MEET THE BAND

No, not that "The Band".  (well, I do highly recommend Robbie Robertson's memoir Testimony.)  I want to introduce you to the Storytown band:

Bandleader Guy Story plays guitar and mandolin, sings, and writes and arranges the songs.  He has played in a number of bands in NYC over the years, and he took a long detour into technology along the way.

Drummer Tony Cruz was recommended to me by my friend, the very multi-talented Daphne Rubin-Vega, for whom Tony also plays drums.  Tony is originally from “da Bronx” (his words), studied at Berklee College of Music, and has an MAT in Music Education from Lehman College.  He subbed on Broadway for 10 years, playing in, among other things, Hairspray and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Tony has toured with the Boston Pops Orchestra and continues as a hired gun in multiple groups and styles, ranging from big band to fusion (to whatever genre you’d pigeonhole Storytown into).  Tony plays with cesium clock accuracy, time-wise, and he does this crazy fast triplet hi-hat thing with a ghost note on the snare that makes me want to play fast shuffles all night long.

Bassist Rick Wagner was raised in a small town in the coal mining region of northeast Pennsylvania.  He was recommended by another talented friend, singer/songwriter Emily Duff, on whose first album Rick appears.  Rick started playing bass professionally at the age of 16, in “barns, bars, and brothels” (his words :-) throughout northeastern PA.  Rick moved to New York City in 1981 and has played with, among others, The dB's, The Silos, Hearts & Minds, the Paul Collins Band, Ruby On The Vine, the Emily Duff Band, and Alan Paul's Big In China.  A very intuitive and musical bassist, Rick also sings backup, a key ingredient in the Storytown sound.   

Keyboardist Charly Roth was recommended by yet another talented singer/songwriter friend, George Gilmore.  Charly grew up in Philadelphia, by way of Princeton , NJ.  As far as I can tell he has inherited the “hardest working man in show business” title from James Brown by being the busiest and most versatile musician I have yet to meet.  Focusing just on highlights, I can report that Charly plays keyboards (Ozzy Osbourne, Rick Derringer & Edgar Winter, Suzanne Vega, Garland Jeffreys [currently], Lenny Kaye, Storytown), bass (Blessid Union of Souls), and drums (Denis Leary’s Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll TV show, Liza Colby Sound).  He’s an experienced NYC session musician who is also Musical Director of Murderers’ Row, a NYC-based collective that regularly performs musical tributes to the world's best artists and albums. For readers of this blog, you know that Charly has the task of whipping my keyboard parts into greatness.

Backup vocalist Rembert Block is a native Texan, Brooklyn-based singer/accordionist/writer. She trained as a classical singer and experimental theater artist, as well as earning an MFA in Writing and Poetics at the Naropa Institute, before moving to New York. Block’s cabaret-pop band Rembert & the Basic Goodness has been performing and recording since 2017. In 2022 her original work Selfie! The Musical  was commissioned and produced by the Vortex Theatre in Austin, TX, followed by a reprise at Green Room 42 in NYC. Block sings and collaborates with multiple musical endeavors in the NYC area, including Bubble, Murderers’ Row, metafizz and most recently Storytown.

Backup vocalist Erica Smith’s first release, folk/Americana-tinged Friend or Foe, prompted The Village Voice to declare “I think I love her” and earned her a spot on Charlie Gillett’s renowned BBC London show “The Sound of the World.” Now, with four records under her belt, and with songs ranging in style from country to bossa nova to Beatlepop to psychedelia, she has proven a versatile and powerful singer and songwriter. She also shines as the ‘secret weapon’ with NYC tribute-band geniuses Murderers' Row.

Known as a “Musicians’ Musician,” trumpeter Pam Fleming’s lyrical and soulful trumpet sound has enriched the vibe of many bands and recordings. You may have heard her with Hazmat Modine, Isle Of Klezbos, Metropolitan Klezmer, Gov’t Mule, Warren Haynes (of the Allman Brothers), Reggae star Burning Spear, Toots & The Maytals, Mighty Sparrow, Natalie Merchant, Meredith Monk, Rachelle Garniez, HONK NYC. Here are her Original songs with her group Fearless Dreamer. Melodic, funky, and often deeply moving. Have a listen

Saxophonist Jeff Hudgins, a transplanted Texan whose music has been described as "somewhat menacing” (New York Music Daily), is a founding member of local NYC group Bombay Rickey, who have just put out their 3rd record in November 2023. He also is a member of Rembert & The Basic Goodness (also working on a new record), David Dorfman Dance (in-house ensemble), and often appears with Murderers’ Row. Jeff can be found on records by Zeb Gould (Bowery Boy Blue), Lizdelise, Lizzie & The Makers, and upcoming recordings by Guy Klucevsek and Evan Rapport. In addition to Bombay Rickey, he writes for the NYC groups Anti-Social Music and Opera On Tap.