1MAN1BAND

11/16/05 1MAN1BAND has been together longer than almost any band on the planet. 1M1B formed in 1954 in Nashville, TN. The first song done by 1M1B was called "Waaaaaah" and while it never quite broke the Top 100, it was quite a hit with Mom, Pop, grandparents and a few aunts and uncles. The evolution of 1M1B continued when piano was added in 1960 and guitar in 1964. Aside from the seminal "Waaaaaah", 1M1B was mostly instrumental for many years to come.The stage debut of 1M1B came in 1965. Since 1M1B was strictly instrumental at this time, it joined forces with 4 other classmates to form an impromptu band. By this time 1M1B had added electric organ and this was the instrument of choice for the big gig, the Sylvan Park Elementary School talent show. The songs performed were Manfred Mann's "Doo Wah Diddy" and the Isley Brothers "Twist and Shout".(Update: I am mistaken. The actual stage debut was at a piano recital held at the Gaslight Room of the Nashville Gas Company in downtown Nashville in 1962. The tune performed was "The High and the Mighty" by Tiomkin and Anderson, if I recall correctly. There was also a Christmas recital in 1963 where "The Little Drummer Boy" was performed.)In 1968 1M1B joined a band which would become The Message and would be quite popular in the southeastern quadrant of Music City. This band drew a little extra attention because in addition to the requisite mid-teenagers with acne and attitudes, they featured an immensely talented 12 year old drummer (Jeff Jones, now a guitarist/vocalist performing in Nashville) and a 21 year old organist whose real job was with a more widely known grown up band known as The Rogues. 1M1B continued to play the position of utility man and contributed bass guitar to The Message. 1M1B took a hiatus from public performing during most of the 70's.The early 1980's saw a renewal of punk and new wave garage bands and 1M1B had to get into the flow. 1M1B contributed electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, bass guitar and synth to a 3-5 man outfit the core of which would later morph into Redbud, one of the more popular local Nashville bands of the 80's. As the utility man, 1M1B wasn't part of the true core so missed out on the morphing.The 1M1B concept came closer to fruition when a 2 man group called Spaghetti Western was formed with another multi-instrumentalist, Fred Cole. Fred contributed vocals, acoustic, electric and bass guitars and harmonicas. Our former drummer, Johnny, had morphed from our drummer to the drummer for Redbud to head roadie for Redbud. Johnny is now a roadie with a major country band whose name I won't sully by mentioning it here. We promptly purchased our first drum machine, an awful, early Roland, followed by a superior Alesis, which we dubbed "Johnny-in-a-box". The Alesis was much more suitable than Johnny or the Roland and could be instructed to play in a minimalist style without yelling, "Think Ringo Starr, you dumbass".The 90's saw 1M1B taking a hiatus from the stage once again while concentrating on writing, learning midi and sequencing and playing synths. The 1M1B concept became complete in 2004. 1M1B was told that there was a great musician named Tony Castellanos playing at the local La Siesta Restaurant and was able to catch Tony's show a couple of times. Seeing Tony's guitar based 1 man band rig, with bass guitar played with foot pedals and vocals augmented by vocal harmonizers inspired 1M1B to try the same thing with a keyboard emphasis. 1M1B gave it's first performance in February 2005 and has since played more than 50 shows in a whirlwind "World Tour of Middle Tennessee".1M1B plays many kinds of music, including rock, pop, and country. 1M1B is compact, dependable, affordable and mature (very mature). 1M1B is perfect for parties large and small, class reunions, wedding receptions, repeating engagements, bar mitzvahs, grand openings and all sorts of special events. Please contact me at least a month before your event as I am often heavily booked, especially in fall and winter.