Jason Freese
Green Day
Jason Freese is best known for being the keyboardist with Green Day. In addition, he has toured with the Goo Goo Dolls on the Gutterflower tour and Weezer on the Make Believe tour, just to name a few. His brother, Josh Freese, is the drummer for The Vandals, Devo, and A Perfect Circle. Jason recently began a new “super band” project called Watershow that includes his brother. Mike Doherty, who played guitar in Papa Roach and Kevin Blades from LIT, is also in the band.
Robert “Bubby” Lewis
Snoop Dogg
Hailing from Flint, Michigan, Robert “Bubby” Lewis is one of the most accomplished young bass players around. Though he originally wanted to be a drummer, Bubby started out playing bass for fun in his father’s church at age 14. He rapidly became very accomplished on the instrument, and soon became known around his hometown as a local bass prodigy.
In 2003, Bubby met gospel bass legend Andrew Gouche, who was very impressed with his talent. Andrew introduced him to famed bass designer Michael Tobias, who invited him to play in his booth at the NAMM show. After witnessing the crowds that gathered in the booth to see Bubby playing, Michael promptly offered the young bassist an artist endorsement, which he has to this day.
Since then, Bubby has played and recorded bass for an A-list of music industry powerhouse artists. He can be seen regularly with hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg and hit-maker Lupe Fiasco among many others, performing around the world on television and sell-out tours.
Brockett Parsons
Lady Gaga
Brockett Parsons is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he studied jazz and classical music. A resident of New York City, he’s played a lot of R&B over the years, touring with artists such as Donell Jones and appearing on late-night television shows in Carrie Underwood’s band. Brockett is well known for appearing on Making His Band with P. Diddy, where he was chosen as one of the winners. Currently, he is Lady Gaga’s main keyboard player.
Jennifer Stone
Ke$ha
Jennifer Stone studied commercial music at Belmont University, and worked for many years as a session player in Nashville. She presently lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Jennifer previously owned a SH-201 Synthesizer, and recently discovered the Lucina® AX-09 while in the middle of a world tour with singer/songwriter Ke$ha. “The Lucina filled such a void in my rig,” Jennifer says. “For Ke$ha’s live show, I needed mobility, MIDI, and great synth sounds, which it is filled with. I was up and running with the Lucina the first day I got it.”
Typically, Jennifer loves programming her own sounds from scratch on analog-style synths, so her comments say volumes about the high quality of the Lucina’s onboard sounds. They also got the thumbs-up from Ke$ha herself, who’s very particular about the sounds used for performing her music.
Charles Prince
Rihanna
Jeremy Dawson
Shiny Toy Guns
Shiny Toy Guns is an alternative/electronic band formed in 2002 in Los Angeles, California. The band consists of Carah Faye Charnow (vocals, synth), Chad Petree (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Dawson (synth, bass), Mikey Martin (drums), and Daniel Johansson (guitar, synth, bass).
Chad and Jeremy grew up in Oklahoma and were involved in previous music projects together, including the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto III and the band Cloud2Ground. After relocating to L.A., the two recruited Carah and Mikey and formed Shiny Toy Guns. Their debut album, We Are Pilots, received a GRAMMY® nomination in 2007 for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Three singles were issued from the record: “Le Disko,” “You Are The One,” and “Rainy Monday.” The band’s second studio album, Season of Poison, was released in 2008, with Sisely Treasure as vocalist. This record spawned the singles “Ghost Town” and “Ricochet!”
In 2009, Shiny Toy Guns released “Major Tom (Coming Home),” a cover of the Peter Schilling song. Carah returned to Shiny Toy Guns in 2011, and her husband Daniel joined the band on guitar and bass. In March 2011, the band released a new single, “The Sun,” available as a free download: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj3FS1U14q8
Harvey “Lex” Marshall
Rihanna
Mike Schmid
Miley Cyrus
In addition to working as keyboard player and backing vocalist for Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, Mike Schmid has played with many other top acts, including the Jonas Brothers, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sheryl Crow, Kenna, Chantal Kreviazuk, Ed King, Jeffrey Steele, Van Hunt, Aly & AJ, and The Corrs. He’s also worked with many independent singer/songwriters, such as Connie Kim, Right the Stars, and Renee Stahl.
