JOHNNY NICHOLAS - GUITAR, VOCALS
In 1980, after twenty years of the blues scenes of Providence, Detroit-Ann Arbor, Chicago and Texas - performing with Duke Robillard, Steve Nardella, Big Walter Horton, Johnny Shines and Asleep at the Wheel - Johnny Nicholas felt increasingly estranged from the modern blues movement and got out of music. He and his new wife Brenda Schlaudt moved from Austin into the central Texas Hill Country to start their family; they also bought an abandoned gas station/beer joint, and built it up, seemingly one brick and one dish at a time, into the Hill Top Cafe. After about 6 months, Johnny started taking to the battered upright in the corner of Hill Top to play some blues again. And, until 1991, when he produced and played on the late Johnny Shines’ last album (with Snooky Pryor), that was the only way you could hear Nicholas.
       Since 1991, Johnny has started to perform solo, and with old friends in band settings, at festivals from coast to coast and in Europe, although most of the time you can catch him at Hill Top Cafe doing what he loves best - serving up great food and music at the old gas station on the hill. [For more about Johnny Nicholas click HERE.]

MARCIA BALL - KEYBOARDS, VOCALS
Marcia honed her powerful singing and deft, rollicking keyboard chops while growing up in the small town of Vinton, Louisiana, just across the Texas border. This musical and cultural frontier was and is a hotbed of country, blues, gospel, Cajun, Zydeco, rockabilly and Gulf Coast "swamp pop", and young Marcia absorbed it all, even as she was receiving her formal piano training. After attending LSU, Marcia hit Austin in the late 1970s, started the beloved band "Freda and the Firedogs" and soon after signed with Capitol Records.

Marcia has since recorded five critically acclaimed Rounder albums - Soulful Dress, Hot Tamale Baby, Gatorhythms, Blue House, and her current album, Let Me Play With Your Poodle, bursts with passion, excitement and sly humor. Marcia’s prolific studio work is sandwiched between live appearances that keep her constantly in touch with her legion of fans throughout the U.S. and Europe. She has appeared at virtually every festival on both continents and has been featured on leading radio and television programs around the globe. She received the 1998 Handy Award for Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year and is nominated again in 1999. Marcia has also been nominated for a Grammy and Handy award for her work with Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson on the album, Sing It

THE RESENTMENTS: Stephen Bruton is the movie star of the band. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Stephen Bruton is one of Austin's most successful "sidemen" who is now coming into his own as a solo artist. The list of heavy-hitters Bruton has worked with: Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Delbert McClinton, Bonnie Raitt, Booker T. Jones, Don Was, Double Trouble, Lou Ann Barton, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Tish Hinojosa, T-Bone Burnett, B.W. Stevenson, Carly Simon, Lowell George, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Bruton's songs have been recorded by Marcia Ball, Alejandro Escovedo, Patty Loveless, and the Highwaymen, (Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash)

GREG PICCOLO - Greg Piccolo, after thirty six years of recording and and touring, continues to present his unique style and sound all over the US, building an impressive following and turning on new fans every step of the way.  Piccolo’s credentials include 25 years with the Grammy nominated, world renowned, Roomful of Blues. He served as bandleader, lead singer, and tenor sax man from 1978 until his departure in 1994. His impressive recording history includes over 50 albums including sessions with Pat Benetar, Colin James, Big Joe Turner, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan to mention a few.  Rhode Island based, Piccolo has never once wavered in his desire to perform and write his own music.    
        “There is simply nothing I would rather do.”
       Piccolo's unique writing refuses to be defined. He cleverly fuses the simplicity of blues, the freedom of jazz, and the rhythm of reggae, all on a solid traditional R&B foundation always keeping the music fresh, exciting and designed for commercial appeal.  Watching Piccolo on stage is like experiencing a gentle, but exhilarating roller coaster ride. Fans easily float from the swinging style of Buddy Johnson, the emotion packed slow sax instrumentals of Lester Young and Jimmy Forest.  The groove never stops as Piccolo moves from the rollicking honkers of Red Prysock, to the steamy guitar licks referencing the Kings, Earl and BB; and to the acclaimed clever lyrics and uncategorized "gotta-move" rhythmic arrangements of his own compositions.    As Piccolo says, “I just try to play good music that will move your soul”

