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Cliff Feldman:
I got my musical start as a teenager in Tucson, Arizona where I was a classmate of Linda Ronstadt’s. Starting out as a drummer, an early
band “The Syndicate” was well known in Tucson, even being featured on local radio shows.
Switching to guitar and vocals, I formed a new band, “Central Heating” with fellow University of Arizona schoolmates and a cool Hippie who had recently transplanted himself from San Francisco. Central Heating prided itself in doing the newest and most difficult material possible from the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and the like. We regularly opened for another struggling band from Phoenix, The Spiders, who later became “Alice Cooper”.
After moving to northern California, I formed the group, “Occasional Rain” with co-DJ’s from San Jose’s KOME Radio. This band performed an eclectic mix of my original tunes and covers of obscure English progressive groups.
I moved to Santa Cruz in 1984 and traded my guitar for a computer. I completed 2 novels (sadly, unpublished). After teaching my son guitar for 2 years, I became reinspired, and found Ted Porter...and then Jonathan Kessler...and here we are.
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Ted Porter:
After discovering the guitar in fourth grade, that was the end of piano lessons for me, Mrs Lindstrom's protestations notwithstanding. That was more decades ago than I care to count, but the point is the guitar has been in my hands a long time. It's my primary instrument and I sure enjoy the music I'm making with this band.
In years past I would show up at jam sessions with my guitar, only to find that everyone else there was also playing guitar, so I began my search for a second instrument. After watching a Sam Bush performance, I decided that the Mandolin was pretty cool. It's fun to incorporate a little mandolin into the tunes we play for a change of pace.
Many years ago I ran across an old Accordiana that I thought was pretty neat, but I never really played it that much. One day at a friend's house I noticed an old Lap Steel that didn't seem to be getting much attention. My friend thought the Accordiana was cool and a quick trade was finalized. The Lap Steel can be a little intimidating at times since it has no frets and therefore you have to be real careful when you stop the slide. There's nothing worse than a bad note on a lap steel, OK maybe the banjo is a close rival, but I really enjoy the challenge and the sound always makes me grin.
I left a band in Maryland and moved to California in 2000. After nearly eight years without playing music, I've hooked up with Jonathon and Cliff and we're having a ball playing music. I hope to see you at our shows.
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Jonathan Kessler:
I started playing in coffeehouses around Philadelphia in the mid-70's, and got more serious about my playing when I moved to California in 1979. I've played in a variety of genres from Blues and R&B to Rock, Reggae, World Beat, Jazz, Funk, and traditional Arab, Turkish, Greek and Armenian music. For several years I played music as a profession, but decided that I'd I prefer playing music that I love, regardless of how "commercially viable" it may be. Along the way I've had the privilege to perform with such great artists as Joe Cocker, Walredo Reyes, Necati Celik, and Willam "Smitty" Smith, among others, to open for bands like Toots and The Maytals and The Wailers, and to contribute to a few good recordings, including "At the Court of the Chera Kings" with Grammy award-winning producer Kavi Alexander.
I may be naive, but I strongly believe that by playing music from different genres and cultures, and sharing our own musicality and experiences, we lessen the distance between ourselves and others. There is magic \in music, and that magic is to bring people together.
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