Mike is an accomplished singer/songwriter himself, with songs placed on the television shows So You Think You Can Dance, Flashpoint, CSI: Miami, Friday Night Lights, The Real World, The Bad Girls Club, Charmed, Everwood, Felicity, The Black Donnellys, and others.
His eponymous debut album was unleashed upon the world in 2001. In 2006, he released a big, fat epic titled The High Cost of Living (A Love Story), as well as an intimate little Christmas EP called Snow Day. His latest album, The House We Built, features a new recording of “Forget You,” Broadjam.com’s best-selling download of the year for 2007. Released in 2008, it quickly became a bestseller and an Editor’s Pick on CDBaby.com.
Carah Faye
Shiny Toy Guns
Shiny Toy Guns is an alternative/electronic band formed in 2002 in Los Angeles, California. The band consists of Carah Faye Charnow (vocals, synth), Chad Petree (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Dawson (synth, bass), Mikey Martin (drums), and Daniel Johansson (guitar, synth, bass).
Chad and Jeremy grew up in Oklahoma and were involved in previous music projects together, including the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto III and the band Cloud2Ground. After relocating to L.A., the two recruited Carah and Mikey and formed Shiny Toy Guns. Their debut album, We Are Pilots, received a GRAMMY® nomination in 2007 for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Three singles were issued from the record: “Le Disko,” “You Are The One,” and “Rainy Monday.” The band’s second studio album, Season of Poison, was released in 2008, with Sisely Treasure as vocalist. This record spawned the singles “Ghost Town” and “Ricochet!”
In 2009, Shiny Toy Guns released “Major Tom (Coming Home),” a cover of the Peter Schilling song. Carah returned to Shiny Toy Guns in 2011, and her husband Daniel joined the band on guitar and bass. In March 2011, the band released a new single, “The Sun,” available as a free download: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj3FS1U14q8
John Taylor
Duran Duran
Mitch Cohn
Chris Brown
Mitch “Catalyst” Cohn was born in New York where he grew up playing piano, guitar and drums. At age 15, Mitch picked up his first bass; a year later his bass playing yielded a full scholarship to Berklee School of Music, thus beginning his accomplished and growing music career.
Mitch has performed with Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, Kanye West, Beyonce and more. He has appeared on TV shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America and The GRAMMY® Awards. As a producer/remixer, he has worked with Beyoncé, T-Pain, Sean Kingston, Omarion, Lil Jon and others.
He is currently on the road as musical director for the Chris Brown F.A.M.E. world tour and in the studio producing/writing for the stars.
Valdez Brantley
Usher
Currently playing keys for mega-star R&B artist Usher, Valdez Brantley tours with an impressive rig that includes two V-Synth® GTs, a GAIA® SH-01, and many other keyboards. But when he gets the opportunity to escape his wall of hardware to entertain at the front of the stage, he calls on his Lucina® AX-09. “The Lucina is a very important part of my keyboard rig on the Usher OMG tour,” says Valdez. “Its simple onboard editing capabilities allow me to create the sounds I need to rock the crowd. The Lucina is my main transportation—it gets me from one end of the stage to the other. When I play the Lucina, it sets me free.” Valdez also uses the Lucina as a conventional keyboard, mounted on a regular stand.
Kern Brantley
Lady Gaga
From today’s touring crop, few leaders possess the grace-under-pressure skills of Lanar Brantley, a.k.a. Kern. For well over a decade, Kern has been laying down solid, deep-pocketed bass and serving as musical director for a cavalcade of top stars, most recently for Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child. He was also the bassist and ancillary keyboardist for Lady Gaga’s recent Monster Ball Tour.
