May 2008

Bret Alexander – Guitar & Vocals
Jeremy Hummel – Drums
Jason Shaffer – Bass
Nyke Van Wyk – Violin

Four professional musicians having a blast playing their favorite songs for an appreciative audience.  It’s not what you hear every day in central-Pennsylvania clubs, which is what makes this group so special.  Whether it’s a cover of the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby or one of Bret’s originals from the Badlees catalog, the music flows effortlessly and creates a vibe that leaves a smile on every face.  It’s all about having a good time and not about trying to get a record deal.  Individually they’ve already done that.

 Bret Alexander is the driving force behind central-PA legends, The Badlees.  As guitarist, vocalist, main songwriter and producer he led the band through several independent albums and a couple major label releases.  The most popular CD, River Songs, spawned two national rock radio hits.  His time now is spent mostly in the studio where he is a highly sought-after producer/engineer/musician.  More about Bret can be found on his website: BretAlexander.com. 

Jeremy Hummel co-founded Breaking Benjamin, the multi-platinum powerhouse from Selinsgrove, PA.  He was with the group for 5 years, played on their first two albums for Hollywood Records, and toured the country several times.  As a drummer/percussionist, he is widely regarded as the area’s top studio musician, live performer and instructor.  He is also a contributing writer for Modern Drummer magazine.  For all things Jeremy, including a full bio and schedule, check out his website: JeremyHummel.com.

Jason Shaffer started out as a guitarist, but switched to bass in order to join Grantham Road a few years back.  That group toured primarily in Pennsylvania, playing everywhere from corner bars to opening for Hootie And The Blowfish in front of 10,000 people.  They had a Christmas song that was played on commercial radio from New York to Alaska, and their album Parade received rave reviews and airplay nationwide.  He is a top recording engineer in the Harrisburg area and is beginning to work more as a producer and musician.  Jason has a website too:  JasonShafferMusic.com.

Nyke Van Wyk is almost never separated from his violin.  It seems he’s always in one of three places – In the studio, as a musician & arranger; on stage performing everything from chamber music to rock to experimental; or on the road driving to the next gig.  He will be on a nationwide tour most of this year with another project, therefore he will miss most of the Giants Of Despair performances this summer and fall.  The band’s MySpace page will indicate whether the shows are with him (“full band”) or not (“trio”).  Here’s Nyke’s website:  NykeVanWyk.com.

Booking this band can be tough.  Each individual is in such high demand as a studio musician, sideman, solo artist, producer and/or recording engineer.  But when they do get together on stage, they create a sound that is clearly several notches above the typical bar band.

For more info and a song list, please check out the band’s website.  Song samples are on their MySpace page.

GiantsOfDespair.com
MySpace.com/GiantsOfDespair

The contact person for G.O.D. is the former manager of both The Badlees and Grantham Road:

Terry Selders
Susquehanna Entertainment
PO Box 61024
Harrisburg, PA  17106
717-648-7159
tls@susent.com