Falty & the Defects

Falty has been obsessed with swinging jazz and blues music for the last 17 years. His love of this music brought him initially to the dance floor, which lead to a dance performance and instruction career that he continues to this day. The music was so infectious, that after many years of trying to emulate the music through his dance, he could no longer resist the temptation to make that music. His sense of timing lead him naturally to rhythm guitar, the driving pulse. His knowledge of chords has influenced his solo style in which he likes to incorporate not only single note lines, but also chordal soloing and chordal melodies, essentially accompanying himself like a piano. He can do it all, on both the 6 string guitar and the tenor banjo. In addition to accompanying and soloing on both guitar and banjo, Falty is also a vocalist, whose singing has been described as natural and easy going as the way he speaks. He is the frontman and bandleader for Falty & the Defects with whom he is lead vocalist and guitarist. He is formerly the lead vocalist and guitarist for the band the Careless Lovers, and is featured on the band's debut album "Doin' the Jive", and in their award winning music video, "Black Coffee". He also currently enjoys occasionally playing with a variety of bands like Jonathan Stout's Campus Five, Solomon Douglas' Swingtet, Mike Daugherty's Oompa Loompas, as well as bands lead by Gordon Webster, Casey Macgill, John Reynolds, Dan Barrett, Clint Baker, Jim Cullum, Bria Skonberg, and Emily Asher to name a few. His influences include the early guitar masters like Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, Teddy Bunn, and Django Reinhardt. The sophisticated chordal work of players like Carl Kress, Dick McDunough, George Van Eps, and Allan Reuss, the incredible fat beat laid down by Freddie Green, and the awe inspiring single note lines by Charlie Christian. Falty & the Defects like to play good old fashioned, hard swinging jazz and blues music for listening, or preferably, ass shaking audiences.