HiWatt - index

For going on 9 years now, "HiWatt" has been one of the most influencial cover bands on the local scene rockin the Seattle/Everett/Tacoma area with it's infectious mix of danceable Classic and Current Rock and Roll. Often copied, but never duplicated, their blend of high energy, humor and musical talents is hard to find in this sea of generic, cookie cutter cover bands. They almost seem "refreshing", even considering some of the songs they do are almost 40 years old!!! HiWatt is a 5 piece Classic and Modern Rock cover band that plays songs from the 70's, 80's, 90's and Current rock hits from today. Hard, over-driven guitars, thundering drums splashed with some great vocals and topped off with non-stop energy to form some great danceable music for all to enjoy. That's what the HiWatt experience is all about. HiWatt has been playing in and around the local Seattle scene since early 2001. Each member of HiWatt has at least 15+ years of experience playing in various successful cover bands in the area and when you see them live, you can see that the amount of experience they have between them, really pays off. They've got great chemistry and put on a very fun and energetic show playing songs from bands such as Stone Temple Pilots, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, The Killers, Finger 11, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Franz Ferdinand, Lenny Kravitz, Kiss, Duran Duran, Collective Soul, U2, AC/DC, Guns and Roses, The Cars, Billy Idol, Jet, The Darkness and even some Lynyrd Skynyrd!!! All in all, it's great, high energy fun stuff to dance to, as well as listen to. If you see that HiWatt is out playing somewhere close to you, stop in and check em' out. You'll be VERY glad you did!

Interested in booking us??....E-Mail HiWatt at:

hiwattband@hotmail.com
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Be sure to check HiWatt out on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/hiwattband
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THE HISTORY OF HIWATT:

Formed from the ashes of “The Slackers” (Andy Volmer, Ed Busey, Dave Pierce and Derek Hovander, who played their last gig together in August of 2001), a new band, “HiWatt” started rehearsing in new bassist’s Ted Pickett’s basement in the Fall of 2001. Dave didn’t like the direction the song list was going, so he quit the band in November of 2001. After placing an ad in The Rocket, a now extinct local rock music rag, Andy found lead guitarist extraordinaire Theron Andrews, who had recently moved to West Seattle from Madison, Wisconsin. After about a month of practices with Theron, the “new HiWatt went in and cut a 4 song demo at Electrokitty Studios in February of 2002 and then played their first live show at the Freemont Dock Tavern in March of 2002. Eventually, Ted was replaced by Stu Gordon in May of 2002 and Gerald Harmon (aka “G-Spot”) quickly replaced Stu in June of 2002. It was around this time that Trish Burke had a short stint in the band as our first attempt of a female lead vocalist, but that experiment didn’t last very long (maybe a month or so). Benny Goldberg (aka “Benny G”) replaced Derek after he left in September of 2002 due to his wife having a new baby. After a few months, Benny was replaced by Phil Bergeron (aka “Phil E. Carlos”) in January of 2003. In March of 2004 we decided to give the female singer thing a try again and that’s when Dawn Lindsey joined us. That line up of Dawn, Andy, Theron, Gerald and Phil stayed/played together for about 8 months. Dawn eventually left to pursue her new original project with Doug Sample (D-n-D) and Sara Darrington was brought in as lead vocalist for a few gigs, but it didn’t work out and by the end of 2004, HiWatt was back to an all male line up of Andy, Theron, Gerald and Phil. Another 6-7 months went by and eventually Phil got an job offer to move to Arizona that was just too good to pass up, and in November of 2005, Phil left us and Rick Bowen joined up with HiWatt. Rick played a few gigs, but we turned to Jack English in December of 2005. Jack stayed with us for about 2 months and then Rick Peters was hired in February of 2006 to take Jack’s spot. Rick only lasted about a month and Pete Magarelli (aka “The Petenis”) joined us in the Spring of 2006. The lineup of Andy, Theron, Gerald and Pete played together for about 8 months, but Gerald bailed out in October 2006 to go play with New Jack City, a new “Casino Band” that was being formed. In his place we hired Terry McCormack (aka “Terryfied”) to play bass. With the departure of Gerald, Pete eventually decided to leave us in November of 2006, and Bruce Raabe was hired on to take his place. It was right around this time that Theron left to take a new job in Houston, TX, and Brian Feldtman came on board to play Lead Guitar and Keyboards. So, at the end of 2006, the line up was Andy, Brian, Terry and Bruce. With the departure of Theron, the lead vocal/frontman duties lacked what Theron brought to the table, so we set out to hire a new lead vocalist, and Jess Hamilton was his name. Jess officially joined HiWatt in February of 2007. Jess, Andy, Brian, Terry and Bruce played together until Bruce left HiWatt in July of 2007 due to having to take care of his ailing parents. To take his place, we hired Scott McDevitt. Scotty was with us for about 4 months, but eventually the commuting distance to North end gigs (he lives in Olympia) proved to be too much for him, and he left us in November of 2007. Terry eventually decided to quit playing live and he left the band about the same time Scotty did. We were lucky enough to find Sid Anschell to take Terry’s spot on Bass. With Scotty’s departure, we hired long time friend of the band, Donn Garrett (aka “Donnie G”), to hold the drum chair until we could find a new drummer. This took about 2 months and the waiting was worth it, as we got a good one in Tod Hobart. In the mean time, Brian’s work schedule was really ramping up and he was finding it hard to play the gigs we had booked, so he had to give notice that he was leaving. And as if the stars had somehow aligned, Theron moved back from Texas around this time and took Brian’s spot when he left in December of 2007. So, 2008 dawned with the new lineup of Jess, Andy, Theron, Sid and Tod, and that line up is the current lineup.

THE ORIGINAL HIWATT LINEUP (FALL OF 2001):
David Pearce ~ Lead Guitar, Vocals
Andy Volmer* ~ Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Ted Pickett (now with “Idol Eyez”) ~ Bass, Vocals
Derek Hovander (now with “The Nowhere Men”) ~ Drums, Vocals

LEAD GUITARISTS:
Theron Andrews* ~ Lead Guitar, Vocals
Brian Feldtman (now with "Psycho Sushi") ~ Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

BASS PLAYERS:
Stuart Gordon (now with “Union Jack”) ~ Bass
Gerald "Spot" Harmon (now with “Expertease”) ~ Bass, Vocals
Terry "Terrified" McCormack ~ Bass
Sid Anschell* ~ Bass

DRUMMERS:
Benny "G" (now with “The Boinkers) ~ Drums, Vocals
Phil Bergeron ~ Drums, Vocals
Rick Bowen (now with "The Stacey Jones Band") ~ Drums, Vocals
Jack English ~ Drums, Vocals
Rick Peters ~ Drums
Pete Magarelli ~ Drums, Vocals
Bruce Raabe (now with "Brainstorm") ~ Drums
Scottie McDevitt (now with “Stir Crazy”) ~ Drums
Donn Garrett (now with “Shelly and the Curves”) ~ Drums, Vocals
Tod Hobart* ~ Drums

MALE SINGERS:
Jess Hamilton* ~ Vocals

FEMALE SINGERS:
Trish Burke ~ Vocals
Sara Darrington ~ Vocals
Dawn Lindsey (now with “Whiskey Creek”) ~ Vocals

* = Current Member