VonAmp: August 2010

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Our singer, Tony, was still really sick and this was one strange night. There was a storm right before the show, so some of the equipment was shorting out. Taylor broke guitar strings on both guitars, so you'll see him playing Tony's Gibson Les Paul. Then the Police showed up and....well, you'll see what happened next:

Welcome to VonAmp's Blog

VonAmp performed at the historic Webster Hall in the East Village of New York City on October 9th, 2010. The concert was held in the downstairs portion of Webster Hall called The Studio which carries on the legacy of the 1950s and 60s when Webster Hall became the live recording home of RCA Records, and where legends such as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan made rock and roll history. See the VonAmp web site for details on this event.

VonAmp’s members have been performing professionally for three years now. In 2009, VonAmp rocked the SHOW ME CENTER (Cape Girardeau, Missouri), opening for Ludo (a band signed by Island Records with appearances on MTV, MTV Cribs, the Tonight Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.) Since its inception in the 1980’s, the Show Me Center had only allowed 2 unsigned acts to take their stage (so VonAmp was ecstatic to hear that they would be performing at the 7,000 seat arena in April 2009).

VonAmp’s fall 2009 performance at Jackson Homecomers Concert (MO) was sponsored by Monster Energy® and the band gave away a truckload of Monster® gear. VonAmp's tours also include concerts for Missouri and Kentucky Schools – and VonAmp is a huge supporter of the Music in our Schools Program. The school officials at Fulton County Kentucky told our crew that many of their girls cried when VonAmp packed to go home. The band has been at this a while.

If you look around on our VonAmp web site, you'll get a pretty good understanding of who we are. The Youth Arts Forum posted an amazing article about our band. Barry Salottolo, founder of the Youth Arts Forum (NYC) writes:

"VonAmp unveils bold, yet VERY flawed characters within their songs. Whether their lyrics take us to the rice fields of Vietnam in The Veteran’s Song, or upon a riverboat in their song Mississippi, you will feel the pain that resonates from the voice of their lead singer, Tony Busey. Pristine lead guitar solos rage from Taylor Barrett’s guitar, while Nik and Collin keep the cool rhythms flowing smoothly. In several songs, Tony picks up the guitar and blankets the crowd with some classic rock solos, and oftentimes he and Taylor will be dueling solos from across the stage.

With their masterful musicianship and singing styles aside, probably the most shocking observation is of their stage performance. Have you ever heard of the saying, "Go big or stay home?" Well that applies to this band.

VonAmp delivers a phenomenal classic rock experience with a twist. They perform songs with bigger-than-life characters and stories. VonAmp’s songs are cutting-edge snippets of rock culture, stories of passion, and observations about life. Audiences trust VonAmp to take them on a long, winding journey of rock. If you haven’t met them before, then you will come to know them as: VonAmp – Where ROCK and POWER Collide!"

VonAmp was named Artist of the Month (June 2010) by the Youth Arts Forum in New York City. See the featured article on the YAF web site by following the Artist of the Month link above.

The band has taken a little break from our tour to produce some more new songs, but we are booking shows for the season. If you’re interested in booking VonAmp, or if you need more information, please e-mail John Busey at booking@vonamp.com

The Music Biz - Our Mentors

VonAmp is fortunate to have had a lot of great mentors & Supporters along the way including: Show Me Center, Ludo, Fender, Paul Reed Smith Guitars, Monster Energy, Michael Stewart, Drivin' Rain, Timexx Nasty, The Addictive Breed, Rage 103.7, Q-99 Real Rock, Kirby Ray, Mike Renick Band, On Tap, Trey Presson and The Missouri Contingent, Mark Weber & Todd Henneman at the Rude Dog, Hunter & Steph at Broussards, The Belair, Keller Ford (awesome drummer), Ken E. Keller (phenomenal bass player), Canadian Customs, The Big Ticket, The Big Idea, Shivelbine's Music & Sound, and so many more!