/// JOE VITALE JR | GUITAR

Joe Vitale Jr. is the son of veteran Rock n’ Roll drummer Joe Vitale. He has spent the bulk of his life growing up on the road with such acts as Joe Walsh, Crosby Stills & Nash, Dan Fogelberg, The Eagles, and many others, learning firsthand the intricacies of touring. After nine dedicated years, Joe Vitale Jr. completed his first solo album, “Dancing With Shadows.”. The uniqueness of Joe’s sound derives from his use of Rock and Industrial influences.  Joe Vitale Jr. is not only a multi-instrumentalist (Guitar, Drums, Vocals, Keyboards, Bass, etc.), but is also a digital audio engineer.

Joe has worked with several cover and tribute bands playing both guitar and drums as well as performing his own material, which has increased his musical vocabulary to a wide range of styles and eras.  Over the past nine years, Joe has been working for Sony Media Software creating loop libraries (Latin Percussion, Junkyard Rhythms, Organ Donor, and the recently released Vital Drums: The Vitale Collection) for ACID as well as doing the digital audio editing work on the 2005 Stephen Stills’ album “Man Alive.” The work completed on that album won Stephen Stills a Humanitarian award from UNICEF™ for the song “Feed the People.” He also was the digital editor and pre-mastering engineer on the Stephen Stills album, “Just Roll Tape.” Joe Vitale Jr. presented at the 2007 and 2008 NAMM shows as a key speaker for Sony Creative Software™ describing work done on several music videos he wrote the music for & directed.

The one factor which has kept Joe going and given him strength is his faith in God & Jesus Christ.  While his album “Dancing With Shadows” is a secular based album, most of the songs are Biblically based.  These songs reflect Joe’s struggles and triumph over adversity, as well as an inspirational escape for the listener. This powerful album contains the singles “Beautiful Girl,” “You Make Me Feel Alive,” and the title cut “Dancing With Shadows.

In September of 2010, Joe released the single “Jingle Jingle,” an industrial remake of the popular Christmas song “Jingle Bells”, along with a hard hitting and somewhat comical music video.  That same month Joe started working with Smooth Stone Productions™ on a post apocalyptic thriller film called “SAFE” released at film festivals in 2011, winning honorable mention at the Myrtle Beach Film Festival.  He composed the eerie, Hitchcock like soundtrack & was the Director of Photography for the production.  For this particular film he went as an alternate stage name “J. Ravenwood”.

In 2011, Joe started performing his material with his band and directed 2 music videos for up and coming pop/country star “Morgan May”, working on soundtracks for several other films including “Making Friends” and “The Teacher’s Lounge,” and finalizing the work on 3 remix albums and writing his second primary album.

Primary Instruments: Drums : Percussion : Guitar : Vocals : Keyboard : Bass : Song Writing : Producing : Performing Live/Studio : Audio Editing : Audio Mastering.

/// TREVOR WOZNIAK | GUITAR

Trevor Wozniak is a music professional with graduate degrees in Music Composition and Performance. His work as a guitar player and song writer with the nationally acclaimed group The Temper Twins, signed to ARG/Universal music group has opened the door to a world of musical possibilities. Trevor Wozniak is also a successful educator at both the College level as a music instructor at Notre Dame College, a Graduate Assistant in both Saxophone and Composition at Kent State University, and at the K-12 level as teacher of woodwinds and guitar at Woodsy's Music Inc.

Trevor Wozniak’s past gigs and performances have included The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame for the opening of the Ray Charles Exhibit, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., work with nationally renowned producer and song writer Calvin “Sci-Fidelity” Gains who is famous for his work with Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and The Temptations, the Mansfield Symphony, and various gigs throughout New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, and through out the country. Trevor Wozniak is also a very successful composer and song writer having works of his read by the California State University Music programs, The Panama Saxophone Quartet, The Kent State University Jazz Ensembles, Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble, the 122nd Army Band, various successful Pop/Rock artists, and Grammy Nominated Jazz Saxophonist Bobby Selvaggios Hendectet.

Trevor Wozniak is a recording artist with ARG/Universal Music Group, a former member of the 122nd Army Band, the current guitar player for the Temper Twins (ARG/Universal) and for the Joe Vitale Jr. Band (Vari Loud Music), a regular with Port House Theater associated with Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, and a fervent musician rights advocate.

/// RYAN MCDERMOTT | GUITAR

I was born and raised in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I started playing the guitar in middle school and after hearing Megadeth, I had decided to pursue a career in music. I went on to graduate with honors and earn a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory at Kent State where I also studied classical guitar and composition. For my senior project I transcribed, arranged, and rehearsed a ten piece band to perform the music of, Frank Zappa. Since then I've taught guitar privately in Kent, played in a few bands, performed classical music, and even played in numerous pit orchestras for musical theater. As a result of being involved in all of this music, I make my living with the guitar. I'm thrilled to work with Joe and the rest of the band, I think that this is a exciting project to be involved in. I hope to see you out there!

