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THE A.M. BAND has been causing people to
do a "double-take" in the tri-state area since early 2000. Originally formed as an extention of singer/guitarist Bryan
Gordon's solo act, which after years of steady playing had incorporated dozens of songs by early
70's "One Hit Wonders". Believing that there was an audience just waiting to hear the songs "people love to forget"
again, Gordon enlisted the services of bassist Matt Kaprelian and drummer Stuart Stahr (and
more recently drummer Brett Roberts), all well seasoned veteran's of the local club and studio scene.
Together they decided that the new band would perform Top 20 AM Radio Hits from 1968-75 exclusively, partly to avoid
being labeled a "Disco Band", but also because they felt it was an era of great songs, but a terrible
reputation (it didn't hurt either that there were no other bands in the area doing that music!).
After settling on the the type of music they would perform, it was
decided that in order for people to appreciate what the band was doing , they would have get people to stay around long
enough to listen (don't forget at the time heavy "alternative" music was the norm). This would not be an easy task
if a Metallica, Creed or Chili Pepper's fan walked in on the band in the middle of "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head".
The dilema was getting the audience to understand that though the band took the music seriously, they didn't
take themselves too seriously.
The solution was simple...
- Don't do wimpy/wedding versions of songs... Play
them with the energy that they originally had. That would show people that they respected the songs and the artists that
performed them.
- Dress the part... 70's clothes were
silly enough on their own, if people could laugh at the band for 10 minutes, they might hear something they liked.
- Be different... "Add some spinning lights, smoke and bubble
machines, play all the horn sections on kazoos and we just might have something".
It was a big chance to take, but in the end... people came... people stared... people laughed...
people stayed... people sang along... AND PEOPLE CAME BACK!
After 8 years together The A.M. Band finally decided to hang up their bell
bottoms and played their final show the last weekend of September 2008. Long Live the 70's!
For individual bios, click on photo
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