the A+TEAM

The A+Team was formed in Oct of 2005 by a group of guys that could never
imagine playing in a cover band. The idea spawned at a karaoke party years
before where former front man Danny Vance performed "Hall and Oates" Private
Eyes in which guitar player Brett Walker and drummer Simon Knapke were
present. Several years later the idea of forming an 80s cover band was
brought up and things quickly fell into place. In result to the members'
original projects spliting up, the A+Team started out as more of a tongue
and cheek project. The primary goal was to have as much fun as possible and
to avoid the fights and tension that are involed in an original project.
After numerous overwhelming responses the band knew that they had something
on a larger scale. The fun side project was materializing into a primary
focus.
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Although the concept of the band was humorously amuzing for all its members,
the band's sound and seriousness of covering the songs were never
compromised. The general consensus was to cover the songs as close to the
original as possible while adding a hint of contemporary hard rock flair.
Walker explains that "the songs which we chose to play we liked them the way
they were. We never went into a song with the intentions of changing it.
Changes arise due to lack of equipment mostly, we do not have 20
synthesizers and a drum machines to duplicate all the sounds. We only seek
changing them when doing more cliché songs like "Devo's" Whip It, and
"Prince's" 1999 where we want to beef up the song a bit."
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Joke or no joke, the A+Team has a serious line up of talent. Brett Walker
(guitar) has been playing for 11 years. He has been in three bands prior
to the A+Team, one of which "Loss for Words" toured the east coast a number
of times, played on the Vans Warped Tour in 2003, and Hard Rock Live on
numerous occasions. A major accomplishment of his came in 2004 when he
recieved an endorsement with UK base Orange Amps a prestigious amplifier
and sound equipment company. Rusty Hamil (bass guitar)joined the band by
suggestion of Danny Vance and quickly fell into the role as bass player.
Being the oldest member of the group he was well accustomed to what the big
hits were in the 80's. For half his life he has been playing guitar and
bass, and has performed with other musicians, most notably the
folk/blues/punk trio Dickie Clarke and prog/rock band Sound of Thinking. The
front man and newest member of the A+Team is Pierson Rintz. Taking over the
spot when former singer Danny Vance stepped down, Pierson has been singing
and performing since he was 7 years old. After graduating from Berklee
College of Music he had been working in the area as a professional singer
and voice over artist until the Team gave him a call. Ranging from Patton
(Faith No More) to Pavarotti, Person's vocal abilities faithfully recreate
some of the most recognizable singers of the era. Simon Knapke (drums)
joined his first band Loss for Words playing percussion. After a year or so
of playing shows locally and a small east coast tour he decided it was time
to pursue playing behind a kit. Brett Walker approached Simon with a demo
of a project called Four Wall Heartache thus reuiniting him with Brett once
again. During his run with that band he also started playing with an
experiment inde-rock band known as "The Metric System" where he co-wrote
some of the material. Last but certainly not least is Stephen Shanafelt.
Steve got his first taste of music when he sang in the Stetson Children's
Choir. After 5 years in the choir Steve discovered that he had a knack for
music and began to seriously persue it from that moment on. He has been a
member of 3 different bands (played bass in all three) including "The Metric
System" who was awarded "Song of the Year" in 2004 from Songwriters
Showcases of America for the song "Why", which he co-wrote. Steven's total
playing experience includes: guitar for 15 years, bass for 10 years, drums
for 3 years and piano for 1 year.>
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The idea and concepts behind the A+Team are prevalent during their shows.
Because of there strong bonds and their lengthy history with one another,
the band is very experienced and comfortable playing together which shows in
their performances. They provide a very fun, and exciting show and
atmosphere creating memorable experiences. If you are not amazed by their
talent and ability, then you are laughing yourself sick at their goofy
antics and apparel. One thing is certain. you will leave the show on a
positive note, and you will definitely be looking forward to the next time
they come around.