17 East

Dan Whittemore's diverse rhythmic style gets the audience going every time. Dan began studying music at the age of 8 and was playing professionally by age 15. Dan first began crafting his style playing with various jazz musicians and competing annually at the Berkeley Jazz Festival. These experiences helped Dan develop a plethora of beats and accentuations that give exquisite depth to his playing style. This is no ordinary rock drummer! Dan is also a phenomenal lyricist and songwriter and writes many songs for 17East. Dan writes and records music in his home studio and is a collaborative member in a number of online recording communities. Don't forget to dance during the drum solo.

Renee Jackson was an award winning singer songwriter in the Central Vermont Area when she went to record some of her music with Dan Whittemore at Stark Mountain Sound in Starksboro VT. Renee was the 2005 VT State Karaoke Champion and she finished second in the 2005 Talent Quest Competition. She also performed with several theater companies including The Theater Group Inc (Nightfires and Marrowbone), and VT Playback Theater. Despite these many ventures, Renee turned out to be a rocker at heart and her aspirations to launch a successful rock project were featured in a front page story in VT Times newspaper. As a performer, Renee's rich and bellowing vocals help to give a story line to the collaborative songwriting inherent in the 17East sound. By the way, this girl can scream!

Becca has been in love with most forms of rock, blues, and R&B for many years. She began training her voice in 2003 while working on originals projects with friends and family. She was bitten by the recording bug and during recording session she began to cultivate the talents within her voice and develop a vocal style that audiences love. Becca always loves great harmony lines and has written most of the harmonies for 17East. Additionally her lead performances on originals like Sun and Moon and Cupboard Full of Bones are consistent crowd pleasers

So what's the glue that holds 17East together? It's Darrel Hickock of course, and he certainly is not your usual root note bassist. Darrel makes full use of his range and incorporates dynamic and catchy riffs into the construction of the 17East sound. Darrel really shines during the musical transitions and loves to take songs to the next level. Darrel comes from a diverse musical background and he studied various instruments including Saxophone, drums, and trumpet while in school. However, Darrel's true love was the bass and he chose to develop his skill while jamming with college housemates and playing with a heavy metal cover band called the Hickok trio. Darrel joined up with 17East in 2005 and he is always ready to rock!

Dan Tomaino likes to break all the rules. His unique style is almost its own critique of categorization as he is influenced by Reggae, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Folk and Hip Hop. From all of these forms Dan has developed a heart pumping, chord ripping sound that will have people dancing the night away. He has dedicated his life to developing this unique and progressive style in his songwriting and during his performances. Dan is adept at both acoustic and electric guitar and he masterfully uses both when contributing to the 17East sound. Dan is responsible for writing a large quantity of musical material for 17East and he is an amazing performer. He likes to play the guitar over his head!

During his 12 years as a guitarist Chris has become a master at transmitting passion through his rich chords and wailing leads. Whether he is ripping a high-speed guitar solo or filling the air with the ocean like chords of his ballads, Chris's music has a way of moving an audience. His tone and guitar style are truly unique and this sense of newness comes across in the large body of material that he writes for 17East. I would almost call him neo-psychedelic!