Welcome
Shades Of Gray
Classic Rock - Motown - R&B
Bob, our “Piano Man” started out at 7 years old and played classical music until around 14. Then, his good buddy, our guitar man Ken taught him some rock ‘n roll, and Bob got hooked. Bob played his way through college at the Boars Head Inn in Charlottesville VA, with a small jazz combo, and attended Interlochen, the National Music Camp as a counselor, where he participated in several bands and taught piano. After college, Bob played at several restaurants around the DC area, mostly cocktail music, but he certainly can identify with the Billy Joel lyrics to Piano Man and he says Billy is on target. After the kids left the house, Bob joined the 11-piece band, Tower House (out of the Mt Vernon area), where he also plays with Ken as the keyboard guy, and he has done this for the past 8 years.
Originally from Philadelphia, Andy began his performance career at the age of five when his father would stand him up on the dining room table to do Sinatra impressions for friends. Throughout school, he participated in both choir and theater. When Andy was twelve his mother bought him a guitar and by fifteen, he was jamming with friends, eventually forming a band that rocked the high school dance!
In college at Temple University, Andy formed an acoustic duo with his roommate, playing to standing-room-only crowds at the only “bar” on campus. After expanding the group and many fraternity and bar gigs, Andy kept playing in bands until eventually earning his bachelor’s degree in Radio, TV, and Film.
After college, Andy worked as a disc jockey at several radio stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, getting to meet two of his musical idols, David Crosby and Graham Nash! He kept playing in different groups with his friends around the Philly area but eventually needed to get a “real” job.
The career change ultimately led to a move to DC and Andy stopped playing for a few years but then, he got the bug again and began doing a solo acoustic act playing at tiki bars, pools, Bar Mitzvahs, back decks, and metro stations.
Some of Andy's favorite styles of music are Rock, Folk, Country, R&B, Motown, and singing almost anything in harmony.
Vince started playing the drums in 1964. Came from a musical family. Father (trumpet), Mother (vocals), Sister (accordion, vocals), Brother (bass guitar, guitar, vocals). Late '60s and early '70s played with The Gregg Wright Band until Gregg moved to L.A. to play with Mick Fleetwood and many top-notch musicians, including touring with Michael Jackson on The Jackson’s Victory Tour. Through the 70's played Classic Rock, Pop, and yes…Disco with Aspex. Opening for the classic rock band Cactus in Fort Myers Fla. In the '80s started playing Country, Classic Rock with his brother in a full-time local band out of Washington D.C. called Whitewater. Opening for Peter Frampton at Merriweather Post, Mickey Gilley at The Jersey Palace, Richie Havens, Willie Nelson at the Lone Star Cafe in New York City. After the Whitewater days, he and his brother started the band Wayout West playing Country, Classic Rock, Swing, and Blues. Touring up and down the East Coast opening for Hank Williams Jr. (One crazy man) at his club in Panama City Fla. Then it was time to get off the road. In the '90s and 2000's played with various bands and started doing some recordings with fellow musicians around the Washington DC area. On a side note, he also plays with the band C Bass & The Rockfish out of Southern MD.
Recordings
Mike Armstrong “Sleight of Hand” - 1999 at Bias Recordings. (R.I.P. my friend)
https://youtu.be/bACX3sUYk4I "Raise Me" - from the Mike Armstrong CD Sleight of Hand
Marie Smith “Love Alone Remains” - 1999/2011 at Shenandoah University Recordings.
Bands Over the Years (1969 - To the present.)
