The Band
"I heard the bass and drums thumping before my hand hit the door. Once inside, that rhythm, overlaid by
a flaming guitar solo, dragged my sneakers over to the dance floor to mix it up with the dancers."
Ashbolt Stewart picked up his first drumsticks at the age of four,
and he's worn through a pile of them in his thirty-five year career as a drummer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and
grew up in the neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This may be where he got his quick and sometimes too-sharp wit.
In '72, his band moved to California in a purple school bus, and he spent
about 20 years gigging there. Since leaving Sonoma County for Portland in the 90's, he worked with several local bands, coming
to be the driving force behind the Norman Sylvester Band for ten years. Finally, after giving so many bands the benefit of his
backing groove and musical playing style, BOLT UPRIGHT is the first time Ashbolt gets to speak his mind into the mike. Watch out, because he might be
watching you.
Sus (rhymes with 'blues') was into music starting with piano lessons at
the age of six, but then took a Fine Arts turn in college.
Great memories of playing music with other people, plus a desire to earn money in a field that
didn't involve selling anything or using computers (hah!), led her back to Music. She first took up the bass steel pans, playing in a
Calypso and Soca band. Soon she was playing electric bass and before long
helped create and name the band BOLT UPRIGHT with her husband Ashbolt. Although now she spends most of her time on the computer trying to sell the band,
lately she has been writing and singing some new tunes, like "Hot Shot Blues." Sus loves coffee.
Really.