 A fusion of one folk-pop-blues-reggae acoustic guitarist/singer/songwriter, reggae drummer turned bassist, rock drummer gone awry, and finally, a female vocalist heavily influenced by the blues.
Original? Probably not...
Damn good music?
Definitely.
Will Duende was started as the outlet for Devon's songwriting endeavors. Simply put, Devon really can't sing all that well. No, really...he can't. He CAN write really catchy tunes tho..but no, alas, not so much on the singing thing. That's why he went out and found a singer, namely Christina Haynes.
Christina was born in Japan on a New Years Eve, and has been singing since she was 6. From a musical family, she took to Cello, voice and other instruments easily..but singing was always her fave. Dripping with emotion, grit and grrrrr! she brings a powerful set of pipes to the songs and delivers from a soft purr to a throaty growl faster than you can say...
...Holy Bassline, Batman!
Mark Leary has been performing for over 15 years with his band, Unity Reggae Band, around Baltimore, MD. Looking for something new, he latched onto an ad placed by the band for a new bass player and after jamming was welcomed aboard. Laid back, groovy and "flawless", Mark brings a lot of professional polish and experience to the group, as well as a nice sense of levity.
Did I just say "levity"?
Ryan "LDB" Smith (yeah, that's his name, really) was the drummer for Baltimore's Pushing Mercury. He's asked if we'd thought of adding drums to the songs. We had. We jammed. The vibe was good. He keeps coming over and we keep jamming. Ryan's a hard hitter who can do the soft stuff but it's really not his bag (baby). We still dig him, anyway.
|
DevonPowell
Devon is an arranger. Taking chords, vocal melodies and lyrics and forging them into listenable tunes is what he truly does best. Playing guitar for over 20 years, and writing songs for about as long, Devon isn't trying to reinvent the wheel with his songs, but simply to make good, solid music that people can identify with on a variety of levels.
After years of playing and writing, he decided to get off his duff and get out there and get his music heard. Recruiting formidable vocalist Christina Haynes to the cause, and producer/bassist/brother Robby to lay down the low-freq's, will duende has been performing Devon's original works around the Washington DC metro area for several months to crowds that are constantly asking the questions, "Which one of you is Will?" and, "Where can I get a CD?".
The answers: "There is no Will..."(or, "He is", depending on the day) and as for the other, Devon and crew hope to record a full-length CD with a completion date around September.
