Johnny Katchoolik is an independent musician & recording artist of many colors, personalities, sounds, and eccentricities. His sonic adventures began with the guitar but quickly progressed to include the bass, keyboard, percussion, synthesizer, various software & electronic instruments, and who knows what else Katchoolik will fancy next. Katchoolik thrives on breaking the rules, chopping up the conventional elements, inventing new concoctions, and exploring as many sonic dimensions as possible. For Katchoolik, an artist who inhales and exhales music 24/7, music is a way of life and an expression of the self. Although Katchoolik has performed with various progressive and alternative rock bands during the days of Seattle grunge, the Katchoolik of today composes and records solely in the Ghetto Sound Studio - his true playground and sanctuary, and that’s where quirky ideas and offbeat creations are surgically extracted from his cerebral cortex. Color your life with music!

Vinson grew up in a musical family near Washington, D.C., studying classical piano from age seven until switching to the drums when he was 12. He played drums for three years in the All-County Jazz Ensemble during high school and subsequently held the drum chair in the University of Pennsylvania Big Band during college. After graduating from UPENN with a B.A. in Economics, Vinson came to New York City in the early 90's to study music at the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan, where he studied with Marvin "Smitty" Smith (of The Tonight Show Band), Vernel Fournier, and Norm Freeman (of the New York Philharmonic).

Vinson has performed in many clubs in the New York Metropolitan area, including the Blue Note, Smoke, Sweet Rhythm, 55 Bar, Birdland, Smalls, Detour, Cornelia Street Cafe, Cleopatra's Needle, and Trumpets of Montclair, NJ. An avid composer, Vinson also teaches privately and served on the staff of the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California from 1999-2001. He has toured throughout North America and Europe with his groups and others, and he appears on Matthew Fries' CD, Song For Today (TCB) and the Ganz Brother's release, First Steps (Extravaganza). Vinson also has three CDs out as a leader, Live@147, Consilience, and Awake.

In addition, Vinson has also worked with or played alongside with many of the great musicians in jazz, such as Grover Washington, Jr., Dakota Staton, Clarke Terry, James Williams, Donald Brown, Harold Mabern, Jr., Jamil Nasser, Ron McClure, Bob Mintzer, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner, Terell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Jim Rotundi, David Hazeltine, Joel Frahm, Dena DeRose, and Vincent Herring, and Candido Camero, among others.

LEAVING, TX.

If you travel a few miles south of Alt-Country and turn right at Cow-Punk you’ll find Leaving, TX… a gritty, dusty, whiskey-soaked hell-hole somewhere just outside the gates of purgatory. Formed in late 2004 by songwriter Chris Patterson and bassist Garry Cecil, Leaving, TX has rapidly come to life in the Washington, DC music scene… Quickly and rightfully earning comparisons to Drive By Truckers, Steve Earle, and Reckless Kelly just to name a few. The bands driving alt-country sound is anchored by its original songs which seem to fill fans with hooks they just can’t seem to get out of their heads.

Patterson is a self-taught musician who after leaving the jam-band Grooved Pavement spent the next 18 months studying and writing. During this time he spent many nights on the local singer-songwriter circuit finding out which songs were working with the audience. After a visit to Austin, TX he came back with the desire to finally build the band that would showcase his music.

Patterson soon contacted bass player Garry Cecil and played several of the new tunes for him. The magic was immediate and the two set out to find the rest of the band. Thor Smith was soon brought in to fill the role of drummer, having done the same in Patterson’s former band. After several auditions with guitarists, Andrew Buhler showed up on the band’s doorstep and after one song together, he was brought into the mix and given his own keys to the city.

Chris Patterson – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars. The bands songwriter is a native of Iowa although he has called sixteen cities home over the past twenty years. Patterson received his first guitar at the age of 8 but claims he didn’t learn to play it until he was 30. He carries with him very strong Irish roots and spends a couple weeks each year in Ireland seeking out music and his ancestry. His songwriting is strongly influenced by Tim Easton, Jon Dee Graham, The Waterboys, and Hank Williams.

Garry Cecil - bass and backing vocals. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Cecil was raised in the “wee” village of Corstorphine. He was raised on British music but when he arrived in America he soon became schooled by Hendrix, Zappa, and Capt. Beefheart. This eventually led Cecil to the country rock movement and later to bluegrass. It was a trip back to Scotland that had him dive head first into the punk/new wave scene. He has played in numerous bands over the years, “Non- Dairy Creamers”, “Gunpoint Affection”, and “The Swinging Richards”, and most recently the highly regarded “Primitive Mind”, opening for such greats as BB King, Lunasa, Junior Brown, and Doc Watson.

Thor Smith- drums. Smith is a native of Halden, Norway. He started drum lessons in the first grade and played his first professional gig at twelve years old. After a few years in a Hawaiian show band, Smith moved to New York in the early eighties with an original new wave outfit called “Ice Nine”. He then spent almost six years with the DC group “The Smash Band”. Semi-retired from music he was coaxed back into the scene after meeting Chris Patterson and getting hooked on his draft beer at rehearsals and original tunes.

Andrew Buhler - electric and pedal steel guitars. Buhler is a proud native of Miami, Florida. He started fooling around with the guitar after his father bought him an LP of Hendrix’s “Smash Hits” at age 10. From Miami to Japan to Cuba, he’s been tormenting his family and friends with the instrument ever since.