 |
|
          
|
Press Kit
Bio The Smokin' Fez Monkeys The Smokin Fez Monkeys is a modern jug band that puts the fun back into music again. They play a wacky mixture of songs and tunes from several decades ago, mixed in with a number of snappy original ones written by a few of the band members. There are more than a few surprises along the way. It’s a sort of a ragtime-cartoon-Vaudeville-circus-hobo-gypsy-jazz thing. The band consists of: Tim Wallace is a well-known northeast Ohio singer and songwriter mostly known for his intelligently funny songs. Tim is a veteran of the Kent State Folk Festival and a winner of two songwriting contest at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield KS in 2006. Tim sings with a rich, deep voice and plays a variety of instruments including jug, banjo/guitar, slide whistle and various noisemakers. Monkeyname: Bullfrog Willie Plunkett Holly Overton is one of the real musicians in the group. She plays fiddle extraordinarily well. A classically trained violinist, she has a great sense of music and always finds just the right thing to make a song really pop. She will surprise you with exquisite vocal work. Monkeyname: Princess Petunia Lee Petalbottom Bill Drake is the percussionist of the group, but he’s also a multi-instrumentalist (great guitar player), and singer. Bill plays a whole collection of drums, bells, blocks, washboard, and pretty much anything you can put on a stick. That's right. A stick. A jinglestick, to be precise. Bill has a great solid feel for the rhythm of the tunes. Think Spike Jones! Monkeyname: Gnarly Snag Jim Stone is the other half of the rhythm section on upright bass. Jim also wears many hats: Fedora, cowboy, derby, etc. Occasionally the band will let him play guitar, too. Monkeyname: Uh, Clem Mark Sherepita is the other songwriter in the group. He’s no longer officially in the group, but often joins us at shows. His style fits perfectly with the jug band genre. His songs are also very interesting and funny in a twisted sort of way. Mark also sings and plays a resonator guitar, harmonica, trombone, and scary percussion instruments. Monkeyname: Rattletrap Jack Hokum Contact Information: Jim Stone PO Box 4243 Akron, OH 44321 office 330-668-3040 cell 330-310-1544 JimLStone@aol.com Band Website: www.smokinfezmonkeys or www.myspace.com/smokinfezmonkeys The Smokin' Fez Monkeys Technical Information Setup: Our normal setup is as follows. Tim, Mark, and Holly are in the front, with Jim and Bill in the second row, similar to the caricature below. We usually need about 10-12 feet of stage width to accommodate our people and instruments. We can work in more crowded spaces if needed. If needed, we have adequate sound equipment to handle most venues. Both Tim Wallace and Jim Stone have considerable experience running sound for events and concerts. Equipment available includes microphones, cables, mixers, power amps, speakers, etc. Mikes and Channels: Tim Wallace – one vocal mike and one instrument mike. Mark Sherepita – one vocal mike and one instrument mike. Holly Overton – one vocal mike and one direct channel for violin. Bill Drake – one vocal mike plus two instrument mikes may be used for larger venues for the Jinglestick. Direct channel for guitar. Jim Stone – no vocals, upright bass is plugged in direct. Liner notes from our cd, thanks to our creative department: Loaded with old favorites and originals that someday will be, and armed with a batch of low tech whizbangs that can barely be classified as instruments, The Smokin Fez Monkeys are a special ops unit in the war against seriousness. If you force us to describe ourselves, we might evade you with something artsy and esoteric like, “Cheapshot trashophonic retrovaudevillian gypsy hobo quackeristic wackhouse with a twist of Spike on the cutting edge of cornball.” But you can just call us a jug band. Our mission is to do to music what the Wienermobile did to the auto, what M.C. Escher did to the third dimension, what Bugs Bunny did to Elmer Fudd. We're trying like crazy to put the fun back into live music and bring the audience back into the mix. So give us a listen. Better yet, come and see us. And prepare yourself to clap your hands and stamp your feet and sing along; be part of the show, make smart remarks, and have a barrel of fun. We were going to say something about our great talent and brilliant technical skills, but we're out of space. Oh, yeah. Don't buy anything from Rattletrap Jack. Give us a google, it’s good for a giggle: www.smokinfezmonkeys.com www.myspace.com/smokinfezmonkeys For bookings call 330-668-3040 Ask for the funny lookin’ guy with the derby Venues we have played recently include: The Barking Spider – Cleveland Willoughby Fine Arts Association - Willoughby Poor Richard’s – North Ridgeville Painesville Party in the Park Dulci-More Festival – Lisbon, OH Fat Fish Blue - Cleveland The Prosperity Social Club – Cleveland The Winchester - Lakewood Mountain Rose Concert Series – Kent Scott’s Folkatorium - Akron The Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland First Night – Salem, OH The Kent Stage – Kent, Ohio Wilbert’s – Cleveland, OH Central Ohio Folk Festival – Columbus, OH Raccoon County Festival – Burton, OH The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI Lookabout Lodge – Cleveland Metroparks Seiberling Naturealm – Akron Metroparks Cuyahoga Community College West – Parma Berea Arts Fest – Berea, OH Kamms Corners Farmers Market – Cleveland Kent State Folk Fest – ‘Round Town Night FIMU Festival – Belfort, France National Jug Band Jubilee – Louisville, KY Some better-known acts for which we have opened or shared programs: The Asylum Street Spankers Robin and Linda Williams The Austin Lounge Lizzards Mustard’s Retreat Caravan of Thieves What do we really look like? Click the image for larger version. 
|