Fathead (band)

This article is about the Canadian blues band. For other uses, see Fathead.
Fathead
Genres Blues, Canadian blues
Years active 1992 - present
Labels Electro-Fi Records
Website fathead.biz
Members Bucky Berger
Papa John King
Al Lerman
John Mays
Bob “Omar” Tunnoch
Past members Mike Fitzpatrick
Tony Flaim
Chuck Keeping
Ted Leonard
Darran Poole
Hayden Vialva
Ed White
Notable instruments
Bass Guitar, Drums, Harmonica, Rhythm Guitar, Saxophone

Fathead is an multiple award-winning Canadian blues band, founded by Al Lerman and originally formed with members Mike Fitzpatrick, John Mays, Ted Leonard and Bob Tunnoch.

Biography

Fathead originally from Havelock, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario, have been a working band since 1992. They are multiple Juno Award and Maple Blues Award winners. There distinguished musical career was so honoured by the Juno Awards as early as 1999 and again in 2008.[1] They were awarded their first Maple Blues Award as early as 1997 for Electric Act of the Year.[2]

History

Fathead was formed in 1992 by the harmonica and saxophone player Al Lerman,[3] who remains the band's leader. The band describes itself as being based in Toronto and in Havelock, Ontario, where Lerman resides.[4]

The band was originally formed as a pick-up group of musicians, organized by Lerman.[5] During which time Tony Flaim, whose associations included the Cameo Blues Band and the Downchild Blues Band, joined as lead vocalist.[6] In terms of blues styles, Lerman had been influenced by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, whom he had seen in multiple performances, commencing at the age of eleven.[5] As the band settled into a regular group of members, Lerman decided that the band would have a more permanent focus. Lerman named the band Fathead after an album he had by David "Fathead" Newman.[5] The band is distinguished by the fact that most of its songs are blues originals, generally co-written by Lerman and bass player Bob "Omar" Tunnoch.[4] Tunnoch is also an award-winning Canadian artist and member of the Society of Canadian Artists.[7]

The band was originally formed with Lerman and Tunnoch, plus John Mays on vocals, Teddy Leonard on guitar and Mike Fitzpatrick on drums. Lerman, Tunnoch and Mays have remained constant members of the band throughout its history. Darran Poole replaced Leonard as guitarist in 2006,[8] following Leonard's departure from the band to play with various artists as a free agent. Leonard returned to the band in 2009,[8] following Darran's decision to leave the band to pursue other musical interests, which lead to the formation of the band Rootbone in 2015. Leonard then left again in 2013, replaced by Papa John King.[8] The band has had a succession of drummers, being Mike Fitzpatrick (1992),[9] Ed White (1993-2001), Chuck Keeping (2001-2003), Hayden Vialva (2003-2007) and Bucky Berger, as of 2007.[10]

The band's first album, Fathead, was released independently in 1995. They were thereafter signed to Electro-Fi Records, a Toronto-based label specializing in blues music releases.

Throughout its career, the band and individual band members have won multiple awards. Two of the band's albums, Blues Weather (1998) and Building Full of Blues (2007) received the Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year. Lead singer John Mays has seven times been awarded the Maple Blues Award for Male Vocalist of the Year.[8] Drummers Ed White and Bucky Berger, as members of Fathead, have both won Maple Blues Awards as Drummer of The Year: White in 2000,[11] and Berger in 2010.[8]

Awards and recognition

West Coast Blues Award

Jazz Report Award

Maple Blues Award

Juno Award

Canadian Indie Award

The Jimmy Lewis Award

Great Lakes Blues Society Award

Discography

Studio albums

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Fathead". Juno Awards. Juno Awards.
  2. ↑ "Electric Act of the Year". Maple Blues Awards. Toronto Blues Society.
  3. ↑ "Fathead Bio". Electrofi.com. 2000-03-21. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  4. 1 2 "Fathead concert at Market Hall to be recorded f...". Peterborough Examiner. 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  5. 1 2 3 Limnios, Michalis (2011-12-27). "An Interview with Canadian bluesman Al Lerman of Fathead: There are good blues players in Detroit, Toronto, Athens and Moscow.". Blues.Gr. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  6. ↑ Taylor, John. "Flaim, Tony - 1948 - 2000". Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Artist, Musician". Bob Omar Tunnoch. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fathead - News Updates". Fathead.biz. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  9. ↑ Fitzpatrick later became the drummer for the Downchild Blues Band, subsequent to working with such artists as Richard "Hock" Walsh, Jack de Keyzer and Morgan Davis. Downchild, The Band. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  10. ↑ "(Featuring Fathead "Building Full Of Blues")". Blues Underground Network. 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  11. ↑ Roxanne Stasyszyn (2010-12-24). "Blues in the blood". Yukon News. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
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