The BassBoards Blues Band profile picture

The BassBoards Blues Band

About Me


The Story of The BassBoards

(pronounced "Base Boards"...we're not a fishing group)...
Many years ago, in the heart of Mesopotamia, there once lived...skip ahead...skip ahead...
The BassBoards Blues Band (from "bass" and "keyboards") officially began in the summer of 2004, although its roots go a lot further back...just not as far back as Mesopotamia. John Caruana and Greg Lagana, the two music nuts who put this band together, are, in fact, cousins "by marriage" since John's first wife Susan was Greg's "first cousin". These two guys have known each other since the '60s but their friendship and collaboration on a number of projects didn't flourish until they met at a relative's funeral in 1984...a rather inauspicious place for a new beginning.
Computers and music connected the two for many years until Greg convinced John to attend The National Guitar Workshop in New Milford, CT with him and spend a week playing The Blues...Greg ..boards and John on bass guitar. Three years later, at the NGW Blues Summit, the boys were inundated with requests from individual guitarists to back them up onstage at the workshop as well as be the rhythm section for their common gig at the famed Bitter End club in New York City that August. This "popularity" convinced them that a new kind of band could be formed, one that revolved around drums, keys and bass instead of lead guitarists and "front men". Once John's daughter Kate was brought on board to sing a lot of the lead vocals in January of 2005, the band started to get noticed. Now with a full 5-piece horn section in place and Jessica Lyn Smith on lead vocals, there are very few bands out there with the power and talent to match what The BassBoards can deliver to a live audience.
The BassBoards is intended to be a unique repertory band, one in which the rhythm section comprises the core of the outfit while guitars, harp, horns, vocals, etc. are all scaleable to the occasion. At this writing, 12 talented musicians comprise the basic band while over a half-dozen "guest artists" from both New Jersey and as far away as Maine and Alabama play with The BassBoards from time to time. Everyone is an experienced player and an excellent musician in their own right; most of them have played in public many years ago and have been waiting for the right opportunity to showcase their talents again.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/13/2005
Band Website: www.bassboardsmusic.com
Band Members:

John Caruana (Leader, Bass, Vocals, Guitar, Arrangements)

Greg Lagana (Keyboards, Vocals, Songwriter) Alan Conover (Drums) Jim Schultz (Mouth Harp, Hand Percussion, Vocals) Mike Machnik (Lead Guitar, Vocals, Songwriter) Mike Alferman (Tenor/Alto Saxes, PA Engineer, Vocals) Mike Wolf (Trombone, Tuba, Standup & Electric Bass) Adam Wolf (Baritone Sax, Bass) Jessica Lyn Smith (Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar) Ed Ronco (Tenor/Alto/Soprano Saxes, Clarinet, Vocals) Steve Dribbon (Trumpet) Jim Hindle (Keyboards) Kate Weber (Guest Vocals, Songwriter)

For a bigger picture of the band as well as some more information on our members, please check out the Members of the Band blog over on the right side of the page.
For booking information, please click on the link for our Band Website , above, and email us directly from the Contact Us Page...



Featured Video!!!


A BassBoards Sampler - Clips from recent performances will give you a good idea of the range and depth of the band. Enjoy... Remember... MORE VIDEOS ARE ON THE VIDS LINK ABOVE!!!

Influences: All Blues styles including delta, chicago and texas plus modern blues, blues/rock, blues/jazz fusion and good time honkeytonk. Song catalog includes numbers from Muddy Waters, BB King, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Albert King, Buddy Guy and many others. Blues/Rock tunes range from Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry, all the way through Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and Bruce Springsteen. Original blues compositions are also performed.

The Refrigerator


Don't ask what's inside, but you can leave an anonymous message for us any time you want. Just click [ Clear ] and move the magnets. Hey, your kids got to do it, why not you!!!

Sounds Like:

The Blues...
What else is there?


Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Members of the Band ** UPDATED 4/26/09 **

Members of the Band John Caruana (Band Leader, Bass, Guitar, Vocals and Arrangements) - John has been playing drums and guitar since he was 12 years old and played out with numerous bands during the...
Posted by on Wed, 16 Nov 2005 18:56:00 GMT

The Story of Kate's Voice

Where to begin...  I know!  Kate couldn't sing her way out of the proverbial "paper bag"...at least during the 19 years she lived with her mother and me.  I say 19 years because she we...
Posted by on Tue, 08 Nov 2005 11:27:00 GMT

Benefit Concert for Katrina Victims

The Thursday after Katrina, Greg (keyboards) called me and said he was unhappy with just giving money to the Red Cross and suggested a benefit concert.  As an Assistant Scoutmaster and the Webmas...
Posted by on Wed, 21 Sep 2005 16:32:00 GMT