TOMMY MC LAIN -  Internationally known recording artist best known for his "SWAMP POP" version of "SWEET DREAMS" selling over 10 million copies with a deserving GOLD RECORD, and received another GOLD RECORD for writing "IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME(LEAVE ME ALONE)" for FREDDY FENDER. Tommy's discography includes over 150 songs penned and recorded from the beginning of his career through today. Tommy has accomplished a lifetime of achievements and awards.
       TOMMY McLAIN started playing the guitar that his mother and father bought for him when he was 5 years old and has advanced through the years to play several instruments including: piano, keyboards, drums, guitar, bass, fiddle, even can make the ole bagpipes sizzle!      
       TOMMY McLAIN has toured the world over with numerous musical acts: The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Tommy James & The Shondells, Steffenwolf, ZZ Top, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Percy Sledge, plus many more and has performed with just about every band, musicians in Louisiana.ba

JIMMIE VAUGHAN -- Jimmie Vaughan is far more than just one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the world of popular music. As Guitar Player Magazine notes, "He is a virtual deity--a living legend." After all, Vaughan provides a vital link between contemporary music and its proud heritage, as well as being a longtime avatar of retro cool.
       Since releasing his first solo album in 1994, he has set the standard for quality modern roots music. Throughout his career, Vaughan has earned the esteem of his legendary guitar-playing heroes and superstar peers along with successive generations of young players. His musical ethos and personal style have had an impact on contemporary culture, from spearheading the current blues revival with The Fabulous Thunderbirds to his longtime, innate fashion sense of slicked-back hair and sharp vintage threads (now seen throughout the pages of contemporary fashion journals) to becoming a premier designer of classic custom cars. But for Jimmie Vaughan, none of it is part of a crusade or a career plan. It's just his natural way of living his life and pursuing the interests that have captivated Vaughan since his youth.

.FLOYD DOMINO - PIANO   Grammy-winner Floyd Domino’s stellar boogie-woogie and swing has been heard on dozens of #1 radio hits. With a recording resume from George Strait to Herb Ellis to Waylon Jennings to Asleep at the Wheel to Merle Haggard to Willie Nelson to Townes Van Zandt and beyond, Floyd’s piano has been heard all over the world and even beamed up to the space shuttle. NASA beamed George Strait’s Ace in the Hole to the space shuttle Columbia in a wake-up call that featured Floyd’s sparkling boogie-woogie piano solo. Currently, Floyd’s piano is heard every weekday on over 100 radio stations on the Jim Hightower talk radio show, broadcast live from Austin. Floyd also plays or records with Texas favorites Don Walser, Monte Warden, the Texas Playboys, Asleep at the Wheel and many others.  Floyd, a dedicated father and family man, has released 5 children’s albums on his own label, Golliber, that have gotten rave reviews from the national press.

AL GOMEZ - TRUMPET
1995 Grammy Nomination (R&B), "The Last Real Texas Blues Band" Current Magazine (San Antonio), Ninth Annual Music Awards Best Latin Salsa Group: Henry Brun & The Latin Playerz Notre Dame Jazz Festival, Outstanding Musician Award 1994-95 Texas Minority Graduate Fellowship 1991-94 Music Scholarship, SWTSU, Jazz & Orchestra Ensembles 1992 Music Achievement Award; Wichita, Kansas Jazz Festival (IAJE) 1985 Music Achievement Award; UT Austin Jazz Festival
       Performance Experience: Current,  Dick’s Last Resort, San Antonio, Texas • 1996 European Tour with Doug Sahm and the Last Real Texas Blues Band; including the Moulin Blues Festival (Ospel, Holland) • 1995-96 Corpus Christi Jazz Festival • 1996 JAZZ’ Alive (San Antonio Jazz Festival) with The Jazz Vatos • 1996 Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Jazz Festival with The Jazz Vatos • 1995 March-August: U.S. Tour with The Last Real Blues Band and the Texas Tornadoes • 1994 European tour with SWTSU Mysterium (composer ensemble) • 1994 World Premier, "Rio Bravo Ballet," by Alice Gomez • 1993-96 Pura Vida Awards Orchestra

KAZ KAZANOFF - TENOR SAXOPHONE
Saxophonist Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff is well-known to Rhythm and Blues and Jazz fans around the world. He has produced and contributed horn arrangements, saxophone and harmonica solos, and original songs to more than 80 record albums over the last fifteen years, but still thinks of himself as a live musician. Albums he has played on or produced, have won, or been nominated for, Grammy and W.C. Handy Awards. Kaz performs often at major international music festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage and Monterrey Jazz Festivals. He received his D.M.A. Doctoral Degree in Music Composition in 1998 from the University of Texas at Austin, lives and teaches in the Austin area.