Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
As Sneakin' Out:
"Opera Tuna Teen Ox" forthcoming May 2006
"Train Wreck" (2004)
Compilations and Guest Appearances:
"Sneakin' Out wit Ashleigh Flynn Live at Mississippi Studios" (2005)
"LiveWire! Live: Volume One" (2005)
"Mississippi Studios Live" (2004)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
In 2003, David Gerow (mandolin), Don Henson (percussion) and Mike “Cheddar” Schmitt (bass) met on a musical project in Flint, Michigan. David was a native Michigander; Don and Mike were guest musicians from Portland, Oregon. David left the project and found his way, coincidentally, to Portland, where a friend had another gig all lined up; Mike returned home a week later. For a couple of months, David and Mike lived in the same house, played music 10 hours a day, and busked on street corners as they began built a repertoire of cover songs and a few
original compositions.
Enter Don, fresh from that Michigan gig. At a show at Portland eatery Eugenio’s one day—where Don had accompanied Mike and David as appreciative audience member—he picked up the couple of percussion instruments lying around, and the trio broke into a rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Money.” With that a band was born. David remembers that day and the electrifying impact it had on all three band members: “From that point on it was full speed ahead. It was like we weren’t exactly doing what was happening: it was happening to us, through us. We just realized it, cooperated with it, received it, and are giving it away.”
In the three years that have followed, Sneakin’ Out has played hundreds of shows and developed a loyal audience. The band’s opened for luminaries kd lang, John Jorgenson and Pink Martini; played on the stages of bars and festivals and concert halls; released one CD (Train Wreck) and recorded another (Opera Tuna Teen Ox, slated for release in early 2006); appeared on KOPB’s "LiveWire" and KMHD’s "HomeGrown Live"; and formed the 12-piece Billy Shears Orchestra, with which it performs a loving recreation of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
On the horizon for the band are more original tunes that showcase the unique
instrumentation of the trio, along with experiments in inspired improvisation. At its most basic, Sneakin’ Out simultaneously confirms and explodes listeners’ expectations. People recognize the songs, but with a deliciously disorienting twist. It’s a combination that unleashes laughter, head-nodding and singing-along. Hearing Sneakin’ Out, you’re bound to hear differently.
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