FRED LANHAM
Guitar, lead vocals, harmonica and mandolin.
Fred has played professionally for over thirty years. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music from Motown to the Beatles. Fred also has an fine collection of guitars from classic Gibsons, to rare Fenders. His most prized possession is a beautiful green Stratocaster that Eric Clapton signed when the two musicians met in NYC. Fred has also met Carlos Santana and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
BEN BACH
Lead guitar, piano, organ, bass, drums and backing vocals
From the Rochester NY, Ben is classically trained in piano. He was a student of the Hochstien School of the Eastman School of music. He’s played in a variety of bands since 1972, mostly in the Rochester area. Ben has a solo instrumental album entitled: “Ben Joe Bach” (rivershackrecord.com ASCAP). He has opened for “Steve Ray Vaughn”, “John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band”, “The Good Rats” and “Benny Mardones”, to name a few. In 1982, he realized a dream when he played with Les Paul in his New Jersey studio. Ben is not only a recording artist, but has worked as a sound engineer running stage sound for over 30 National Acts.
CHRIS BACH
Bass guitar, fretless upright bass, lead vocals , piano and accordion
Chris is from Omaha, Nebraska. She was a vocal & piano student of the Hochstien School, Eastman School of Music . Although her first instrument is classical piano, in Fred & the EDs she plays bass, fretless upright bass and accordion. Chris has been playing bass professionally for almost two decades. She has an amazing vocal range that extends from Pat Benetar to Nora Jones. Her beautiful lead vocals and harmonies constitute one of the best things about Fred & the EDs. Chris is a graduate of RIT.
Ben and his wife Chris, also perform acoustically as “Benny & the Bluebird.” They have
an album on Rivershack Records entitled “When the Yellow’s on the Bloom”.
STEVE MARTIN
Guitar, trumpet, keyboards, percussion, vocals.
Steve comes from Oneida, NY. He is a graduate of the prestigious Crane School of
Music. An instrument major, Steve can play anything. He is often seen with a
guitar around his neck or a trumpet in his hands...sometimes in the same song! He has played with international recording artists “Tommy Gunn and the Endangered Species.” In college, Steve was half of the Jazz/Rock group “Reversion.”
TOM MURRAY
Drums, percussion and lead vocals.
Tom is from Auburn, NY and has played with some of the best dance bands in New York State. He has performed with “Reporter” (a Rochester band formed from members of Nick & the Nice Guys) and “The Marshall Tucker Band”. Locally (Syracuse, Oswego & Watertown) he has played with more bands than he can remember... among them “Moonlighting”, “Glyder “, “The John Hart Band” and the infamous “Larry & the Lounge Lizards” Tom is a graduate of SUNY Oswego and has an MEd from St Lawrence University.
JIM OXENFORD
Trombone, piano, synth and percussion.
Jim is from Buffalo, NY. At 6’ 5”, Jim is the tallest ED! Jim is a graduate of SUNY Fredonia, which has a nationally recognized music program. Jim is famous for his ability to learn quickly and is one of the most sought after “pit band” musicians in the area. He has played for countless performances. In Fred & the EDs, he leads the “Horns of Insanity” and writes out all the charts for the horns.
SHANNON WHITNEY
Saxophone and percussion
Shannon is from the Watertown, NY area. She played sax in SUNY Oswego’s famous “Solid State Jazz Band” during her college years. When not playing with the EDs, she participates in horse shows all over the United States. Recently she traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the 2007 US Nationals. Shannon is a graduate of SUNY Oswego and has her MEd from St Lawrence University.
Influences
Our greatest influence is a popular regional act from the 1960s called "The South Shore Road Band" but we also must give a lot of credit to "Chicago", "Average White Band" and "Tower of Power". Actually we love any kind of music with horns, great guitar licks, a driving beat and killer vocals.
Sounds Like
Hmm... we sound like... US! We have a term we use when we learn a new song, ED-IFYING it. It means that we try to put our own imprint on every song. Take the song "Good Lovin'" by the Young Rascals, the original is a pretty standard 4/4 rocker with an organ solo... we do it with an almost reggae beat and we have a horn solo. We try not to "cover" songs, we introduce our own personalities and musical talents into each song. We don't try to sound exactly like the original, we just try to sound as good as we can... we don't invite comparison because we don't want to be compared.
Fred & the EDs is one of the premier dance bands in New York State. With seven multi-talented members, who can literally play every instrument and five vocalists, you won’t believe your ears! Professional, dependable and cooperative are just some of the adjectives people use to describe “the EDs” Your event will be a guaranteed success, with Fred & the EDs.
SERVICES
The Full Band
Hours of high energy entertainment with drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and horns. We have members who play mutiple instruments (sometimes in the same song!) Three guitars, four keyboards, three drummers, trombone, trumpet, saxaphone, harmonica, mandolin and five vocalists!
EDs “Lite”
If you need music for a wedding service, cocktail or other background music, we can provide any number of guitarists, keyboards, bass and vocals. The perfect accent for your event!
Need a duet? A trio? We can provide any kind of music for your event. We have sound systems from intimate to concert size set-ups. We also have lights from simple par cans on a stand to elaborate concert sized truss systems and follow spots.
any of you guys recall the stevie wonder sounding song called "more today than yesterday?" I'm sure you know it's a Spiral Starecase one-hit-wonder :) Can you do it for me?! It'd be an easy one to learn, and I'm sure Chris would rock the lead!!
You guys sounded FANTASTIC at The Paddock Club. We'll be back on Feb. 8th (if I can get the evening off). I do believe you guys should play there on a more regular basis: Like EVERY weekend!
Happy New Year! I BELIEVE that 2008 has wonderful things in store for you! Have a amazing new year!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again for your friendship... you are phenominal! Krissy
We just want to let you know that you guys kicked some major ass saturday night! Keep up the great work, you guys are very very tight and have a great time on stage.
Hey everyone. Hope you all are having a great summer! I started recording with Ben out at Rivershack, and I'm really excited about the stuff we're recording. I have a couple tunes up on my new MySpace site so check it out!
