For many years music provided a foundation for his life. However, from the 1980s through the mid-1990s, although he continued to write songs, he rarely performed in public. During that period he raised a family and worked on environmental research at Harvard University. In 1997 Solomon got back into performing and formed a folk/country band appropriately called the Lenny Solomon Band. Performing his original material, the band released four CD’s: Four Shortened, Not Life Threatening, Armando’s Pie, and Maybe Today. His music has been aired on over 140 radio stations around the country.
Bassist Don Barry, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, grew up in a musical family. His dad sang tenor; his mom was a pianist; and his grandfather played banjo, guitar and mandolin. In the early 1970s Don began his musical career as a. rock bassist and played for several years in several locally popular rock cover bands. He spent one summer working in the house band at a Catskills NY resort hotel where he developed an appreciation for blues and jazz and honed his skill on the upright bass. The blues led him to tour with Lonesome Dave Clark, and Chicago Bob, ex Muddy Waters player. Since that time Don has played with many other musicians and joined the Solomon band in 2006. Besides bass Don plays many other stringed instruments. In the Solomon band Don also sings backup vocals.
Bill Gibbs spent his formative years as an overly intellectual, anti-social only child of the South Shore. His mother, blessed with artistic talent and an appreciation of music, had amassed an enviable record collection which occupied Bill’s time until his teens. Bill's first instrument was the drums but soon turned his attention to guitar. After spending a couple of years at Berklee, Bill's musical experiences ranged from playing bass in a metal band, to guitar- based jazz combos, to a few years gigging with the popular South Shore band "The Accelerators." His musical influences are broad and range from Holst's "The Planets," to Billie Holliday, to ZZTop. Bill has been in the band since 2000 and plays acoustic, electric, and lap steel guitars, mandolin, and banjo.
Dennis Gurgul also grew up in a musical family in cosmopolitan New Jersey. His father was also a drummer and his sister is a noted cabaret singer. Dennis began his musical career as a folk singer in Berkeley, CA but switched his attention drums in the 1970s and has been drumming ever since. After taking lessons from Gene Roma for about a year he joined several rock bands ("The Seals", "Urban Eyes", "Septic Shock", and "Hogs On Ice") playing a mix of cover and original songs, British invasion to blues. In the Boston area he played shows in a variety of venues including Uncle Sam's in Hull, The Channel in Boston, and Jack's in Cambridge. Having a broad musical interest he played with swing bands for several years and twice performed at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston. He also joined a Zydeco band for a couple of years. Besides performing with Solomon band he also plays with several jazz combos. Dennis has been with the band since 1998.
| last updated: Sun Feb 4 08:57:45 2007 | lenny_AT_solomonband.com |