The musicians of House of Floyd have taken many roads to becoming the ragged band that follows in the footsteps of Pink Floyd.  For some, Floyd was part of the soundtracks of our youth, for others, a relatively new discovery. And now, for each of us, Floyd has simply become an all-encompassing obsession about life, death and everything in between!  Written with both humor and tragedy, each Floyd album is very different in the stories they tell.  House of Floyd's greatest pleasure, as a tribute to Pink Floyd, is dissecting each song, learning its musical structures, savoring the lyrics and recreating it all faithfully in performance.  Pink Floyd's catalog spans a spectrum of styles from acid to progressive into a musical creature all its own.  There are certainly less textured and complex bands to pay tribute than Pink Floyd, requiring less musicianship and skill.  But as all of our roads met, House of Floyd is uniquely qualified to pay tribute to Floyd, with our collective decades of musical experience and expertise.  There are other bands we could have chosen, but why bother?

 

MARK SHOWALTER
Saxophone, Keyboards, Vocals
 

An active part of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene, Mark has been performing professionally for over 25 years.  His many credits include, touring the country from 1999-2001 with Gregg Allman & Friends.  He has also shared the stage with such artists as Dave Mason and Jim Capaldi (Traffic), Buzz Feiten, Warren Haynes, Norton Buffalo, and Eddie Money, as well as members of Night Ranger, Boston, .38 Special, Robert Cray, and Huey Lewis and The News.

 

He has headlined at prestigious festivals and concert venues including the Santa Cruz Blues Festival, ....Sarasota Blues Festival, Peter Gabriels' WOMAD Festival, The Las Vegas Aladdin Casino, B.B. King's club in NYC, and many of the House of Blues venues across the country including ....Hollywood, ....New Orleans and ........Chicago.  He's shared the bill with world class acts such as The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Neville Brothers, Issac Hayes, and David Crosby, just to name a few.
 

Reviews of his live performances have noted a "soulful King Curtis inspired....sound" --Chicago Sun-Times; "Sweet saxophone spiced up the night"- Syracuse Post-Standard; "...the soul flavor that he added to the mix" -The Hartford Courant; "...an amazing and masterful instrumentalist that invest his whole being into his performances." - Bay Performance Society.
 

He is one of the most sought after musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, having received critical acclaim as Gregg Allman's Saxophonist.  His musical capabilities have enabled him to be a successful free-lance musician in the greatly varied genres of today's music industry.  In addition to his expertise as a saxophonist, Mark is an experienced songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, and vocalist in multiple musical projects and recordings.

 

"In my lifelong musical career I have been a part of just about every kind of musical genre there is.  I've been in rock bands, blues bands, jazz bands, big bands, marching bands, top 40 bands, disco bands, new wave bands, oldies bands, R&B bands, duos, and countless original and touring bands.  I feel that I have finally come full circle in that I am now doing the music that I have always loved and grew up with, Pink Floyd.  The emergence of the tribute genre is an option and opportunity to bring this music to large audiences, with the visuals that I had always envisioned as a vital part of a rock show.  House of Floyd is finally bringing to me the satisfaction in the music business that I always knew was there!"  - Mark

 

PAT POTTER
Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
 

For three decades, Pat has played music professionally.  He picked up the guitar after seeing The Beatles at the Cow Palace in 1965 at the tender age of 13.  He has performed with many bands over the years, including 70's Stalwarts, Storyteller, Hooker and the Alameda Allstars with Brad Gillis of Night Ranger and Dan Chauncey of .38 Special.  Pat pioneered the tribute genre by touring the U.S. with Max Pellicano's Tribute to Elvis from 1977-1978.  He has shared the stage and wrote with Jan Hammer's sideman, Ivo.  He received rave reviews playing with James Bondo, prompting people to comment on his Pink Floyd-like guitar style, which naturally lead him to play alongside his childhood friend, Mark Showalter, in House of Floyd.  Pat has played and shared the stage with members of Meatloaf, Pat Travers, Night Ranger, .38 Special, Eddie Money, Greg Kihn, Mink Deville, Gregg Allman & Friends and Joe Satriani.  Rounding out his many accomplishments, Pat played and sang opera with Christopher Pucci's tribute to Andrea Bocelli.  Pat is also an accomplished songwriter and writes a monthly column for a local music magazine, Alameda Music Scene.

