Jeff 'Felonius Smith' After having played Dobro lap slide guitar for some 12 years, Felonius Smith experimented with bottleneck style on a metal body National guitar. He was immediately taken by its unique, bluesy tone — piquing his hunger to learn all he could about old slide guitar blues music. Under Bob Brozman, the modern day King of the National guitar, Felonius studied slide guitar and rhythm. The songs and styles of historic blues artists like Tampa Red, Robert Johnson and Mississippi Fred McDowell provide his inspiration. Felonius Smith’s use of polyrhythmic and percussive finger picking techniques invoke intrigue in his captivated audiences.
Felonius Smith (A.K.A. Jeff Smith) performed his brand of acoustic Roots-Of-The-Blues music in his native San Francisco Bay Area for over 15 years. In 2006, he brought his family and musical talents to Boulder, Colorado. He has played professionally for over 25 years and currently performs playing bottleneck slide guitar, lap slide guitar, 6-string, 12-string and mandolin. He also has over 15 years of experience as a drummer and is well versed in a wide variety of musical genres – including Blues, Rock, Folk, Bluegrass, Celtic, Reggae, and Afro-beat. His versatility and talent has earned him a growing reputation as an accomplished sideman for local singer/songwriters’ performances and recordings – including recordings by Jayme Kelly Curtis, Ellen Silva and Karen Stern.
J. Scott Johnson Bassist J. Scott Johnson cut his teeth on the Cleveland Blues scene for over 5 years, before relocating to Boulder Colorado in 1991 where he has held the bass position for local blues bands Chicago Skinny, The Homewreckers and The Shackdaddys. Scott also plays with Big Bender recording artists The Honky Tonk Hangovers and The Beloved Invaders. Scott has shared the stage with Junior Wells, The Blasters, The Derailers, and Dick Dale. You can reach Scott at: shackdaddybass@yahoo.com
Jeff Gagliardi In 1974 Jeff Gagliardi taught himself to play harmonica while driving a cab in his native New York City, working night shift while attending college at the School of Visual Arts. Between fares, Jeff worked out familiar riffs from his blues influences – Paul Butterfield, John Mayall, Steve Katz (The Blues Project), Little Walter, Sonny Terry – and tried out a few tricks of his own. Jeff also makes his home with his family in Boulder Colorado where he owns his own graphic design business www.gcreativedesign.com and still creates some rather unusual visual artwork as well: www.etch-a-sketchartist.com