Aspex
Whitewater
Wayout West
The Valve Rockers
The Regulators
340 South
The Harlan Ash Band
Shake It Up
Shades of Gray / C Bass & The Rockfish
Equipment
Acoustic Drums
2010 - Pearl Vision 7 pieces (Orange Sparkle - Birch)
2018 - Pearl Decade 5 pieces (Satin Brown Burst - Maple)
2023 - Yamaha Stage Custom 7 piece (Honey Amber - Birch)
Electronics
2021 - Alesis Crimson II Mesh 11-piece electronic set
2022 - Alesis Sample Pad 4 (Pad Percussion and Sample-Triggering Instrument)
2023 - Alesis Nitro DM7X 6 -piece electronic set (FOR SALE)
2024 - Alesis Sample Pad Pro (Pad Percussion and Sample-Triggering Instrument)
CA-C10 In-Ear Monitor - Alesis Strike 12 Amp
And too many Zildjian cymbals and classic snare drums to count, just ask Ken.
When Ken was in the fourth grade, a classmate brought a guitar to class and played in front of the students. Ken was hooked, and eventually the two “toured” the other classrooms, singing Everly Brothers-style harmony and playing guitar. Their young career peaked with a live performance on WFAX radio at the ripe age of 10, and ended with a rejection from the original Ted Mack’s “Amateur Hour!
Ken’s first job was shining shoes in the 8th grade, working at the inflationary rate of a dollar a day, to make enough money to buy his very first electric guitar…a jet black Silvertone archtop with white trim, and the piece de resistance, a Bigsby Hand Vibrato!!
One of the highlights of Ken’s musical career (besides meeting his idol, Chet Atkins) was the time he spent in Norman, Oklahoma in a backing band for country star Conway Twitty’s youngest daughter Kathy, who was just embarking on a very short singing career…
As a radio disc jockey, Ken was on the air in several markets including Reno Nevada, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento California, Oklahoma City, and Washington D.C., where he still does some voice and audio editing work for WMAL Radio.
Many bands and many radio stations later, Ken returned home to the Washington area, landing a gig at what was once “Smooth Jazz 105.9” radio. On weekends he continued to play music with a few local groups. finally assembling his longtime pet project…a band that plays FUN music…with members that all get along!
Equipment
1995 G&L ASAT with hand tremolo
2011 Fender Telecaster Deluxe
1996 G&L Legacy
1992 Telecaster PLUS (Firestorm)
2010 Fender Roland Strat with Roland GR-20 Synth
1996 Fender Twin Amp
1998 Peavey Classic 30, Modded
2017 Mesa Boogie Mark V-35
Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Empress Tremolo
Line 6 G-70 Digital wireless Guitar system
2005 Fender Roland VG Stratocaster (Pearl Frost)
Boss SD-1 Overdrive Pedal, JHS Modded
Boss CH-1 Chorus Pedal
Hardware DL8 Delay Pedal
Strymon Blue Sky Reverb
MXR Dyna Comp Compressor Pedal
MXR Phaser 90 Phaser Pedal
Growing up in Chicago in the 1960s, Brad was inspired to learn to play the bass guitar after seeing Paul McCartney and the other Beatles perform on the old Ed Sullivan Show. At age 12, he bought his first bass, a cheap Fender Precision knock-off, and spent countless hours teaching himself how to play. It wasn't long before he was performing steadily at gigs across the Chicago area. He soon acquired a beautiful Italian-made Eko violin bass and ultimately a coveted Hofner Beatle bass. In one of his first bands, he played with Dean Milano, who has become a Chicago musical celebrity of sorts and who wrote "The Chicago Music Scene 1960s and 1970s" for the Images of America series. The preface of his book includes a photograph of the band. Brad also was a member of the "Children", a Chicago cover band comprised of nine other students from various school districts on Chicago's South Side. Brad loves a brass section and this led decades later to play in a horn band with Piano Man Bob Arberg and guitar virtuoso Ken Hunter, fellow members of the Shades of Gray band. He also played in the perennial, "Faintest Idea" group and hired himself out as a side man to whatever band needed a bass player for a gig. After high school, Brad played in a band in Phoenix but nothing became of it. At that point, he decided to largely hang up the bass and concentrate on going back to school and becoming a lawyer. Music was always in his blood though and about 20 years ago he started playing again.
Equipment
Gigging instruments of choice.
Fender VI
Epiphone EB-0
