The Kevin Maines Band

We really are a true collaboration of different styles that essentially all come from the same place, so in the end they end up meshing well. I (Kevin) grew up with influences like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King etc, and then found the slide guitar and was truely inspired by Elmore James, Taj Mahal, Duane Allman, Warren Haynes and mostly Derek Trucks. As a vocalist I like old school soul singers like Ray Charles and Otis Redding and as a writer I dig guys like Ben Harper, G-Love, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. Frank Marchant, being a saxophone player is originally rooted in straight ahead jazz players like Dexter Gordon and Coltrane but plays a very progressive energetic style of horn that really comes alive when playing over Steve and Todd's rhythm grooves. Steve Taylor's biggest influence is Eric Wilson from Sublime as well as allot of older funk bands like Tower of Power. His Dub style of thick pocket bass lines truely ground the band and give us a more modern sound. Todd Field varies in his playing from the sweaty funky, snare heavy grooves of Herbie Hancock and Elvin Jones, to more modern jazz drummers like Billy Martin and his biggest influence and former teacher, David King of The Bad Plus. Together we try to let each players personal styles have a direct influence over how songs will eventually sound. There is rarely a time that a song will sound the same at the end of the writing process as it did at the begining. Everyone contributes their prefered tone, and then we blast off.