 

"What inspires me about Pink Floyd is their musical soul; the obvious expansion on the blues; the early psychedelic overtones; lots of theatre; and of course, the wonderful dedication of Pink Floyd fans."

LOU PORTELA

Bass, Vocals 

 

Lou began his musical journey playing in Puerto Rico's thriving rock music scene of the early 70's. Later, Lou returned to NYC, where in the early 80's, he helped establish the power trio X-Offender with drummer Art Vilmenay, guitarist William "Orville" Wright, and later joined by guitarist Edward O'Rourke.  After years of paying dues playing the NYC club scene, the band released an EP: "Relax in Red" for Granet Recordz, receiving rave reviews from both Billboard Magazine, and the CMJ (the College Music Journal).  The album charted very well in the US college radio circuit, and was picked up by commercial radio stations, both domestically and internationally. X-Offender shared the stage with many NYC peer bands such as The New Bohemians (Pre-Edie Brickel) and Rhythm Bandits.

                  

After relocating to the Bay Area in the mid 90's, Lou continued to network with other musicians, keeping busy writing songs, doing session recordings, and jamming.  In recent years, he's helped co-produce two indie CD's: "My Guitar"(2001) and "Alma del Sol"(2006) with E.C. O'Rourke, former X-Offender guitarist, featuring session drummers Andy Korn (from Ronnie Spector, Keith Richards) and Mick Berry (drummer for Who Too, The Who tribute band) on the Budakin indie label available at CDBaby.com, and other music outlets.

 

"For me, Floyd's songs are sort of "mini-movies", theatrical plays or even operettas. Floyd has created great songs by taking deeply personal subjects, spiritual, political, and social issues and even some mildly campy topics and provided much food for thought!" - Lou  

 

DOUG CANFIELD
Drums, Voice Over
 

Founding House of Floyd member, Doug has been performing live since the age of 14, in the US and abroad.  Doug was first inspired when he heard the dynamic energy of Gene Krupa playing "Sing, Sing, Sing!" when he was only 11.  Along with Krupa, Ian Paice of Deep Purple and the master, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, have inspired Doug.  He's performed in the Philippines and Japan, and up and down West Coast.  He has brought his percussive talent to many bands including Down to Earth, Armistice, Ted Hudson and the Rectum Wreckers, Gentleman of the Jury, Hard Nox, The Goblets of Rock, Dharma Burns, Kickin' Mule, Grace Alley, 200 Stories, and Mr. Nice Guy.  Most notably Doug opened for Clarence Clemmons and shared the stage with Fee Waybill.  Doug can also be seen playing with a local original band, JAM and has been a studio session drummer for a number of Bay Area bands. 

 

"I've been inspired by the uniqueness of Pink Floyd's music…their ability to weave so many sounds together dynamically and musically. And the spectrum of styles they cover from acid rock to softer sounds." - Doug

 

JOE BARTONE

Guitar, Keyboards, Lap Steel, Vocals

Joe Bartone hails from the American heartland - Cincinnati, Ohio. Magically, at the tender age of 16, Joe’s guitar eclipsed all other teenage desires, including the high school rite of passage, a set of wheels. "My dad bought me my first guitar: a 15 watt Fender Squire amp and a Yamaha Strat”...and the love affair began. As a young upstart, he played keyboards for his guitar teacher's cover band, anything to be closer to the music, sneaking into his first bar gig at 16. Joe attended the University of Cincinnati, where a classical guitar class at the Conservatory cured his freshman blues. In the winter of 1994, an early Christmas gift of a Marshall 4X12 blew the doors wide open. From that moment on, Joe continued to pursue his musical appetites. From cover bands to his original project, Patchwork, Joe has worked some hallowed tribal grounds--venues such as The Whiskey in LA, Emerald Ballroom in Detroit, Annie’s and Bogart’s in Cincinnati. He has opened for acts such as Linkin Park and Atreyu at MTV2s Projekt Revolution 2008 at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati and Blossom Music Center in Cleveland.