/// DAN NAUSS | BASS

Dan Nauss began his musical studies on the contrabass at the age of 10 in his school orchestra.  He attended Kent State University to further his studies under the guidance of Charles Reinman and Bryan Thomas.  Nauss earned his bachelors degree in music education, and eventually a masters degree in Double Bass performance studying with Mark Atherton of the Cleveland Orchestra. 

Dan is an instructor of bass, guitar, and cello at Woodsy’s music in Kent Ohio, and is an adjunct professor of music at the Stark Campus of Kent State University.  He can be seen regularly in the greater Canton/Akron/Cleveland area in a wide variety of differing musical situations including:  local symphonies, jazz big bands, jazz combos, pit orchestras, contemporary praise and worship ensembles, rock bands, or with his folk group the S.N.G Trio.

/// DORIAN WALLACE | SYNTH

Dorian Wallace (b. 1985) is an American composer of contemporary music, pianist, keyboardist, and teacher. Wallace is the Artistic Director and founder of Ophiuchus New Music and The Dorian Wallace/Ron Petrides Big Band. He is a member of ASCAP and The International Guild of Musicians in Dance. Wallace also plays keyboard in the Joe Vitale Jr. Band.

Currently accompanying for The Julliard School The Martha Graham Dance Company and The José Limón Dance Company, he has also worked for and collaborated with RIOULT Dance Company, TrioDANCE Collective, Kent State University Dance Department and Mark Morris Dance Group as a pianist and percussionist in both Ballet and Modern Dance styles.

An active musician in the U.S. ARMY, he is principal pianist in both the 122nd ARMY BAND and the 63rd ARMY BAND.

As a teacher, Mr. Wallace specializes in many styles, from Baroque masters Bach and Vivaldi to contemporary artists such as Adams and Glass, to the heart of New Orleans with The American Song Book to contemporary jazz artist like Bobby Selvaggio, Dmitri Kolesnik and Ron Petrides, and in all styles of dance accompaniment, whether it be Ballet, Graham, Limón, etc. He is also an expert in electronic music.

Wallace began playing piano at the age of 4 and writing music by the age of 7. A self-taught composer and performer, he continued on with his music and studied at Kent State University under Sebastian Birch, Pat Pace, Tom Janson, Frank Wiley, and Chas Baker.

He has had pieces performed and worked with such prestigious artists as The Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio, The José Limón Dance Company, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Hernando Bensuelo, RIOULT Dance Company, Joe Vitale Jr., TrioDANCE Collective, Mark Morris Dance Group, Emily Jeffries, Sharon Kriz, Joe Vitale Jr., Bill Sallak, and Bobby Selvaggio. He has had music performed all around the country including New York City, NY, Cleveland, OH, Chicago,IL, and Los Angeles, CA.

/// ELLIOT WALLACE | DRUMS

Elliot Wallace is an upcoming drummer from Akron Ohio, who is quickly gaining the reputation of being a versatile, expressive and technically proficient musician. Elliot has performed with a wide variety of musical acts, including Apogee, Axon-Neuron, The Justice Team, Hella Good, and Joe Vitale Jr. He can be heard on recordings by Anger in the Grass, Apogee, and the University of Akron Steel Drum Band. Elliot's ability to adapt to a wide variety of musical settings makes him one of the more sought after drummers on the scene.

Growing up as the youngest of six children in his native North Canton Ohio, Wallace received musical training from an early age. His father, David Wallace, is an international Barbershop singing champion, and his mother Sandra is an accomplished pianist and teacher. It was not until the age of 11, when Elliot discovered an aged (and incomplete) drum set in the basement of his home, that he began gaining interest in drumming. “The drum set consisted of a bass drum turned on its side, a tom-tom on a box, a snare drum on a bucket, and a hi-hat cymbal on a broken stand, and I would learn songs from my favorite bands on it. I remember being hugely excited when I was finally able to use a bass drum and hi-hat pedal, because I could finally play like the big dogs.” Elliot began studying formally at age 14 with drummer Adam Abrashoff, who he studied with until being accepted to study percussion performance at the reputable University of Akron with Dr. Larry Snider.

Elliot is currently in his final year of the bachelor degree program at the University of Akron, and has already distinguished himself as an ambitious and reliable professional. At his time at the University, Wallace has performed with a wide variety of ensembles. These ensembles include: percussion ensemble, steel drum band, African drumming ensemble, Brazilian drumming ensemble, Afro-Cuban jazz combo, fusion combo, symphony orchestra, wind ensemble, marching band, and jazz ensemble. During summer, Elliot keeps busy gigging with various local acts and performing in the pit orchestra for musicals. He has also attended the prestigious Berklee Summer Percussion Seminar in Boston and the So Percussion Summer Institute held at Princeton University, the later of which he has attended twice. Wallace is also the recipient of the Summit County Childrens Concert Society music scholarship, the Avedis-Zildjian Scholarship, and is also a recent inductee to the Pi Kappa Lamda honorary music society.

After graduating, Elliot is excited to attend graduate school and continuing to make as much music as possible!