Tony Serzo One Man Band from Kent, WA

Hi, thank you for looking at my profile. I play electric guitar and sing and have over 30 years of live performing experience. I'm extremely versatile and very sensitive to the needs of the audience. I can play classy background music for a cocktail party or I can turn up the backing tracks and play classic rock and blues like a top-notch dance band. My repertoire spans several genres and I'm always happy to work with you on programming the material, including learning new songs if you have some favorites that aren't currently on my list. BACKGROUND I remember at 5 going through my aunt's 45 collection and playing air guitar to hits of the day like Jumping Jack Flash and Penny Lane (she was a teenager in the 60s and had hundreds of 45s). I always loved music and started formal training on violin when I was 8. By the time I was 13 my hormones were raging and the fiddle just didn't cut it. The guys with the guitars were getting the girls and I wanted in! So I got my mom to buy me a cheap Strat knockoff and away I went. I joined my school's stage band in high school and studied jazz, winning recognition at state competitions and the Louis Armstrong award for best jazz musician my senior year. I also performed in rock bands all through high school and college and have continued to play for most of my adult life. In the mid-90s I moved to Los Angeles and joined up with an old friend who had a music production company called Blazing Cactus Music. Together we worked on radio and TV spots, student films and scored an original musical production called Leap. I also worked on artist demos and did other session work. At one point in a session where we just weren't getting the tone we wanted from my guitar, we went to the studio next door and borrowed a Telecaster from producer and hit songwriter Mark Hudson who had received it as a gift from Bruce Springsteen (how cool is that!? :-) In the late-90s I decided to move to Texas and explore the blues in more depth. I studied and played with some great musicians in Houston and Dallas then moved back to my home town (Washington, DC) in 2000. Throughout the "aughts decade" I mostly played solo and in smaller combos (duos and trios), often accompanying female singers on jazz standards and other quieter music, sometimes with backing tracks. I also played in and later led a contemporary Christian church service at Luther Place, a Lutheran church in DC that was founded during the Civil War. Great church. I even took a seminary extension course in sacred music to help fill some of the holes in my liturgical background, traveling to Richmond, VA one weekend per month in 2007-2008. In 2010 I moved to the Seattle area to be with my old college girlfriend Pam Greene (now my wife and sometimes partner on flute). While the focus was largely on my relationship for the first couple of years here, I still managed to play some music including lead guitar in a musical production called All Shook Up at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse (love those Elvis licks!) and later played blues with Robert Garvin and the Blues Popes (2013). ABOUT THE ONE-MAN BAND CONCEPT It's incredibly difficult these days to find a group of like-minded professional musicians, schedule rehearsals, perfect a repertoire and book gigs that pay decently. Not to mention the equipment involved in staging a 4- or 5-piece (or more) show band. Even a little blues-rock trio can take a couple of hours to setup and test all of its equipment. As a solo musician with backing tracks running through a Bose L1 amplification system I am able to offer a number of significant advantages: - Small footprint - I can pretty much set up anywhere - Fast load-in/out - I won't get in your way or the caterer's - Portability - I can set up for a cocktail party, perform, break down and move to a 2nd location literally in minutes - Controllable volume - the Bose speaker array spreads the sound around the room without needing to be turned up loud - Flexibility - I can perform a wide range of styles and I'm willing to learn new material just for your event In addition I provide a single point of contact so you don't have to worry about multiple band members and miscommunication. I am a professional with many years of traditional business experience that I bring to this relationship. You will find that I am thorough in my preparations and will communicate in writing (usually email) to minimize the risk of misunderstanding. All I care about is doing a good job for you. You have enough to think about you shouldn't have to worry about me. I'll let you know if I need anything from you, but mostly I want you to know that I will be available to answer any questions you have and help you brainstorm solutions. Please contact me for a free quote. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.