Rigby

RIGBY

Name a song that reached number one on the charts that contained no guitar, no bass, no drums, and no keys. You may not be able to, but Benji Harris (vocals, guitar), James Guckenheimer (drums), his brother Stevie G (guitar), and bassist Jeff Vandagriff can. "We have mad respect for The Beatles," says Harris of his band's moniker. "We wanted to do a subtle tribute to them and that's what we settled on." Yes, it comes from Eleanor Rigby - a pop hit made only with orchestral strings.

Nearly as unusual was the way the band came together. Harris was playing in Thief (a Dallas pop/rock band) and James Guckenheimer was in a Texas country band called The Rusty Brothers. "A cousin of James and Steve's was getting married and told him 'You should put together a band and come play at our reception, " A mutual friend in Oklahoma pointed Guckenheimer in Harris' direction to help fill the unit. "From the very first chord we played together, it was like magic," Harris relates. "We just knew we needed to stay together."

Together for over a year now, RIGBY has built a huge following with a mix of top notch originals (check out the brilliant "I Can Feel You Breathing" on Myspace) and popular covers. With a sound that incorporates blues, rock, and pop through wonderful vocals and flawless harmonies, RIGBY suprises and delights people every time they play. They design the shows to fit the variety of venues they play. "We do original music, but we throw in some covers too to keep things lively," Harris explains. "But if we need to, we can bust out three hours of old school blues and rock songs."

It isn't just their friends that love them either. "Channel 8 came to a show," says Harris. "They told us we should come do the House of Blues commercial. That really helped get the name out." The commercial, which airs often in Dallas, helped get the band thier sound heard and they hope it leads to further success. "We do want to make a living at it, but most importantly we want to write the best music we can." And writing great music they are. Catch them live January 5th @ Poor David's Pub or at www.myspace.com/rigbyrock.

- LIT Monthly, January 2008 - LIT Monthly