Local Stranger

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Date: 7/27/2006 UserName: jewels Vote: Comments:

Band Members:
Instrumentation All musicians in this band are veteran musicians. Rick Gillis vocals, keyboards, songwriter Art Kirkendoll guitar, songwriter Joe Bergen bass, songwriter David Park drums, songwriter

Biography

The delivery of our performance is what sets us apart. The songs are energetic, they are the kind of songs that make people want to raise their fists in the air and shout out the lyrics. Our influences are the legends of rock. Local Stranger was founded by James Hammontree in the mid 90's. Art Kirkendoll, virtuoso lead guitar player, and James have been friends for years. They wanted to build a music project that had a chance for lasting success. Rob Slahck, a classically trained bass player, joined Local Stranger in 2003, and with a singer/drummer the three piece band enjoyed some marginal success for over a year. They had to let the original drummer go due to personal issues. In December 2004, Ron Voll was asked to join the band as a drummer. Rick Gillis entered the studio about two weeks later and he completely blew the room away with his voice. Rick's presence all but guaranteed Local Stranger's future success.

With the newly revamped line-up, the magic began to flow. Local Stranger was quickly given the opportunity to play in a few of the larger clubs, and struck gold with an appearance in Club Wars VI. As round one began, only five originals had been written; the show at The Grand Emporium was Local Stranger's second gig. They played well enough to secure a spot in the next round. A blistering Semi-Finals performance netted a slot in the Finals at The Beaumont in June 2005. While Local Stranger came in 3rd, they won the praise of the General Manager of The Beaumont, which turned out to be every bit as good as winning Club Wars outright.

July 2005, after only 7 months together, the four musicians entered the studio to produce their debut CD 'In The Shadows'. The studio crew raved at Local Stranger's talent and professionalism. Recording was done over a mere 3 week period. The final mix was completed early October and the CD was released on October 26.

After playing at The Beaumont in late October, the band returned to the studio to write more music for what will be their second CD. They made an appearance at Gail's Harley-Davidson for her one year anniversary, and had an interview on 90.l to promote 'In The Shadows' where we have held a top 10 playlist for the last ten weeks. Local Stranger played another show at the Beaumont in June, 2006 and is scheduled to play for Kansas City Live's Summer Concert Series held at Gail's Harley Davidson on August 5, 2006. Local Stranger is on our way to the Uptown Theater in Kansas City on May 24th,

Website http://www.myspace.com/localstranger

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