Brian Kloby ~ Electric Blues ~ Blues Rock Guitar

High Energy
Electric Blues & Blues Rock Guitar
St. Petersburg, Florida

It's important to be open minded and creative. I've played in Original, Classic Rock, Old School Alternative-Hard Rock, Blues Rock and Electric Blues Bands. Some of them not "typical" for a Blues/Blues Rock Guitarist to be involved with.
My view... Expressing Yourself Comes First and Foremost. Also, A Positive Attitude and Appreciation of others goes a Long Way.
I would like to mention several Projects that have been among the most creatively interesting and..... overall... the most rewarding thus far.
The Reverends:
The Reverends was a Straight Up Electric Blues Band with Roots Rock leanings. I can't say I've EVER had a BETTER TIME playing out live than with THIS band. We had a "Loose" No Holds Barred Party Atmosphere EVERY time we played a gig. It was ALWAYS a blast to perform live with The Reverends!
John Kloby (Lead/Rhythm Guitar & Vocals)- My Brother John... A very good Blues Guitarist and an excellent Singer. When we were growing up it was John that made me want to pick up a guitar and learn how to play. He was an inspiration for me and I'm eternally thankful to him for inspiring me to become a Guitarist! Thanks Bro!
John brought an energetic and carefree feeling to The Reverends. A natural performer and front man...
Not only was John great fun to listen to BUT... He was even more fun to watch at gigs... He would do crazy things like jump up on tables during his guitar solos and we would BOTH often come right down OFF the stage and mingle with the crowd during the MANY instrumentals we performed. It was a blast to be right there... LITERALLY in front of someone while taking an extended solo... True Coolness!
Dave Williamson (Drums)- I first connected with Dave Willimason in a previous band Last Exit Bfor Toll. Dave is a Classically Trained Percussionist and an exceptional Drummer to say the least (More about LEBT is mentioned further down).
Darrel Chenowith (Bass & Vocals)- An exceptionally GOOD Bassist and Singer. Darrel had spent MANY years playing gigs as a "Pick Up" player in the Florida, Georgia, Tennessee area. He has played with such legends as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and countless others. He was the PERFECT Bassist for The Reverends. True to the Style and Attitude of the music. Darrel was also one of the most "Animated" people you could ever have the good fortune of being around... A Fantastic sense of humor... AND... Aside from being one of the BEST Bass Players on the planet this Cat could SING!!!!
The Reverends entertained the Jersey Shore scene from 1997-'99. It was always a House Rockin' Blues Experience to catch a Reverends Gig!
The next two projectsOutlet And Last Exit Bfor Toll were both All Original Bands that I have had the great pleasure to have been a contributing Songwriter and Member.
Last Exit Bfor Toll:
A VERY Alternative Band. I think It's safe to say we were probably the MOST un-predictable bunch of musicians to EVER form a band... Let alone actually ALL get along with one and other.
Cornell Green (Bass & Vocals)- LOVED Pop Rock... ANYTHING that was Pop... THIS Cat was into it. Complete Pop Rock freak...
Bonnie Johnson (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals)- Country and Folk music addict... If it was Country or Folk based... THIS Girl was all over it...
Dave Williamson (Drums)- Classically Trained Percussionist and an exceptional Drummer to say the least... Dave was very into experimental rock ie; Brian Eno, King Crimson, Roxy Music etc... If it was something completely different... Dave LOVED it...
Myself (Rhythm/Lead Guitar & Vocals)- At this time I was listeneing to an awful lot of New Wave Punk. Husker Du, Minutemen, Decendants, Replacements etc... and REALLY getting into it. Of course, I was always listening to Blues BUT... This "New" music was making an impression on me.
I liked the open approach and honesty of the music. In that respect it is very similar to Blues music... No BS, Tell It Like It Is kinda attitude. MY type of thing... After all... I'm a Blues Guitarist... and Blues Music is all about that... You Tell It like It Is! It's no wonder I felt a connection with it.
NOW... Aside from the "Eclectic Mix" of players and influences in this band, there was something else that led to the overall originality of this project... We ALL were contributing songwriters in the band! We had a DIVERSE range of music between us. Listening to this band live was NOT like listening to ANY other band you've heard before. We changed styles SO MANY times during a set that most everyone who heard us had NO Idea what to make of us. You had a Country song... THEN a Blues Tune... THEN a Pop Rock song.... THEN a Hardcore Tune.... THEN, back to a Blues Tune... AND... It was ALL Original Material. We literally had peoples head's spinning.. No joke.
We plugged the Asbury Park N.J. area underground scene (We were regulars at The Brighton Bar in West Long Branch... Jack-O really liked us and continually booked us there) for about a year before we started getting alot of attention from the music papers (Splatter Effect, East Coast Rocker/Aquarian...) and beginning to get some very positive exposure on the local College Radio Stations in the area. I'm convinced that there will never be another band as diverse as Last Exit Bfor Toll. We had some great times, wrote some great songs and played some awesome shows before deciding to pull the plug on L.E.B.T. and further pursue other artistic endeavors.
Outlet:
As musicians we were all Classic Rock and Blues influenced however, the music we made was unpredictably "New Wave Punk-ish" for a bunch of players who grew up listening to Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Stones, Who, Allman Brothers etc... Matt Polese (Lead Vocals) and Myself were responsible for ALL of the Songwriting. We had known each other since High School and had been in several projects together before forming Outlet... And had written an astonishing amount of original material together.
At this time I was HEAVILY immersed in Blues and Jazz music. I was constantly listening to (and influenced by) Freddy King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Booker T. & the MG's, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, John Coletrane and Charlie Parker to name a few... YET, the music/songs I was writing with Outlet were definitley alternative and hard edged. This was a truely unique band.... We played local club and bar gigs in the Jersey Shore area between 1986-89 before dis-banding to persue other musical endeavors.