Bryan Schoell knew at a young age that music would be a big part of his life. He started singing in choirs at the age of five years old, and continued so up into high school, finally leaving choir to focus more time on sports and learning to play guitar.
Music runs deep in Bryan's family, with his father being a guitar player since his high school days playing in local bands, to his mother singing in church choirs for much of her youth, to his uncle being a professional singer for most of his life, even having a song recorded by a label, to his aunt and grandmother being involved in Sweet Adelines (barber shop chorus group) for much of his childhood. His grandmother also played piano, and at one time, played guitar.
Bryan's youngest brother also is a musician, playing drums in many local bands from high school through his mid twenties, now dedicating his musical talents to his church's band. His brother's wife is also a part of the band as a singer, while also being a gifted guitarist, but doesn't play guitar for the band.
Bryan started to play guitar at the age of 16, at first just jamming with other local high school musicians of moderate level, playing just about any song that they were able to figure out. It wasn't pretty, but it was a start, and became something that he felt would be a nice way to spend some time.
His first real band came in the form of a acoustic/electric duo with John Mullin, in the form of Early Stages, at the age of twenty-one. They frequented many South Street and Center City bars, from Name That Bar, to Doc Watson’s. They played together for about two years, garnering a nice following and really honing his skills to muster up the courage to jam with other musicians at open mics in an improv setting.
His next band was the rock cover band, Big Bad Wolf. He took over for Joe Mullin, John's older brother, who was the bass player for the band for a number of years. Bryan had been the bands sound man for about two years before being asked to take Joes place when he finally decided to leave the rock band in favor of his up and coming Celtic group, Celtic Connection. Big Bad Wolf had a run of just over two years with Bryan at the helm, taking the band to new heights, eventually having the band playing multiple nights a week and grew their following to roughly 100 or more people on a regular basis.
Also while playing with Big Bad Wolf, Bryan spent time in his local church band, Joyful Noise, and their oldies/blues offshoot, Timelines. The band consisted of his brother on drums, and his father on rhythm guitar, with Dave Tidy on guitar and banjo, Moe Noel on bass, and a myriad of different players filling in ..boards.
After Big Bad Wolf ran it's course, Bryan decided to take some time off, enjoying jamming with local musicians he had met over the time he spent in the music night life, and supporting his brother's band, Mom's In The Freezer.
About six month's into his relaxation, a local original group, who had not yet come up with a name, but later became Stunned In Awe, contacted him about trying out as their lead guitarist. With some hesitation, Bryan decided to at least see what these guys were about and sat in on two practices. Being that they had a slot at John's Boardwalk on 94 WYSP's Loud And Local show on Thursday night about two weeks away, he agreed to learn the 3 songs and did the slot with them. Things went smoothly for such a short practice period, that Bryan decided to give the band a shot and ended up playing with the band for about two and a half years, up until the bands end. The band eventually found Valentino Music Agency who booked them and enjoyed a very successful run playing well over 100 gigs in their second year and a lengthy shore run at the Springfield Inn.
While playing with Stunned, Bryan started jamming with long-time friend and brother of former partner John, Brendan Mullin. They ended up embarking on a musical relationship that lasted almost 5 years, playing intermittently more for fun than profit. They were the same set up as Bryan and John, with Brendan playing acoustic and Bryan handling most of the lead on electric. It was while playing with Brendan at a gig they were double booked, that Bryan met his next partner who would get Bryan to embrace backing tracks and change the way he thought about a duo. Rob Carroll, a local musician and Benjamin Franklin impersonator had an extensive collection of backing tracks that he used to put on a first rate show with as few musicians as possible. Rob and Bryan instantly took to one another and were working regularly almost immediately. Rob's collection forced Bryan to expand upon the music he was accustomed to playing, broadening his playing and abilities. The two played together for just under two years, finally parting ways after a summer festival.
From there, Bryan briefly played with his next partner who he also met through a gig with Brendan. His partner was a local musician named Kristian French who played mainly harmonica, and was capable enough on acoustic guitar to produce a nice bluesy duo (The Smokin' K.B.'s), using many of the backing tracks Bryan acquired from Rob, while also using many of the tracks he was building on his own. In the end, Bryan tailored a good rock show with a mix of blues that was highly successful garnering a weekly show at Flukes on State Rd. every Friday Happy Hour, as well as numerous bars on Saturdays with a heavy mix of block parties in the summer. The two split ways under ominous circumstances after problems arose with Kristian.
Bryan continued to play under the K.B.'s moniker for a couple months with Miguel Rodriguez, but eventually called it quits in late May, in favor for a promising gig in the blues based band The Mark Stinger Band.
Bryan had followed the Stinger Band for a little while, enjoying very much the party style blues the band was playing, and especially enjoyed watching local blues star and friend, A.J. Slick, who played for the band. After one such gig, A.J. asked Bryan up to play with the band, after telling the band that he was going to pursue his blues career in Mississippi. Bryan, a natural choice to replace A.J. stepped right in and has been with the band ever since.
As a side project to The Mark Stinger Band, Bryan is currently working with guitarist/singer, Dave Catling. They are in a Classic Rock/Blues duo called The King Pins, in which they use professional background tracks that gives them a unique and full sound. They have experienced quite a bit of success for a relatively new band, landing a weekly spot at Connie Mac's Irish Pub (8000 Crescent Blvd. (Route 130 North)) on Tuesday nights from 9pm - 1am. that carried from spring through the early fall. They also have been booking private parties as well as other bar gigs.
Recently, Bryan and Dave have begun to jam and arrange a set around a three piece power trio, including Mark Stinger drummer, Dreem. Bryan gets a chance to go back to playing bass again, something he has missed over the years. The trio is putting together a classic rock styled band, covering everything from AC/DC to Zeppelin. They have already begun to play out, gaining rave reviews, winning their night of Harper's Battle of the Bands, and will be at Jake's Escape over the next few months as well as some other area spots. We hope to see everyone out there, and be sure to ask for our demo's, they're free in return for your email address so we can keep you up to date on our schedule and future plans.
Bryan plays a number of guitars, favoring hollow bodies such as his Epiphone Dot, Epiphone Sheridan, and Gretch. He also likes his Gibsons, such as his SG's and Les Paul. He is currently working with the Mark Stinger Band and just recently finished recording their first CD with Sand and Sun Productions, mastered by David Ivory. The CD, still cooking is now available both online and from any member of the band.
