Dennis Mitchell Band
By; Kurt "Swingcat" Johnson
Hot, smokin' and above all, absolutely professional.
That's exactly what you'll find when you go see a Dennis Mitchell
Band show.
A completely different kind of classic rock
and blues band, The Dennis Mitchell Band combines vintage rock rhythms,
grooves and beats with Texas roadhouse blues, hints of jazz undertones
and even a bit of swing to round out their completely unique sound.
This is no ordinary weekend cover band. If you're expecting Freebird, then
you've come to the wrong show. But if you're expecting the tightest,
rockin'ist, hard-hitting blues rock that brings to mind Johnny Winter,
ZZ Top and the heavy hitters of early rock such as the Kingsmen,
then you've come to the right show!
A Dennis Mitchell Band show is a polished,
professional event that's not to be missed. With a band line-up featuring
legendary and world-class performers, you can expect the tightest,
well-orchestrated flow to the event. With a complete show lighting
system you are visually entertained while dancing to the grooves
and the hard-driving beats. Unlike so many others, this band wastes
no time onstage. They get right after it and have very little needless
chatter or wasted dead-air time, yet one more example of their polish
and professionalism.
The band is Dennis Mitchell on lead guitar
and vocals; his older brother and original founding member of the
Kingsmen, Mike Mitchell on rhythm and lead guitar and vocals; Steve
MIller on Hammond B-3 organ and keyboard. Bass player Todd McPherson
also is a current member of The Kingsmen. On drums is the experienced
Brian Johnsen, who has worked with such legends as Pat Travers and
Bachman Turner Overdrive.
Each member is a versatile and experienced
professional musician and they often switch off on different instruments
and help out on vocals and harmonies. Dennis also is a current member
of the Kingsmen touring line-up. All have many years experience touring
and have honed their skills by paying their dues the hard way! The
band has added new saxophone player Kenny Campbell, a world-class
performer who has toured extensively. He brings yet another dimension
to this heavy-hitting line-up!
The band describes their sound as a mix
of the new and old along with many musical flavors. Dennis talks
about the band's sound and new CD; "We have a lot of inflections
and different flavors from the past and present
in our original stuff. We're excited about our new CD. It will still
be smokin' rock and blues. It will take you back. You will get many
flavors. But it's kind of a different sound. Much different that
what you normally hear with bands in the clubs." Dennis explains
the band's goals; "We're shooting for national exposure. We're
working on a lot of stuff and will be shooting a music video. We
have a couple of radio situations waiting to play our stuff such
as AM Northwest. The music video will be really smokin'. The
CD will feature 13 all-original songs."
Older brother Mike elaborated on the band's
unique sound and how it came together; "It kind of happened
that two brothers that hadn't player together for an entire career.
It's two totally different guitar styles that have come together.
The chopped B-3 organ is part of our past. The Kingsmen were the
first rock band to take a B-3 out on the road. Now it's part of our
future. When it all comes together, there's a magic that happens.
You can appreciate each player individually in the middle of a song.
For instance, our drummer is a pounder. He sets a tone for what we
do. So, it creates a tremendous energy on stage. And the audience
gets caught up in that. They create an energy of their own and it
goes right back to the band and we feed off each other. It's a very
strong vocal band as well as musically. It's like a nastier, tougher
version of The Eagles. If you hear the CD, you'll hear the harmonies
along with smokin' solos and guitars. Our saxophone player Kenny
Campbell has traveled the world and he's just a screamin‘ player.
He's also on the CD. You gotta hear the CD to really appreciate it."
Dennis also points out that their stage
show and CD would not be at the professional levels they are without
the efforts and contributions of their sound tech Doug Lampkin, lighting
technician Scott Kindt, who is also their studio sound engineer and
their video director Hunter Richardson.
Put it all together and it's a potent combination
of roadhouse blues, vintage rock and hardriving, smokin' original
sound. Add in consummate professional musicianship and deep stage
experience and you have a band that is going somewhere. This band
is really becoming too big for the clubs.
But they appreciate that people want to
see a quality, polished act in local clubs, so for the moment, they
have no plans to drop club dates. But you better hurry up and get
out and see them, because they may not be around the clubs for long!!
You can see more of, listen to and watch
their previous music video at their website: www.dennismitchell.com.
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