Dave McMillen
Drums and Percussion
Dave, a native of Newburgh NY, is a producer/percussionist/songwriter/well known Cybersecurity expert and Town Supervisor of Tuxedo Park NY, who began his music career at the age of 6 prodded by his dad Mac, who was a drummer. By the time Dave was 13, he had won several rudimental (Swedish style) drumming competitions around the U.S. including the national championship in 1971. Dave along with his dad wrote all of the drum music for the United States Military Academy's Bag Pipe Band and were key in the bands creation in 1973. Dave's mom Anne Marie noticed that he probably should cross his unique talent over into "traps". She took him once a week for 2 years to Gene Krupa's protege' Roy Anderson's music shop in Wappinger Falls NY where Dave learned how to apply all 26 rudiments to a drum kit. From there Dave went on to attend the Gene Krupa/Cozy Cole drum school in NYC. Because of his love for intricate arrangements that require a wristy flair and improv style, Dave found his place in jazz drumming. Dave joined the musicians union in 1975 and went on to play many jazz rooms in Greenwich Village and Soho. Dave has played and recorded with Gil Paris (Blood Sweat and Tears, Tony Braxton), Steve Geller (Davey Jones), Charlie Shew (Orleans) Bobby Messano (Steve Winwood), The Sixteen String Band, Another Time, No Scotch for Tonto, recording engineer, music producer, songwriter, bassist Al Hemberger (The Loft Recording Studio), Robert "Digget" Dermer (Pete Seeger), Tommy Mandel (Bryan Adams, Dire Straits) cowboy Hall of Fame member Ernie Sites, Grammy winning composer Art Labriola, Patrick Stanfield Jones (the Isley Brothers, Whitney Houston), Corey Glover (Living Colour) and Gerardo Velez (Jimi Hendrix).
Al Hemberger
Bass Guitar/Vocals
Al Hemberger is a husband, dad, recording engineer, music producer, songwriter, bassist and environmentalist. He lives in Cold Spring or Woodstock with his wife, Hope and their two daughters. Al and his brother Ted own and operate The Loft Recording Studios in Bronxville, NY, which was originally founded in 1968 as a children's Film and Theatre Center. Al wrote songs for twenty shows during his tenure as The Loft's music director. He was always interested in recording and during the eighties the Loft space evolved into three recording studios with supporting offices. The Loft has since hosted hundreds of artists including Rihanna, Richard Shindell, Dave Koz, The Jonas Brothers, Rod Stewart, Donny Osmond, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, NSync, Taj Mahal, John Hammond, Procol Harum, The Skatellites, and The Average White Band. Al has worked in studios from LA to London to Toronto to Nashville to Barbados. In addition to The Renovators, Al also enjoys playing with many other NY bands and songwriters including Tiki Daddy, Breakneck Ridge, The Costellos, Los Chinese, and Annie and the Natural Wonder Band. Most people do not know that Al is smiling all the time; you just can't see it. Even when he has no beard, his smile barely shows. He is also able take a nap anywhere, on very short notice. You can find Al, The Loft, The Renovators, and the rest on Facebook and elsewhere on the web. Google him for more info.
Laurie Siegel
Guitar/Vocals
Laurie Siegel is a performer and songwriter who was born and raised in the Hudson Valley. Nurtured by the Hudson River folk community from a very young age, Laurie and her brother, Peter began singing together at festivals, rallies and events in their early teens. Later, the siblings formed the folk trio, Harmonious Hogchokers along with their fellow Clearwater crew member, Creek Iversen. True to her Hudson Valley folk and activist roots, Laurie is a long time member of the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus. She was a contributing vocalist on Pete Seeger’s grammy winning CD, “Pete at 89.”Laurie’s most recent endeavor is as 1/4 of the activist folk quartet, Hudson Valley Sally – a group rooted in the tradition of activist folk music and known for their rich harmonic arrangements. You can check out their upcoming events calendar at (hudsonvalleysally.com).
Contributing Artists
Tommy Mandel
Keyboards/Piano/Synth
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Born in New York City a good while ago, Tommy began studying music at the age of six, in suburban New York. He took ten years of piano lessons, and mutated at the age of sixteen, joining and forming a series of bands performing Dixieland, James Brown, and Beatles-Stones music along the East Coast in the sixties. He studied songwriting with Paul Simon at NYU in 1969-70 in a class which included the Roches. After receiving his degree from Bowdoin College in Maine, where he played in a blues band and studied Music History, Theory, Electronic Music, and Orchestration, he found work at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., accompanying classes combining Theater, Song and Dance, and composing music and songs for several original John Braswell theater productions, a position he held for seven years. He is now Musical Director of their Theater Department. During this earlier period, while represented by the William Morris Agency and signed to Epic Records. Tommy is most noted for playing with Bryan Adams from 1981 to 1998, starting with the album You Want It You Got It. He has also toured and recorded with Dire Straits, Ian Hunter and The Clash. For a complete list of stars he has recorded with, go here.