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Bill's History & Comments About City
Heat Band
I had wanted to become
involved with a band for a quite a while, and initially found
myself answering ads and auditioning, but not finding (or hearing)
what I was looking for. During my quest, it became more and
more apparent that the only way to satisfy my muse would be
to form my own band. Following that realization came over a
year of searching, running my own ads, holding auditions, playing
with lots of different folks, and gradually bringing into focus
my vision of what the band should be.
The result of all this is City Heat.
We first played "out" in June of 2002,
and very quickly became a working band
that has developed a following of fans and earned the respect
of other musicians in St. Louis.
City Heat's sound is centered around our vocalist, Tandra
Williams. Her voice is the heart and soul of the band. In
all my years of listening to bands and singers in St. Louis
and elsewhere, I have never heard anyone sing
as well as Tandra. Whether gently caressing an intimate ballad
like "The Very Thought of You" or opening up and wailing
in the pure blues of "Dr. Feelgood", Tandra delivers
like no one else. It is a constant thrill and inspiration to
play behind her, and I never get tired of watching people light
up with delight upon hearing her for the first time. Noone sings
a ballad like Tandra.
As proud as I am of Tandra, I'm no less pleased with what City
Heat puts behind her. With Jake Burton
on drums and Doron Shapiro on bass,
City Heat's rhythm section is unsurpassed in St. Louis. They
are tight, funky, and can get down and lock into a groove -
or quietly hold back as Jake's brushes and Doron's fretless
bass surround Tandra with a subtle rhythmic essence that supports
her like a velvet glove. As a guitarist, it's fun to play with
these guys!
Check out our play list and you'll
see that our song selection is all over the map - very jazz
influenced but by way of Motown, rock, jazz, country - and some
with no identifiable category. No band in St. Louis plays as
large a variety of song styles as we do. I suppose that's my
contribution, and as a musician probably the aspect of City
Heat that I most enjoy.
What all this comes down to is that City Heat makes it fun
to listen and fun to party, and I couldn't be more pleased.
Bill Gabriel
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