Misspent Youth - Maryland's Top Party Rock Band!

An energetic party rock band, MISSPENT YOUTH has been playing for thousands of fans by headlining festivals, clubs, charity concerts, corporate events and weddings from Rhode Island down to Florida and all the way to Cancun Mexico. Thanks to their continued popularity and enthusiastic fans they have been nominated twice for Best Cover Band at the Maryland Music Awards.
Misspent Youth brings the best dance rock from the ’80s to today. Their approach to music is characterized by tight rhythms, great energy and amazing lead guitar that creates a concert experience. Playing crowd-pleasing songs covering the biggest hits from bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC and Journey to Bruno Mars, Luke Bryan and Chris Stapleton they are sure to keep any crowd dancing and singing all night.
From their beginnings as an acoustic duo in 2002, Misspent Youth gradually became the powerhouse pop/rock band that performs to capacity crowds at clubs and festivals all over the area. Highlights include headlining for sold-out crowds at the annual “Bands in the Sand” charity event in Annapolis where they shared the stage with The Wailers, Los Lobos, The Bacon Brothers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, G. Love and others. They have playing on many of the area's main stages, including Rams Head On-Stage and Merriweather Post Pavilion. Over the years they have been joined by local and national special guests including Nine Days, Governor Martin O’Malley, Ambassador (and bluesman) Andras Simonyi, The Baby's frontman John Bisaha, and legendary sax man Mark Rivera.
In 2023 they were fortunate to welcome Pat Hand, an amazing guitarist and frequent on stage guest as a permanent, full-time member of Misspent Youth.
Pat’s association with Misspent Youth dated back well over 10 years. His multi-instrumentalist brother-in-law Jay Munn had been the full time drummer far the past few years and they had been playing music together in different forms for many years.
Pat forms “All Star Bands” for various prominent charity events which have included members of MSY. Together on-stage they have also been joined by Mark Rivera, (saxophone player from Billy Joel’s band, Foreigner and many others), members of The Baby’s and Rick Derringer’s band for various events. Friends from these projects formed the live band “1Nite Stand” with Pat and some of the Misspent guys which played the M3 Festival and the M3 Southern Rock Festival twice at the historic Merriweather Post Pavilion sharing the bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Outlaws, Kix , Loverboy, Ratt, and many more.
Pat “The Patman” Hand also has an extensive background as an accomplished musician, writer and producer. Pat has albums, singles and development deals to his credit with CBS, A&M and ABC Records. As lead guitarist and songwriter, Pat was a founding member of the 80’s AOR band Alliance. In 1982 Alliance released a self-titled album on Handshake Records, with distribution through CBS. The band has continually been compared to their contemporaries Foreigner and Toto and the album created such a cult following that it was re-released on Retrospect Records in 2007. It continues to receive attention including a recent review in 2021 calling it “A much loved and sought after true masterpiece in need of a proper CD release. 10/10, essential in every serious collection.“

Misspent Youth began as a duo in 2001, when Lorenzo Ascoli and Dixon Ulmer came together by chance at a hotel bar in South Carolina while attending a company meeting. They ended up playing for the bar patrons until the early morning hours when they discovered their mutual love of playing guitar and singing. Soon after returning to Maryland, they decided to continue making music together and began to find opportunities to play at local pubs. They decided they needed a bass player who could add a third harmony, and found Johnny Abrahams, who had been performing with a variety of local bands. In the summer of 2002 a drummer joined the band, Francesco Standoli, and they settled on the band’s name. Appearing at small clubs in Maryland, the band began to attract a following as they expanded their repertoire to include classic and modern rock. In 2003 Francesco left the group and was replaced by Mike Small, who added his own unique style of drumming to the band, and when keyboard player Adam Dresner joined soon after, the lineup was complete. The band has played for thousands of fans from New Jersey to South Carolina, and has headlined at festivals, clubs, charity concerts, and corporate events for the past 20 years. Their approach to music is characterized by their pure harmonies and tight rhythms, and they play crowd pleasing songs covering the biggest hits from bands like Aerosmith and Journey to Bruno Mars and Maroon 5. Nominated by the Maryland Music Awards for Top Cover Band in 2014, the band has performed with band members of such artists as Billy Joel, Ringo Starr, Foreigner, Peter Gabriel, Rick Derringer, and the Babys.