LOCAL TRANSIT

Local Transit, Local Transit, Local Transit. It took a while to come up with the name. MelloMonster was in the front running, along with Salamander Jam and Frantic Pancake. But alas, we went with the timeless classic Local Transit. We meet you where you’re at, connection-connection, and we take off together, thus- Local Transit!

Out of the 6 people in the group, 3 people have names that start with the letter “J” - Josh, Jordan and Justin…what are the chances? What are they!

Josh originally headed up the whole idea, and Jordan and Josh (often referred to as Yosh) soon hooked up (musically don’t ya know). Yosh has been playing guitar and singing songs for a while now. Jordan (aka Jordanimo) was classically trained on piano (not to mention having a physics degree). He ended up gettin’ all into Herbie Hancock, and headed down a road of funk, ragtime (saloon style!) and outer space super-style....and then came the banjo...like sweet icing on the cake, or perfect flavor added to a drink, or tasty salad dressing. Ahhh, banjorific Jordanimo! Keys and banjo!

Jordan brought Justin in on the scene. Justin is an amazing guitar player. If you’re one that gets annoyed by guitars, there’s a great chance that you will still be a fan of the way Justin plays. He’s an awesome person and musician, fired up about playing tons of music.

These guys are all fountains of living music….the life overflows and pours out of them.

Then there is the incredible Melissa Morgan, sometimes called Mel or Melrose. She’s great on percussion and has a rockin’ arsenal to work with. Not only is she a very tasteful player, she’s just good to be around and to talk to. Melrose has great ideas and communicates well. She even used to be a diving instructor (tank on the back and all). Ask her about the time she was by herself underwater, low on oxygen, with a diving suit that had short sleeves and shorts-leg coverings, and she realized that thousands and thousands of jellyfish, several football fields across, were above her. Not enough air to swim around, Mel had to slowly go up thru the jellyfish (you can’t go fast because of the pressure!). She barely made it up alive, and was taken to the island “witchdoctor.” He gave her something that he said would make her sicker than she’s ever been before, but she’d be well in a couple days….and that’s just what happened- sicker than most can imagine for 2 days, and then suddenly Mel was well.

Then there came the amazing drummer Brian Borland. He’s super solid and produces amazing energy. After Local Transit had been together about a year (Fall 2005), Brian made the decision to focus on his family and a solid career outside of music, and to put “band life” on the backburner. He and his wife Jamie have 2 awesome little boys and a baby on the way. Playing with Brian is magical and super-chemistrific. Tough to move on, tough to move on. Much love and respect for Brian and his wonderful family.

My name is Dan, and I play bass with Local Transit. I showed up shortly after Brian arrived, being the final piece of the puzzle. I love these people and love playing with them. We have a significantly special relationship together. It seems that we’ve been playing together, knowing each other and growing together for years.

We have a friend named Raz, I enjoy referring to him as Raz Mataz. Raz is a strong character with a uniquely great personality, sense of humor, and supersonic musical talent to boot. Raz Mataz has joined the Local Transit express on the drums and the adventure continues and grows!

Below you can read our original (for the most part) bio if you’d like:

Local Transit plays improvisational rock-n-roll with style influences from jazz, bluegrass, funk, country, blues and soopah-stahr-dance club.
We usually start out with a root song and then let the spirit of the moment, the mood of the audience and the band, along with the feel of the evening take the music where it wants.
The band creates spontaneous music using layers of soulful lead guitar, inspiring keyboard and piano, deep bass lines overlaying off-setting guitar and percussion rhythms and a driving back beat. Local Transit's 6-pieces create a sound far beyond that of a standard rock-n-roll band.
Our influences come from all over the spectrum: Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Grateful Dead, Bela Fleck, String Cheese Incident, Willie Nelson, Black Crowes, Allman Bros, WSP, Johnny Cash, Sly and the Family Stone, Phish, Talking Heads, Beck, Dave Brubeck and more…….

Much Love,
-LOCAL TRANSIT