Voted “Best Local Musician” of 2013 by Hudson Valley Magazine, In The Pocket aims to please.
The six piece soul and rock band, three of whom are SUNY New Paltz alumni, will be playing at Bacchus on Saturday, Nov. 16 and Wednesday, Nov. 27, both nights at 10 p.m.
In The Pocket is a cover band that plays a mix of Motown, soul and rock music from the 1960’s to today. Strictly a cover band, In The Pocket doesn’t plan on writing their music anytime soon.
“We are very particular in the music we play,” Tony Basile, the band’s trombone and percussion player, said. “We play music we really enjoy hearing, not just typical bar music.”
Although they shy away from the habitual set of songs cover bands generally play, Basile says that listeners will still be able to recognize the music they hear which includes tunes by the Temptations and The Beatles.
The band originated five years ago when Basile started it with his brother, Ben Basile. They played regularly on Tuesday nights at Oasis. The band dismembered, but came back to life two years ago with their three year anniversary coming up in February.
The group also prides themselves on playing at community events, fundraisers and weddings as well as standard bars.
Other band members include Mike Siena who sings backup vocals and plays drums, Jared Anderson, guitarist and vocalist, Ben Basile, who dresses like Johnny Cash and plays bass and sings, Christian Joao, who plays saxaphone and sings and Steve Schultz, keyboardist and vocalist.
“What I think is most unique about us is our horn section which opens us up to many genres,” Basile said.
The band consists of a two-piece horn section, guitar, bass, piano and drums.
Schultz is also a singer and songwriter on his own and is currently working on his second album. He is a multi-instrumentalist and has been writing and performing his music for more than 10 years. He plays frequently throughout the Hudson Valley as well as in New York City.
Schultz enjoys playing with In The Pocket because of the comfort level and energy the band has together. He said his experience working with In The Pocket differs from what he encounters as a solo artist because of the priorities he holds close when performing solo and in the band.
“We’ve been together so long at this point,” Schultz said. “We can anticipate what each other is going to do and we don’t have to think about the actual playing, we can just have fun and let it happen.”