SNAFU

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SNAFU is an established high-energy Rock band based out of Des Moines, Iowa. Originating in 2004, SNAFU has been a fixture on the Iowa and the midwest music scene performing their original music to an ever increasing large and diverse audience for the past 5 years. Labeled “A Musical Chameleon” by the Des Moines Music Coalition, the quartet of Andy Anderson , Mike Leeds, Ben Lehl, and Tom Murphy have pulled together their years of personal and professional experiences, multi-instrumental abilities, and diverse musical backgrounds into a band that fuses rock, pop, blues, soul, funk, punk, bluegrass, acoustic, and reggae influences into one energetic melting pot of original rock music. Reviewed by the Des Moines Register in 2007, they said of SNAFU, “Whether it be piano pop or guitar-led rock, SNAFU has the talent in spades”.
Not only is the band known for their strong musical reputation, it is just as well known for it’s energetic and crowd participating in-your-face live performances. The band brings the bombastic feel of an arena show to every venue. SNAFU’s first live performance was at the Val Air Ballroom for the charitable concert event "Smile Fest", which was a great test for any band. Since then the band has performed over 150 shows and has had the privilege to perform at a number of popular venues throughout Des Moines and Iowa including the House of Bricks, The Vaudeville Mews, Peoples Court, Blues On Grand, The Grand Piano Bistro, Vets Auditorium, HyVee Hall, The Iowa Events Center, The Maintenance Shop, Headliners, The Octagon Center for the Arts, Balipalooza in both 2006 and 2007, as well as Iowa State University’s Veishea celebrations for 2006 and 2007, and many more. SNAFU has also performed for the cities of Des Moines (The Des Moines Marathon, East Village Festival, Iowa Events Center for the Iowa Barnstormers and Iowa Chops in association with KGGO), Ankeny (Unplugged and Summer Sounds Series), Clive (Clive After Five), Cedar Falls (Sturgis Falls Festival), Ames (Ames on the Half Shell), Perry (Perry Festival, and the annual Brr Ride Classic Bike Ride), Huxley (Huxley Festival), Nevada (4th of July celebrations), and Pleasant Hill (Labor Day Festival) and have helped to make their festivals a great success, along with playing venues in cities across the midwest such as Kansas City, Missouri; Lincoln Nebraska; Omaha Nebraska; and Minneapolis, Minnesota just to name a small few. Most notably in 2008, SNAFU was honored to perform at the Iowa Events Center for the Billy Joel VIP party during his 2007-2008 US tour.
SNAFU have also donated their time to perform for various DARE programs around central Iowa and other charitable organizations including Link and Associates, East Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, and The First Tee sponsored by the Iowa Doctors Association. The band has also received airtime on radio stations such as KGGO, KXNO, KFMG, Capital 106.3, 105.1 Channel Q (Ames, Iowa), as well as radio outlets in Cedar Falls, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids, and the Des Moines based web radio station DMPulse.com where they are posted as a featured artist. SNAFU has also been featured in multiple news / review articles in newspapers such as The Des Moines Register, CityView, Juice, Des Music Coalition, and the Iowa State Daily each as featured artists receiving glowing reviews and accolades. Their self-titled debut album released at the end of 2007, SNAFU, was well received by audiences and critics alike receiving fantastic reviews in each of the former publications.