MEET THE BAND

Junkyard Saints is a DC/Baltimore-based seven-piece band with full horn section performing its own brand of New Orleans-style party music, blending funk, swing, Latin, R&B, with a splash of zydeco to round out the mix.

With regular college and independent radio airplay across the country including National Public Radio, Junkyard Saints have played at some of the most notable venues and festivals in the country including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and Pier Six, Ft. Lauderdale Cajun Crawfish Festival, Ft. Lauderdale Riverwalk Blues Festival, Bethlehem’s Musikfest, First Night, Iota, The FunkBox, and at private events for corporate and entertainment clients such as HBO, John Waters, Crayola, and Northrop-Grumman.

The Saints are recipients of Washington Area Music Association's 2006 WAMMIE Awards for Artist of the Year 2006 and Best Roots Rock Group 2006, 2007 and 2008 and 2009, and bandleader Brian Simms was voted Musician of the Year 2009.

Junkyard Saints are:

BRIAN SIMMS (vocals, keyboards, accordion) is a Baltimore-based keyboardist, vocalist, composer and arranger. He has recorded and toured with Rounder recording artist Disappear Fear, opening for and performing with Indigo Girls. In addition to leading and composing for his own critically acclaimed band, Junkyard Saints, Brian performs with many of the DC area's most notable bands and musicians, including Billy Coulter, Patty Reese Band Chopteeth, Squeeze Bayou and 2009 Grammy-nominated group Milkshake. Additionally, Brian records extensively; he has performed on over 100
CDs and he can be heard on numerous radio and TV spots, including
Discovery Channel, HGTV's Househunters and the Maryland Lottery. Most recently he was voted 2009 Musician of the Year by the Washington Area Music Association.

TODD BUTLER (trumpet) did his undergrad and graduate work at Towson University, and has established himself as a versatile performer in the area, working with artists including Little Feat, Bela Fleck, Jackson Browne, Billy Bob Thornton, Dana Carvey, David Spade, Robert Townsend, and The Drifters. Todd also leads The Todd Butler Group, voted Best Jazz Group in the Mid-Atlantic Music Monthly Readers’ Poll. Todd is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

JEFF CHIAVERINI (trombone) earned his B.S. in Music Performance from Towson University, where he learned from the Jazz great, Hank Levy. Jeff has performed with Jackson Browne, Little Feat, Bela Fleck, Lenny Pickett, The Temptations, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, The O’Jays, The Drifters, The Meters, Yellow Man, Levon Healm, Billie Bob Thornton, Sam Bush, All Mighty Senators, and others. Jeff has many recording credits, appearing on radio and TV spots throughout the mid-Atlantic area and nationally.

CHRISTIAN STENGLE (drums, percussion) is a native Washington DC drummer who has studied with such luminaries as Steve Fidyk, Mike Aubin, Stanton Moore, David Garibaldi and Johnny Vidacovich. He has performed all over the country with his playing ranging from small jazz combos to corporate wedding bands to original music. From day one, Christian has always been a "less is more" drummer and is drawn more to the "pocket" style of drumming. A
freelance drummer for the past 15 years, Christian currently keeps a
busy teaching and performing schedule.

MATT EVERHART (bass) Matt Everhart's bass playing has earned him the nick names "The Viking" and "Hazmat" over the years due to his aggressive and energetic voice on the instrument.
Originally haling from Lexington, North Carolina Matt earned his undergraduate degree in music from Appalachian State University. During his time in the Carolinas Matt toured with the jazz-grass fusion group Snake Oil Medicine Show opening for various artists including, Bela Fleck and Derek Trucks. While living in North Carolina he also cut his recording teeth working as both a studio musician and engineer in Charlotte.
While studying Jazz at Indiana University Matt worked with teaching legends David Baker and Steve Houghton. As a founding member of the "Weather Report-esq" fusion group Kwyjibo, Matt performed all over the midwest, at the Indianapolis Jazz Fest, and performed on the groups first record that received high acclaim from several midwest music reviewing publications. Also while living in Indiana Matt worked with song writer Ryan Cook and performed on a series of recordings for Atlantic records in LA.
Now a staple in the DC/Baltimore music scene Matt has worked with various local artists including an appearance on NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion" with the Deanna Bogart band, and several performances with the universally know vocal group The Platters. He brings a sense of vitality to Junkyard Saints and when paired with drummer Christian Stengle, helps to create a wall of groove that propels the band forward.

ERIC ULREICH (guitar, vocals) A veteran of literally thousands of gigs nationwide, Eric Ulreich has performed in all styles of music in all styles of guitar on stage, in the studio, as a producer, composer and an instructor. As guitarist and musical director, Eric has performed with legend artists Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, Glenn Leonard’s Temptations, Charlie Thomas and the Drifters, The Shirelles, The Chiffons, The Tokens (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”), Bobby Lewis, The Coasters, The Marvelettes, and The Platters, among countless others. He has performed in venues across the country including The Kennedy Center, The Fleet Pavilion in Boston, The World Trade Center in New York City, and The MCI Center, as well as hundreds of nightclubs across the United States.
As a studio musician, Eric has played and produced at Cue, Bias, Recording Arts, Omega, Sheffield, and others in the Washington D.C. area. As a co-composer, Eric won 10th place in a national song-writing competition for “Gone Wilde.” In 1990, Eric was nominated for a “Wammie” by the Washington Area Music Association for best instrumentalist in the Rock and Pop category.
As a classical guitarist, Eric has performed throughout the Washington metro area and premiered Knickerbocker Suite by composer Garrison Hull in honor of Glenna Goodacre, sculptor of the Women’s Vietnam Memorial. His recent performance with edgEnsemble of George Crumb’s Mundis Canis at George Mason University made a “particularly strong impact” and was “sensitively performed.” (McLellan, Washington Post).
Eric has been teaching all styles of guitar since 1978. He has been on the faculty at The Levine School of Music in Washington DC for ten years and has just completed his first solo CD which will be released in 2007.

KYLE COUGHLIN (saxophone) is a versatile performer and composer who is proficient in many styles. He has released two solo CDs and has also recorded with the Todd Butler Group, Mark Stanley, Tim Jenkins, and John Blount. Kyle has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the National Gallery Orchestra, the Dave Tucker Big Band, Ray Charles, and Roger Daltrey, to name a few. He has a doctorate in clarinet performance from the Peabody Institute.