Artist description Catchy horn lines, fast drumbeats, jazzy bass lines, and poetic lyrics describe Half Your Luck, but can't even begin to describe the energy. Tight friendships between these 6 guys and 1 girl make HYL work together like well oiled machinery...well, not quite, but a really cool ska band indeed. They are definitely worth checking out.

Music Style Ska

Musical Influences Spring Heeled Jack, Less Than Jake, Catch 22, Kemuri, Millencolin, MxPx, Saves the Day, The Suicide Machines

Similar Artists Catch 22, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Edna's Goldfish, The Suicide Machines

Artist History Twas a rainy Manchester night in November of 2001 when guitarist Kevin Chirico attended fellow Manchester ska band, No Face Value's show at The Equator Club. It was that night that Kevin was converted from a ska-hating punk fan to a ska-adoring…punk fan. For the next few months, he spoke with drummer Pete -The Fox- Chudzik about starting a ska band of their own. From there stemmed a search for musicians to fill the open slots. The original line-up included Pete on drums, Kevin on guitar, Mike Hall on vocals, Dan Pendergraph on bass, Josh Judson on trombone, Brian Dahms on trumpet and Mike Tyskewicz (for the one practice he attended). After difficulties with writing both music and vocals, the band decided to look elsewhere. After weeks of begging Petes brother, Greg -Freakin Bass Prodigy- to play for the still nameless band, he agreed to be the -temporary- bass player until a permanent player was found. While continuing to practice with Mike on vocals, Pete and Kevin dabbled with the idea of having Andrew from No Face Value play on trumpet. With the idea of -stealing- musicians from No Face Value, Kevin, who found the trombone player incredibly gorgeous (as well as a fantastic t-bone player) felt it might be a good idea to invite her to a practice. Once returning home from a 13-day stint in wonderful Hawaii, Stephanie Allen attended a practice with no trombone on the same night the band was trying out vocalist, Dan Garaffa. Stephanie was by no means impressed with the band, but on the ride home, Kevin begged of her to give it a shot and finally, she agreed, hence adding another permanent horn. Although the band was pleased with Dans performance at practice, trombonist Josh, brought good friend Tony G. to try out. Tony who had a good voice and good lyrics was an automatic shoe-in. Once receiving word of how good the band was sounding, Mike T. decided to give the band a second shot and at the same time, a second guitar, Merrill was added. With the line up consisting now of Pete-drums, Kevin-guitar, Merrill-guitar, Greg-bass, Stephanie-trombone, Josh-trombone, Mike- alto sax, Brian-trumpet and Tony- vocals, the band headed to the mines to write music. On May 26th 2002, the band finally played their first show with friends No Face Value, No on 15, Firebomb McDonalds, and Edna. The show was extremely successful and well received. In the weeks that followed, good friend and web designer, Matt Seitz was added on vocals. After playing their 2nd show at The Madison Arts Barn with bands such as Caught in Cleavage, The Flaming Tsunamis, Infamous Jake, and The Superspecs, the band sat down and decided a change was in order. Trumpeteer Brian Dahms was let go for lack of motivation and Matt -Long John- Coulter was added in Brian's place. Without a need for a 2nd guitarist, Merrill left. After getting a few more shows under the band’s belt, they hit the studio to record a full length CD. Chuck -Dad- Rubano, owner of Capture Productions in Coventry, Connecticut, after his experience with fellow CT ska band, Flip Ya For Real, was in search of a new ska project. In return, he gave the band ample time in the studio at a low rate. It was from his location that Half Your Luck's debut CD, Pillow Talk, was born. Despite the bands attempts to replace those musicians who went away to college, the permanent members felt the band was just not the same without the originals. Today, the band is ready and willing to play shows just about anywhere during college breaks and HYL is currently making history wherever they go.

Group Members There are seven existing members of Half Your Luck, including Kevin on guitar, Greg on bass, Pete on drums, Steph on trombone, Mike on alto sax, Long John (little Matt) on trumpet, and Tony on vocals.

Instruments Drums, guitar, bass, vocals, trombone, alto sax, and trumpet

Albums Pillow Talk (2002)

Additional Info HYL will be playing a LOT during the summer of 2003, so if you're interesting in booking us, let us know ASAP! and check out the events section for upcoming shows!

Location Manchester, CT - USA

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