Players

Brian Stepien

That’s me, the author of this site.  The writer, the vocalist, lyricist, the reluctant keyboardist.  The wannabe poet.  The self-taught songwriter with no clue what the rules and mathematics of written music are all about.  Never learned them.  I just always wanted or needed to sing out all of the crap that fills this head.  The isolation, the observations, the home grown off-kilter dime store philosophy, the humor and hope.  Dale and I started writing together and eventually he just wanted to play the piano.  Can’t fault that logic.  I was on my own for coming up with new material.  So here it is.

Jim Monica

Lead and rhythm.  In the early days and once again at the time of this writing.  He has, over the years, perfected the art of defying the numerous doctors who at various life stages have told him we would never play guitar again.  He has proven a veritable Houdini, escaping injury, surgery, the occasional stray sharp object or full-sized vehicle.  Always bouncing back to solo another day.  He is the only one of us that never stopped performing live, in various projects in Cleveland.  His depth of style and substance continually grow.  Just like his vinyl and guitar collections.

Eric Schweitzer

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Eric was formerly the lead guitarist in The Finger Puppets and also Ravage the Rain.  He enjoys songwriting, arranging, and can often be found searching for the perfect guitar tone.

Dale Schmitt

Our original keyboard player.  Piano, Wurlitzer, organ, horns, strings, bass, plus whatever effects we can dream up.  Dale was our version of a child prodigy.  Organ lessons from the toddler stage.  Piano as a teenager.  Surrounded by crate after crate of pop records from the sixties and seventies.  All of those sounds and melodies crowding his head.

Jim Wall

Amazing, talented, journeyman drummer, teacher/guru, studio engineer.  Playing on (We Are) Vagabonds and Switzerland (coming soon).  Check out him work and his offerings at Blue Buddha Studios in Cleveland, Ohio.

George Hart

George was gracious enough to sit in on drums for a few of these recent recordings.  He worked tirelessly to come up with a solid, tight, fitting arrangement for each of the songs he was given.  We are humbled and grateful.

So many more contributed throughout the years and through the various iterations of the project.  We are grateful to each and every one of them.  This is by no means the entire list or in any particular order:

Mike Docy (sound engineering)

Mo Degley (drums)

Guy Brooks (bass)

Dave Gill (drums)

Cindy Catalano (drums)

Kurt Felgemacher (bass)

Avis Gilmour (drums)

Carey Mathews (guitar and vocals)

Matt Cole (guitar and trumpet)

Norm Tischler (sax)