Howdy from Lanzdona!

So Howdy everyone!
Thanks for the welcome.
Who is this Lanzdona character?
It's an abrevition of Lance & Donna

I (Lance) was born in Nashville the same day they tested the A-Bomb on Bikini Island.
Mom gave me a ukelele in my baby bed, and I learned to play piano from the time I could stand.
Grew up trying to play everything I heard, and I heard a lot of styles!
Mom was pretty eclectic in her tastes, Everything from folk to broadway. Blues is in the air down south.
Worked a million "real" jobs, played in 10 million "bands"
Got married, she didn't like me to play on the road. Got divorced.
Last "real job" was in IT, network manager before there was a name for it.
Met Donna (She's a Chicago girl), lost it all (24 room house overlooking music row in Nashville, demo studio, business, convertible, pickup truck, everything) and were made homeless. So I turned to crying Donna and said, "Baby, we've got nothin', What do you want to do?, What's your dream?"
D- "My dream? To travel around the world, but we have no money!!!!"
L- "I've got a guitar, that's our ticket, lets go!"
15 years & 24 countries later, here we are!

We play mostly our own compositions, which are a huge mix of every style that has influenced me over these many years.
We say it's "Original American Southern Roots & Blues"
I love pre-war blues, jazz, swing, rock, funk, soul, folk, electronic, ethnic ... and psychedelia. Somehow it's a good mix.
Blind willie Johnson, Miles, GD and the Dukes of Stratosphere.
I'm "discovering" Hawiian music, as I research more deeply into lapsteel.
Growing up in and around Nashville, I ignored the country scene but am finding it was only the commercial scene I had a dislike for. Hank senior was really great! I like western swing, too. I really dislike music made only for the $$$$$. Be it techno or Brittany Spears (ever notice that her initials are "B.S."? Music is a very spiritual thing to me. If everything is a vibration...

CD's
"Travelin' Blues" - Lance & Donna - 1998
"Long Gone" - Lance & Donna - 2002 (now only available as digital download)
"The Sun Will Shine" - Lance & Donna - 2005
"No Rest For The Wicked" - Lance Harrison Band - 2006

My instruments:
I bought my old Gibson lap steel in a Nashville pawnshop for $50 (Brozmann told me it is from '38, but upon further research think it's probably mid 40's)
My Ibanez 70's Gibson copy (a rare bird, they had to stop making it due to copyright protection) is a "permanent loan" from a fan in France
My 1963 Gibson SG was a $100. yard sale find
The 1972 Fender Telecaster re-issue of the '52 tele (sound great)
A $42 Mexican guitar, that I've sunk another $200 into over time, held together with travel stickers (my first travel guitar)
an Eko bouzouki (also a present from a fan, a funny story)
my original Harmony ukelele from the baby bed
My mom's Marathon baritone uke, (she plays more piano these days)
A sitar (another present)
A Koa "Fine-Resophonic" Resonator guitar by Mike Lewis (the most expensive guitar I ever bought. He makes them for Clapton, too)
A Chikita guitar with Jackson p'up and Kahler whammy bar (another $50 pawnshop find)
A handmade acoustic by old friend and guitar builder Terry Bennett
And my newest aquistition...
Double neck Oahu Iolana lap steel
link for pictures:
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Can't wait 'til it gets home!!!!

Donna plays a magic rainstick. (a great story!) she lays down the rythm that allows me to dance around it.
Simple, but very effective!

The band is fairly recent, 1 1/2 years now, but I really couldn't ask for better!
Now that the debut CD is released we'll see how it goes. People seem to really like it so far!

Thanks for reading all this. Feel free to send me any feedback.
Looking forward to hanging out here in the forum!

For more info and samples of our music check out our site(s)
Buy our CD's, sign the guestbook, join the mailing list, send us an email...

All the best,
Lance

Lance & Donna
Lance Harrison Band
Original Southern Roots & Blues
http://www.lance-n-donna.com