Jelly Roll Morton, Oscar Peterson, Freddie King, Clarence White, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Jerry Garcia, Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, Wayne Hancock, Johnny Cash, Memphis Slim, Charlie Parker, Rufus Wainwright, Frank Zappa, Mississipi John Hurt, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Smith, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Orange Tulip Conspiricy, Bill Monroe, The Carter Family, Willie Nelson, Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Willie Mctell, Mr Bungle, The Misfits, The Stones, Bob Dylan, The Band, Modest Mouse, The Beatles,
I was ten years old when I first saw a guitar and I knew that I had to get my hands on one. When I asked my parents for one, they were reluctant because typically, I would play with my new toys for a couple of months and never touch them again. But this was no G.I. Joe. Luckily, a good friend of the family recognized my interest and gave to me his acoustic guitar and a book on chords and simple songs with strumming patterns. I took lessons for six months and since then I have taught myself how to play with the help, of course from various mentors, my family, and friends.
As I grew into adolescence I listened to a very wide range of music. Thanks to my parents I was exposed to musicals on road trips and to this day I am still very fond of Guys and Dolls, Barnum, The Music Man and Pippin. By the time I was driving a car, I was very much into Rock And Roll; Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful dead, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, ACDC, and Phish. I began to listen to Blind Willie Mctell which spawned a whole new appreciation of blues that I am forever thankful for and it also gave me a great foundation for Jazz.
I remember one night in college when my roomate was playing Jon Coltrane's My Favorite Things on his stereo and I guess I had heard Jazz before but I had never really "listened" to it until this point. I could recognize similarities in what Elvin Jones was doing and Butch and Jamoe for the Allmans, as well as Bill Kreutzman for the Grateful Dead. I have realized over the years that Jon Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, and Ginger Baker had huge Jazz chops as well. This was an enlightening moment for me and I knew I had to get into it.
These days I am working on a home made album with garage band and getting some pre-production work done on my original songs. So far I have written about 14 that have lyrics and maybe 5 or so that are instrumental. I hope to some day produce some quallity music that stretches boundries and speaks from the heart.
