Bio

What About Bob’s debut CD, “A New Romance”, mixes the vocal and melodic sensibilities of 60’s and 70’s classic rock bands with undercurrents of folk and blues, and an energetic brew of rhythms driven by drums, percussion and acoustic guitars. The result is an album of 11 original songs that will appeal to many musical tastes. What About Bob, formed in 2002, is Bob Laporte on drums, Bob Baron on percussion, Russ Blakely on guitar, Andrew Heathcote on guitar and harmonica and Bruce Bamford on bass. All band members sing lead and backup vocals and all have contributed to writing the songs on this CD. Born out of a common love of performing multiple genres of music - classical rock, blues, R&B, Latin, folk and contemporary music – What About Bob performances have become popular events at several York and Durham region bars. The band also performs regularly at corporate gigs, fundraisers, street festivals, private parties and weddings. The group members met and first played together in Toronto jam bands. These roots are amply demonstrated on stage, as songs are often rearranged on the fly, resulting in new creative vocal and musical interpretations. Prodigious vocals are another hallmark of the band’s live performances. Five lead singers, five lead singing styles, five singers who love to harmonize: all add variety, texture, emotion and colour to the band’s music. Work on A New Romance started in the fall of 2005 when the band made the decision to channel their creative energies into an original recording project. The CD features tracks introduced by each member of the group. Through many hours of sharing and critiquing ideas, adding, editing and arranging vocal and instrumental parts, the songs heard on this CD emerged. Recording commenced the following spring in Lindan Manor Studio in Markham, Ontario. The CD was engineered and produced by Danny Scott, with artistic guidance and assistance by Andrew Heathcote. Overall production was a band effort.