ALBANY – It’s time to tune into The Sound Minds, the region’s newest trio who continues to drive in the sounds of good ol’ rock and roll to fans young and old in the Capital Region.
The trio, featuring members Ian “Ritz” Carlton (bass/vocals), Chris “Gringo Starr” Sprague (drums/vocals), and Graham Tichy (guitar/vocals), are a “high-energy traditional 60’s Rock and Roll” that are not a tribute band or a Vegas act, but together, play rock and roll music that each member loves to perform live in front of their audience.
All three members previously performed in Sprague’s side project, “Gringo Starr Band’’, which also featured three additional performers in the mix. The band found it easier to perform as a trio and can each sing and bring their own unique personality and stage presence into their shows with all thrills and no frills, Sprague said.
The trio performs a combination of original songs and cover tunes anywhere from 50’s rock and roll performers as Chuck Berry and Little Richard to 60’s music from The Beatles and more obscure 60’s garage and frat rock and roll.
The trio made their stage debut at Rare Form Brewing Company on Saturday, March 2 as part of the Honkey Tonk Record Club with area DJ’s Tex and Steve. On Saturday, April 6, the band will perform their first real show at Lost and Found in Albany.
The show will begin at 9:30 p.m., $10 admission and will feature two full sets of music performed by the band with new material added to their repertoire. It will also have a DJ, DJ Sandra Lee, Sprague’s wife.
Lee began DJ’ing several years ago in Los Angeles, C.A. clubs and began working with one of Sprague’s Los Angeles bands, “The Outta Sites’’, prior to her N.Y. DJ gigs. “Having a good DJ like Sandra Lee that spins the right tunes to set the mood for the show is extremely important. I can’t think of another DJ that I prefer more to Sandra.” Sprague said fondly of his wife. “Expect a lot of great GoGo Dancing style rock and roll with some soul, garage, funk surf and she’ll keep the crowd dancing and having a great time.”
The Sound Minda plans to have additional performances in the Capital Region as well as nationally and worldwide and are also in the process of recording their first song release. The band also has several music clips that are available for viewing online on Facebook (The Sound Minds) and Instagram (the.sound.minds).
Most of all, Sprague enjoys performing with Tichy and Carlton and considers them to be top musicians and great performers on stage.
“One of the benefits of this band is we are all three front men who lead our own projects and last and certainly not least, we are all great friends and have an absolute blast hanging out together and putting on a great show.” Sprague concluded. “I truly believe that’s the “X-Factor” with us and is a really important quality to have with a band and it definitely comes across on stage and the audience feeds off of it.”