Joe’s varied influences include Muse, Atreyu, Bright Eyes, Dream Theatre, and Nine Inch Nails. In true rock-n-roll form, at the impressionable age of 15, his first concert ever was Metallica, with no adult supervision. Now, it’s his turn to corrupt the minds of multiple generations of Floyd fans!

“Pink Floyd is the quintessential band of the therapeutic trip. I first discovered Floyd while recovering from a bad relationship. Enter Bob Geldof.... Simply put, The Wall: best rock and roll concept album ever.” - Joe 

 

SHERI SHOWALTER

Vocals, Percussion

 

Sheri began her vocal career at the age of 5, and has been singing and entertaining audiences ever since.  Known for her high-energy stage presence, she has fronted numerous musical groups performing a variety of musical styles including rock, rhythm and blues, soul, jazz, and show tunes.  She grew-up singing and studying choral music in school, but her heart and natural vocal style were always more suited to rock-n-roll.  She honed her rock vocal techniques with Judy Davis, often called the "Vocal Coach to the Stars" whose most famous students includes Barbara Streisand, Jerry Garcia, Eddy Money, Grace Slick, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Mary Martin. Sheri has enjoyed sharing the stage with members of the Mickey Hart Band, Gregg Allman & Friends, Huey Lewis & The News, Lou Rawls and many other talented musicians and vocalists.

 

In the 80's, Sheri fatefully saw a tiny ad in the newspaper seeking a female vocalist for a rock band and decided to audition. That's when things really got interesting! She got the gig and also ended up meeting her soul mate and musical partner for the past 26 years, Mr. Mark Showalter.  After filling in for an absent back-up vocalist at the last minute, Sheri decided to join House of Floyd.  She quickly discovered the magic of Floyd and was hooked.

 

"Pink Floyd has a way of tapping into the basic experiences and emotions that we all think about and experience in life.  As a vocalist, my job is to convey that emotion when I sing a song.  While Pink Floyd songs are quite often challenging to perform, it's extremely satisfying when you serve it up and the audience devours the music like it's their last meal.  For me, the opportunity to sing "Great Gig In The Sky" is the perfect example of a Pink Floyd song that elicits that type of audience response." - Sheri  

MELLISSA HARLEY
Vocals, Percussion

 

Mellissa Harley, the newest addition to the House of Floyd, has performed onstage as a dancer, actor and singer in local award-winning productions since childhood, receiving many accolades and recognition.

 

During her musical career Mellissa has performed in multiple vocal ensembles ranging from renaissance madrigal to jazz to rock-n-roll.  In the 80's, she toured the US in a youth gospel choir.  Mellissa has studied with vocal coach Annabelle Cruz, who is a protégé of the late great Judy Davis.  She has also shared the stage with members of Dark Blue, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Amethyst...and many other very talented dancers, actors and musicians.

 

In addition to Pink Floyd, other vocal influences and inspirations include Eva Cassidy, Billie Holiday, Annie Lennox, Freddie Mercury, Peter Gabriel, and David Bowie.

 

"Pink Floyd is a complete experience…musical, visual, emotional. I've always enjoyed being totally enveloped by it! Somehow I feel humbled and captivated by the entire production. It reminds me of the lyric from Dark Side of the Moon, 'Far away, across the fields, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees to hear the softly spoken magic spells.' It feels entirely mesmerizing." - Mellissa

 

 

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http://houseoffloyd.com