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bandmembers
VINYL SOUP's members have an impressive musical resume
outside of the group.
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Guitarist Andrew Hooker is a graduate of Musicians Institute (GIT) Hollywood, California where he received a two-year degree in Commercial Jazz guitar. Andrew has studied guitar with jazz giant Scott Henderson (Chick Corea and Tribal Tech) and with Reggie Wooten of The Wooten Brothers, Nashville, TN. Andrew has also studied with composer Dee Barton (his credits include Sinatra, Tonight Show, James Brown, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Clint Eastwood, and Dennis Hopper just to name a few.) When Andrew is not busy with VINYL SOUP, he spends his days teaching private music lessons for a business he founded called Music Lessons On Wheels and producing from his studio in Nashville, The Cave Studios. You can visit The Cave Studios website at www.thecavestudios.net
When times get tough financially for Hooker, he likes to gather some of the finest ladies he can find in the city and contribute back to humanity what his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather did so many years ago.... If things get to out of hand he just calls upon his number #1 best dog and security Mr. Sampson Hooker.... better known as SAMMY! If for some reason Sammy does not handle the situation then Hooker has been known to grab his collection of limestone soup spoons he made himself and contribute to a few concussions. As soon as Brodsky learned of Hooker’s soup spoon collection he new he was the perfect fit for VINYL SOUP.
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Dave Brodsky has been playing drums since 1984. He studied music performance at Murray State University with Tom Vanarsdel in the late 80’s where he played Tympani, Marimba, drumset & other percussion. He also played drums for a few rock & grunge bands in Western KY in the early 90’s. In 1998, he acquired a B.S. degree in the Recording Industry program at Middle Tennessee State University. While at MTSU & in Nashville, he played with more jam bands & rock bands. Since 2000, he has been playing tabla, ghatam & kanjira while studying North & South Indian classical, Middle Eastern & African styles of music with teachers Kyle Jones & Gharanjit Chatur Lal. Since 2006, he has also been studying violin under the guidance of Kristin Koval & his grandmother, Marian Head Brodsky.
Although music is where his heart lies, Dave also enjoys long walks in the park, an occasional cup of chocolate pudding and has been know to spend hours on end sharpening his vast collection of pencils. He likes to go to department store dressing rooms & ask in a moderately loud voice where the toilet paper is. One time, after completing a math test in college, he calmly walked to the front of the room, placed his test face-down on the professor’s desk & as he was walking out of the classroom, cackled madly & threw a spoon against the window.
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Bassist Wes Lloyd grew up playing tuba, guitar, bass guitar and double bass. Realizing early on that the bass guitar was his forte, Wes decided to concentrate on the instrument and quickly gained ground. In 95 he attended the University of Western Kentucky, where he studied tuba, bass guitar and theory. In early 97 after getting more into modern and progressive bass he decided to move to Nashville and pursue his goal of becoming a professional bassist. Utilizing his sense of versatility he has worked in bands adhering to a multitude of styles including funk, blues, jazz-fusion, rock, americana, and indie. . Playing in countless live shows and a handful of studio sessions Wes has been acclaimed by many as “a very tasteful and solid player…”. Recently coming off a couple of different projects, He is ready to combine his experience with the Vinyl Soup tribe in creating a new yet familiar sound to tantalize your hearts and minds. He recently had this to say about the band, “I haven’t felt this at home with a group in some time, it gets me excited because I get to play my style of bass”. Some of Wes’s favorite bass players are Paul Mccartney, Rocco Prestia, Victor Wooten, Victor Bailey, Jimmy Haslip, Oteil Burbridge, Les Claypool, Flea, Michael Anthony, and John Myung. Wes plays DR strings on Keith Roscoe basses through Eden amps and cabs.
When Wes(a scorpio nonetheless) isn’t playing hide the quarter with Vinyl Soup he is hard at work on the sequel to his best selling scientific theory book “Kick Katie Couric in the Face and 21 other exciting things to do on acid” entitled “ “Lets put a unicorn on the trampoline” and 21 other dumbass things you said when you were drunk”. Wes also enjoys to work on his new prototype pizza rocket which is sure to make all those third world faces light up with joy. The pizza rocket is still in the kitchen phase.
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Justin M. Smith began playing piano at the age of 4. After he demonstrated an ability to hum recognizable melodies before he could talk and picked out tunes on his toy piano, his parents enrolled him in piano lessons at age 5 and voice lessons at age 8. He also began percussion lessons at age 12. Justin studied classical piano off and on through his high school years along with percussion and voice. At Middle Tennessee State University, Justin earned a bachelors degree in English Literature with a minor in music including studies of voice and percussion.
Justin began his first original rock band in high school. He demoed his first original material at the tender age of 16 on his trusty 4-track Tascam. By the time of his high school graduation, he had written and recorded his first concept album. During his college years, Justin contributed to several Murfreesboro based bands as a drummer. He also played keys and sang with short-lived but influential late '90s jam rock band Windham Earle, based out of Murfreesboro and featuring future Vinyl Soup percussionist Dave Brodsky on drums. In 1996, Justin began performing with Americana artist Lee Gibson, eventually landing on an independent label for one album, and performing at venues such as the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, South by Southwest in Austin,TX and the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, TN. In 1999, Justin joined newly formed alternative rock band Mass Transit as lead vocalist, keyboardist, co-songwriter and sometimes percussionist. He performs and records with Mass Transit to this day. Mass Transit's new album is due in the first half of 2007, and details regarding this group can be found at www.masstransitmusic.com and on My Space. Currently, Justin also plays keys and sings with 2 new Nashville collectives - Fleetwood Mac-esque folk-rockers Honey and the Lion and his own jazz groove trio, The Cosmos. Further information on both can be found at www.myspace.com.
When musical associate Dave Brodsky called and offered a jam session with the guys from Vinyl Soup, Smith jumped at the chance. He had been looking for another venue to develop his own unique improvisational skills on the keys with like minded musicians and songwriters, and this proved to be a perfect fit. He is looking forward to contributing to the original catalogue of Vinyl Soup and to getting out on the road to bring their new roots rock sound to the masses in 2007.
When Justin is not busy playing in 12 different bands in the same day, he can be found meticulously alphabetizing and cataloging his enormous collection of CDs, DVDs, Laserdiscs, LPs, and cassettes. His goal is to own every jazz recording ever made on multiple formats. He can also be found lulling himself into a slow coma by consuming as much sugar as is humanly possible in one day. If you happen to catch Justin at one of his favorite local restaurants, along with a lot of desserts - please surprise him by sending him his favorite - a bloody Mary, a steak sandwich and steak sandwich. Charge it to the Underhills account.
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