The Schmidt Brothers Band is a somewhat nebulous term, used here to do homage to the original band and to provide a venue and links for the ongoing efforts of each of the the three Schmidt Brothers: Andrew, Jared, and Jonathan. They are originally from Vail, Colorado.
The original Schmidt Brothers Band featured Andrew Schmidt ..s and vox, Jared Schmidt on drums and vox, Jonathan Schmidt on bass, and guitarist Jack Snow, who took on much of the business and organizational responsibilities of the developing band. These musicians are those featured in all band photos.
The SBB is now defunct, the constituent members now living in separate areas of the country. Andrew currently performs and produces in Vail, Colorado, and deejays with local community radio station KLNX-LP Radio Free Minturn; Jared currently performs in Grand Junction, Colorado; Jonathan, a Berklee School of Music electric bass performance graduate, currently performs in Boston, MA; and Jack continues to pursue architectural design and construction management in the Vail area -- btw has anybody heard where we can find him?
Much of the Schmidt Brothers Band material, recorded in the space of a few years beginning 1999 and finishing 2002, exists in the form of live and demo recordings, the most interesting that of the performance at the now burned-to-the-ground State Bridge Lodge. However, given that band reunions are relatively frequent, albeit short-lived, this sometimes results in a one-off audio or video recording or two for posterity.
In addition to various jazz-funk, progressive rock, and jazz-fusion covers, the primary SBB material pool and typical set list consisted of funky tunes and jams composed by Jack Snow from his two previous projects, Loudmouth Soup and Booty, whom have demos of their own. New ideas composed by the Brothers themselves during the band's maturation have either been shelved, have been preserved in the official live recordings, or have been resurrected in future projects and solo works. Aforementioned reunions beginning in 2007 all have relied upon covers from various sources, such as Steely Dan, Herbie Hancock, and Medeski Martin and Wood -- and Led Zeppelin, believe it or not.
To date, the focus at this webpage has been almost exclusively upon Andrew's solo output as Jared and Jon both have separate MySpace pages (see Friends below) featuring band projects to which they are part. Early in 2007 this webpage showcased Andrew's 2005 effort, Green Star, itself created in an effort to preserve and develop many of the tunes begun during the waning years of the band. Comprised of tracks composed and performed by Andrew between the years 2000 and 2005, it was notable to feature Andrew on all instruments and vox, employing drum programming for its percussive backing.
2007 saw Andrew produce a second album, again using the same instrumentation and production methods, entitled simply Steely Dan Addiction. As the title suggests, it is a collection of eight tracks covering favored namesake tunewriters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The reunion gig in Grand Junction, Colorado, November 2007, in which Steely Dan tunes were featured, inspired this recording effort.
This trend was to continue in December 2008 with another six-track Steely Dan cover album, suitably titled Steely Dan Addiction 2, again completely programmed, performed, and recorded by Andrew. This effort brings a new freshness and more refined approach to his ongoing tribute effort, as more attention has been paid to production details, and to the authenticity of the transcriptions. Regarding the latter, arrangements attempt to mimic the full extent of the Steely Dan recordings, despite errors and ommissions replete in the published songbooks. These six tracks are all available here and now for your perusal.
The official discography of the Schmidt Brothers Band consists of the following: 1) Schmidt Brothers Band Demo, 2) Live at State Bridge, and 3) Live at Strawberry Days.
In addition, there are perhaps a half-dozen bootleg recordings and a video of the 2000 Summer Music Fare performance performed at the Gerald Ford Amphitheatre.
Some credit is due to those who helped create the Schmidt Brothers Band: At the same time SBB was performing, many of the Vail Valley's musical talent pool were swept up in personnel changes; many such bands or band progenitors can be heard in the works of the SBB, such as Andrew's and Jack's precursor projects; respectively, Giant Stonefly (also featuring cousin Brooke Tulk, drummer/vocalist Chris Sheldon, and vocalist Claire Hill) and Loudmouth Soup and Booty; precursor act Number 9 (featuring brothers Andrew and Jared, cousin Brooke Tulk, guitarist Al Carson, and singer-songwriter Chris Maggini); concurrent and seminal act Little Hercules; Jared's original band Odium, a much harder-edged grunge project; Jon's side-project Lunar Navigation; the expanded Number 9 successor, Showpigs, with guitarist Johnny Schleper; and the followup band to Giant Stonefly, Running With Sally, one of whose members (Chris Sheldon) went on to play in the Phish-cover band, Phix. The works of Odium, Number 9, Showpigs, and Lunar Navigation may receive attention on this website soon, as likely these works cannot be found elsewhere.
MySpace Codes
Find More Myspace Layouts | Layout Pimped by MyspaceTotal.com
pet friendly hotels
myspace codes
myspace layoutsmyspace codes
myspace quiz
Myspace Video Codes
