Artist description TON OF BRICKS is a San Francisco-based progressive-rock/alternative group whose style stands out among the spectrum of current alternative music. The band combines a wide variety of riveting grooves and soulful melodies with dark or introspective lyrics.

Music Style Pop/Rock/Alternative

Musical Influences Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson, King Crimson, Gentle Giant

Similar Artists Ben Folds Five, Guster, Sting, Joe Jackson

Artist History The members of TON OF BRICKS have a deep musical background from which to draw. Lead singer, lyricist, keyboardist Ken Barsky, drummer and backing vocalist Scott Wild, and bassist and backing vocalist Paul Britt began studying their respective instruments at a young age. Scott and Ken grew up together in the same small town of South Plainfield, NJ, where they both discovered each other?s interest in exploring different styles of music. After starting their first rock band by the seventh grade, Scott and Ken kept the same core group together throughout high school and the first years of college. Beyond playing covers, they always focused on composition and experimentation. The group produced three albums of rock influenced material, including TON OF BRICKS Can?t Let Go by 1991. While rehearsing to perform music from this album, guitarist Ray Sayre joined the group and brought with him a soulful, blues side to the music. Together the group recorded their debut disc, Keep Up, released in June, 1993. After performing with the group to promote the Keep Up disc, Ray moved on to pursue an interest in instrumental jazz. The group quickly found guitarist Brent Stewart to fill the open slot in the fall of '94. Since then the group has been writing, performing, and recording.Conscience was the follow-up to Keep Up, which received numerous accolades from reviewers and critics. The group has been described as having ?a powerful and vibrant sound?, a ?world music flavor?, with ?slithering bass grooves and crystal vocal harmonies? often with ?meter-mixing trickery?.Conscience continues in the TON OF BRICKS? tradition, spanning a wide variety of rock, pop, and jazz influences. With the assistance of producer Jim Dean, their latest album delivers a solid musical tapestry and elevates the group to a new level of performance and sound.Currently writing and recording in an acoustic format, the Strawberry Sessions Live album is the first attempt to capture the latest of many sounds the group has explored over the years.The group is still in the process of writing, performing, and recording in the all acoustic format. More to come...

Group Members Ken Barsky: keyboards, lead vocalsScott Wild: drums, percussion, vocalsBrent Stewart: guitarsAlso withPaul Britt: bass, vocalsRay Sayre: guitarsDan Monihan: guitars, vocals

Instruments keyboards,bass,drums,guitars,vocals

Albums Can't Let Go, Keep Up, Conscience, Strawberry Sessions Live

Press Reviews "The San Francisco based TON OF BRICKS are a sharp contrast to the grunge and experimentation of other current alternative bands... energetic instrumentation...positively catchy" ...College Broadcaster "meter-mixing trickery...and the gloss of mellow fusion joins forces in this solid, straight ahead effort." ...Keyboard

Additional Info This Job (Conscience) video on-line at http://www.launch.com/music/artistpage/1,4391,1027232_videos,00.html

Location San Francisco, CA - USA

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