Band of the Month

Not On Mars is the culmination of years of evolutionary change, tectonic plate shifts deep within the crust of the Great Divide that has kept Jazz and Rock at relatively safe distances from one another. Not On Mars dares to be among those intrepid explorers that made venture into that Great Wilderness.

At least that's what we are trying to do ...

This original jam band hailing from southeastern Wisconsin was established in 1999. All the members of Cosmic Railroad have found themselves and their styles absorbed by the band. The band is known for putting the groove back in groove music with its shows. A sound that moves through uncharted water night after night never knowing what's going to pop up next.

Brian Lauri (keyboards, vocals) has played in various popular projects around New England including the well known bands Liquid Dead (liquiddead.com), Named By Strangers (namedbystrangers.com), and Green Tea.  While earning a degree in music, he has played in many venues including The Knitting Factory (NYC), Harpers Ferry (Mass), and Higher Ground (Burlington, VT).

Sloppy Roast Beef was formed in the summer of 2002 when six close friends decided to take their guitar driven original rock and roll sound out of the basement and into the public eye.

At the time of "The Beef's" inception, three of the band's members, A.J. Davidson, Michael Moore, and Zac Davidson, were playing with the group "Jo Digs" while the other three members, Andrew Teague, Nick Edwards, and Derek Lewis, played in the band known as "Sweet Automatic".

"This album has a real spirit of renewal," Jeff Hanna says of Welcome to Woody Creek, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Dualtone debut. "In some ways, it's a return to where we began. But it's also the start of a whole new thing for us."

When Mark Karan takes a break from life on the road as lead guitarist with Bob Weir's RatDog, what does he do for fun? He hits the highway with his own band!

Since 1998, Mark has been touring with offshoots of the Grateful Dead (including The Other Ones, Mickey Hart's Planet Drum and Bobby Weir's Ratdog).

Before crossing over into the land of the Dead, Mark worked his guitar voodoo for the likes of Dave Mason, Paul Carrack, Delaney Bramlett, the Rembrandts, Huey Lewis, Jesse Colin Young, Alex Call and Sophie B. Hawkins.

Started in 1995, and named after founder Graham Guest's fifth generation grandfather, Moses Guest, is a Texas-based, Southern Rock band that has just enough Pop, Jazz, Funk, and Country in its veins to appeal to audiences of all ages and origins. The current lineup formed in 1998, was voted "Best Rock/Pop Band" in the 2001 Houston Press Music Awards, and have won numerous Battle of the Bands contests.

Combining the grooves of funk, rock, latin, drum and bass, reggae, swing and afro-beat with the harmonic languages of jazz, pop sensibilities, progressive composition and full on improvisation, Uncle Sammy has been turning heads and opening ears on the east coast U.S. and around the world for over four years.