Sonic Blues Band Members Bruce Pallan:  Lead/Rhythm Guitar At the early age of thirteen I started taking guitar lessons from my friends' older sister"s boyfriend, who was a high school teacher, but taught guitar on the side for extra money. After a few years of lessons he asked me to join his band. So,at the age of fifteen I was playing in a band with musicians who were older and a lot more experienced. I could not have asked for a better start to my musicial career than by watching and learning from musicians who were at that time years ahead of my playing. I was playing in clubs and bars on the weekends while my friends were in bed by 11:00 PM. By that time of the nite we were just gettin' our second set going. I played in a lot of local bands just like everyone else.One of the earliest bands was Rush (no not that Rush),we were located in the Bellvue area of Pgh.and played out two to three nites a week playing anything from Doobie Bro.,Jethro Tull, Allman Bros. ZZ Top,etc. We played clubs and colleges. Another successful band I started was Wizard, We were on the WDVE Pittsburgh Rocks Album that was released in 1981. Wizard was an all original band that lasted about five years. After that I decided to 'pack up and get out of town' and ended up on the road at first with a top forty band. The money was good ,but that was not what I wanted to be doing. Through my travels I came across a high energy hair band-a cross between Van Halen and Whitesnake- looking for a guitar player. Their name was Warrior and we were based in North Carolina. We played all over the East from Boston to Florida. But the type of music that always pulled me back to my roots was the Blues. Over the last eight years I've started or joined more than a few "Blues bands", but never found the right mix of music and ideas needed to keep one interested. When putting Sonic Blues together, I needed everybody on the same page, even though our tastes varied greatly. This is the result of a very long process of countless auditions and practices in which the end result is a great, tight, and fun band to play in. Come check us out. Equipment:  Stratocaster "1969" black, Les Paul custom "1970" black, Strat-"2005"sunburst, Ephipone-acoustic, Line 6 AxSys 212 amp, Marshall stack w/800 head-Two Marshall bottoms, Fender acoustic. Pedals:  Crybaby, Univibe, Boss Pedals-Pitch shifter delay, Octave box, Turbo-over drive. Jonathan Smith:  Lead Vocals/Bass At the tender age of 14, I saw Johnny Winter in concert, and decided that my path was to be a musician. After buying a guitar, it turns out that EVERYBODY,  their brother and their brother's dog were playing guitar. Couldn't get a steady gig, so I took the money I had accrued dressing window dummies in lingerie , and bought a bass guitar. Haven't looked back since. Through the 70s to present day, I have performed in about 35 different bands, worked for professional sound companies, opened for many notable national acts, done countless recording and fill in dates, and for the past 15 years or so have hosted open stages throughout the Pittsburgh Area. Played classic tracks, country, southern rock, jazz/funk, but still come back to my first love: playing blues. Besides performing with Sonic Blues, I work with several other regional acts, do photography and graphics work, and operate a Recording Studio. Instrumentation BASS 93 PRS 4 string- only one in Pgh Fender 5 string pbass Samick/Valley arts 5 string Washburn 5 string Carvin 6 string neck-through fretless Custom built neck-through 6 string with midi pickup Kramer 8 string bass Dean 4 string acoustic Bass Kramer custom half-fretless with Kahler trem Kramer Flying V GUITAR Hamer 6 string Kramer Stryker w/ Gretsch Pickup Ovation Acoustic KEYBOARD Fatar studio 610 pro controller roland and yamaha synth modules DRUMS Yamaha DTX 2 electronic set roland,Alesis, and Yamaha drum modules 70s Pearl Export 60s Gretsch     CABINETS top cab Genz 4x10 Ampeg vintage svt 4x10 bottom cab Genz 4x10xb Music man reflex 15" gausse sub cab Bullfrog  scoops 15" Sound crew A-7  15" Crate Club20 guitar amp, modded Behringer V-amp modeler for guitar Roland Vbass midi system for bass STUDIO Roland 2480, Macintosh G3 and G4 w/ Rbusse interface, mackie HR824 monitors, Roland MC505 Groovebox approx 40RU of off board rack gear portable studio Roland VSR880, Intellix  8002mcb mixer, HHB cdr-850, ART DI/O stereo tube preamp MICROPHONE OF CHOICE Shure SM57, SM58 Scott Shields:  Drums Back to Top