Hal Ritson
The Young Punx
Irreverent, funny, intelligent, and totally dedicated to good music, The Young Punx transform the traditional boundaries within which dance music is produced and performed. Headed up by multi-instrumentalist producer Hal Ritson (musical director of Dizzee Rascal’s live band), along with right-hand deck lieutenant Nathan Taylor, drummer Simon Bettison, and a number of collaborators, the group’s productions, DJ sets, and live shows alternate effortlessly between many musical genres.
Following on from the albums Your Music Is Killing Me (2007) and Mashpop and Punkstep (2010), The Young Punx are currently completing their third album, which features guest appearances from Amanda Palmer (The Dresden Dolls), Peaches, Phonat, Space Cowboy, U.S. rapper Count Bass D, Daniel Pearce, and guitar virtuoso Guthrie Govan.
Eugene Roberts
John Legend
Veteran keyboardist, programmer, and arranger Eugene “Man-Man” Roberts is currently the musical director for John Legend. He also performs with J. Cole, an artist with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and has worked many other top artists, including Kanye West. Eugene is a longtime Roland player, and describes himself as a “kind of a keyboard geek” in regard to his passion for music gear.
Myron McKinley
EWF
A multi-talented and gifted pianist, producer, songwriter, programmer, and film composer, Myron McKinley is in a class all by himself. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, McKinley began studying jazz and classical piano at the tender age of three years old. His smooth and eclectic approach blends classical, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop together, forming an explosive sound reminiscent of some of his influences, such as Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, and Oscar Peterson.
McKinley attended the University of Southern California, where he studied film scoring, music performance, and jazz and classical piano. As a student there, he was the recipient of many awards, including Jazz Heritage, Best Original Jazz Performance, Best Original Classical Performance, and the Herb Alpert Scholarship.
Upon graduating from USC, McKinley quickly began performing with award-winning artists, such as Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, CeCe Winans, and Harry Connick, Jr., just to name a few. As a player, McKinley has toured with GRAMMY® winner Whitney Houston, Kenny Lattimore, Stanley Clarke, and En Vogue, and has toured as the musical director for Philip Bailey, Doc Powell, and others. He currently serves as musical director for pop music giants Earth Wind & Fire, a position he’s held since 2000. McKinley has produced and co-written songs for many artists, and he’s currently working on his solo debut album.
Lisa Harriton
Natalia Kills
Long before joining Smashing Pumpkins, one of the biggest, multi-platinum-selling bands of the 1990s, Los Angeles native Lisa Harriton had already established herself as a respected jazz pianist and singer. Her jazz background may seem to some an unlikely pairing with the Pumpkins’ sound, but her voice and style on the keyboards caught the ear of bandleader Billy Corgan right away. In 2007, she debuted as the band’s keyboardist and backing vocalist. Lisa has gone on to play and/or work as musical director for many other artists, including with Adam Lambert and Natalia Kills.
Aron Magner
Disco Biscuits
Aron Magner’s early jazz and classical music influences led him to formal piano training. Soon after, he discovered David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Doors, and similar artists. All of these influences remain present in Magner’s style to this day, and help steer the various bands and projects he is involved with.
After high school, Magner enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where Marc Brownstein and Jon Gutwillig had begun playing in musical jam sessions together. As a Philadelphia native, Magner’s reputation as a talented jazz keyboardist preceded him, and it was not long before the three began playing fraternity parties and other social events. This was the beginning of The Disco Biscuits. To date, Magner is the only member of The Disco Biscuits to play in all of the band’s public performances.
In 1999, Magner and The Disco Biscuits founded the annual Camp Bisco music festival. It now features a number of headlining U.S. and international acts, and was featured in The New York Times and other publications as a model for bands in the changing music industry. The Disco Biscuits, through national touring and the creation of Camp Bisco and destination festivals such as Caribbean Holidaze, have been instrumental in bringing improvisational, electronic-based music to the live music scene and popular culture.
