Teddy Deane

Teddy became a career musician at the age of eight when he started playing clarinet in elementary school. One thing led to another and by the time he graduated from music school with a bachelors degree (U Mass, 1966), he played a lot of instruments. Ironically, at the tender age of 24, he started graduate school with a major in philosophy. Two years later he left all that and went to Boston and joined Quill, a rock band which had just returned from playing at Woodstock -- yes the original one, 1969. There he met drummer Roger North, and the two of them have spent the next 40 or so years being great friends and playing together in many bands. Quill broke up shortly after, however.

While recording at Intermedia Studios in Boston with Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers) he met Martin Mull. They hit it off and Teddy joined Marty's first Magical Midget Band and played some great gigs in Boston clubs. Teddy's and Marty's similar sense of humor kept the music interesting. Marty introduced Teddy to Peter Stampfel and Michael Hurley. As Marty had decided to go West on his own, Teddy joined the Holy Modal Rounders in 1971. Conveniently, they needed a drummer, so Teddy got Roger into the band. Jeff Baxter made a few appearances as well. Their antics were the stuff of legends.

The rest is history... The next seven years were on the road with the Rounders -- from around the East Coast to Sweden, Denmark and Holland, then to the West Coast in 1972, where they settled in Portland, OR only to begin gigging around and around the West Coast. Somewhere around 1975, the band morphed -- for sets where Jeffrey Frederick and Jill Gross were in the lineup they were the Clamtones; when Steve Weber fronted, they were the Holy Modal Rounders. The two bands in one traveled together for several years, including a national tour for most of 1976. They played on double bills with everyone from Frank Zappa to Alice Cooper. In 1978 everything came unglued and the band splintered. Teddy got married and stayed in Portland, as did Roger and other members of the band.

Teddy got the writing bug again and became involved with Portland's experimental Storefront Theatre. He started writing for vaudevilles, kids' shows and anything else that came along. He even wrote and produced a rock opera and two full-length musicals. Over the next 15 years he wrote over 120 songs which were produced on stage. He also wrote with the Lehman Engels Group in Los Angeles, which produced a number of shows in LA and NYC, unfortunately none of which were his.

At the same time as he was involved in theater, he got a gig as a clarinet sideman in a Django Rheinhart style uptown jazz club. This gig lasted a year, then in 1982 he and bass player John Henry Anderson formed their own band, the Swingline Cubs. They played private parties and concerts mostly, but the weddings began to show up. The band grew, with Roger North on drums and Darin Clendenin on piano. Tragically, John Henry died in 1987. Teddy took over and was bandleader for the next 13 years, during which time the Swingline Cubs varied from a 14 piece big band to a seven piece R&B, R&R and everything else band. It became a Portland staple so to speak, and played for every VIP in Oregon. The band spawned three albums and is still in business!

In 1995, Teddy also formed a duo called Jass Two with Steve Boden. Together they played music of the 20s and 30s on riverboats on the Columbia River and told stories of songwriters and songsters of that era. They recorded "Charleston" for Revere Records in 1999.

In 2000, Teddy left it all behind for some peace and quiet. He moved to San Juan Island in Washington State, just across the straits from British Columbia, where he lives today. He thought it was all over but after a few years constructing his homestead he got the bug to construct some songs again. He teamed up with Jonathan Piff, guitarist of note and someone with the same sense of humor as Teddy. The songs have flowed and many have been compiled into two CDs to date -- "Doggone Good Time" (2006) and his latest and best, "So Far So Good" just released this Spring (2008) on Frederick Productions' Red Newt Records. He still travels down to the mainland from time to time and plays with the Holy Modal Rounders and the Freak Mountain Ramblers. Many more songs will follow; the outlook for the future is bright indeed.