Magner has also been a member of other bands, such as Conspirator, Electron, Brain Damaged Eggmen, the JOIN, and Acoustic Again. In 2011, Magner and other partners formed Aorta Inc., a management label with the goal of signing both established and emerging musical talent.
Lisa Ivvy
Creature
Music has always been Lisa Ivvy’s true passion, and her interest in singing and composing started at the age of five. At 14, she enrolled at McGill University to study opera and classical piano, but left once she decided she wanted to compose music for today and express herself in more wild ways.
Lisa was writing songs on keyboards, creating beats on drum machines, and playing with punk and indie bands when she caught the eye of Sid Z and Kim Ho, two amazing Montreal musicians. Together, they formed Creature, a dance-rock band with a Brit-pop twist. The band has toured the world, playing all over Canada, USA, France, UK, China, and Mexico, and recorded their sophomore record at SARM Sarm Studios in London with dream producer Stephen Hague (New Order, Pet Shop Boys).
Lisa currently collaborates with Mitsou, Plaster, and other musicians, and also writes catchy, funny songs for the sexy comedy show Bitchin’ Kitchen. Creature has a new EP called No More Pretending, and have begun to tour the world again, hitting up festivals and making new friends everywhere they go.
Matt Vink
These Kids Wear Crowns
Matt Vink is the keyboardist for These Kids Wear Crowns, a six-member Canadian pop rock band formed in 2009. They came to national attention on MuchMusic’s disBand television show, and then signed a contract with Capitol Records/EMI.
These Kids Wear Crowns have performed with acts such as Hedley, Faber Drive, Forever The Sickest Kids, Good Charlotte, and Lights. “Break It Up,” the band’s first single, debuted at Number 60 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. In 2010, the group returned to the studio to record Jumpstart, their first full-length album, which was released in March 2011.
Ruby Biloskirka-Conley
RubyBC is a Los Angeles-based touring keyboardist/music director who has worked with American Idol, The X Factor, Disney, The Supremes (Kaaren Ragland), and Victoria Justice (Nickelodeon). Ruby also works as a product specialist and clinician for Roland, and you can find her playing the Lucina® and AX-Synth® in the Rockin’ Roland Girls Band. Sponsored by Roland and Girl Scouts of the USA, the group recently toured the U.S. in an effort to bring music awareness and education to the younger generation.
Brittani Washington
Beyoncé
A native of Houston, Texas, Brittani Washington’s talent as a keyboard player was discovered early on by her parents, who were both pastors. They appointed her as their church’s piano player when she was only eight years old, giving her a task that’s usually left to more adult players. Growing up in that musical environment taught Brittani how to memorize, harmonize, and improve quickly—skills that she would later use working with Beyoncè and on other projects. She’s also learned to be a versatile performer that can sing and dance well, and her solo album, Pink Polish, can be found on iTunes.
Sean Alexander
Jordan Knight
Sean Alexander is a keyboardist, producer, and programmer who has gigged with Elevation Theory, John P. Kee/Diddy, Jordan Knight (NKOTB), JoJo, and many others. Synths are his thing, and he studied music synthesis at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Sean’s skills make him extremely sought after as a player and programmer.
Joe Wilson
Lady Gaga
Laura Saggers
A trained classical accompanist, Laura started piano at the age of four, studying under Russian instruction and technique in San Francisco, CA. After moving to the UK, she then completed her final grade eight from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music at 18, and began teaching while studying for her vocal diploma at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, England.
Laura continued her studies and completed a BAHONS degree in Music Business before entering into the world of showbiz. She fronted the heavy-rock band Sennah for four years, playing support for groups such as Bowling for Soup, Wheatus, and The Blackout.
Laura’s passions are music, interviewing, performing, editing, and teaching. With an album, Days Like This, on iTunes, she’s moved back to Los Angeles, and is currently playing in the bands Ankhesename, Hope Church, and The Cat’s Meow.
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