Meet the Band
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Alan
Electric Bass
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Stephanie
Lead Vocals
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Nick
Saxophone and Vocals
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Bryan
Electric Guitar
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Matthew
Drums
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Andy
Keyboards
Alan - Electric Bass
At the age of 13, when rock’s “British Invasion” landed on America’s shores, Alan completely surrendered. He traded his catcher’s mitt for a bass guitar—and has never looked back. Throughout junior and senior high school, he was a member of one of San Diego’s busiest garage bands, The Mark IV, which, in the mid-to-late Sixties, played venues large and small throughout the southland.
During his early and middle adult years, Alan may have lost his way a bit, in that he did very little live performing with bands. However, his love of music and for his instrument never diminished, and he continued to play, practice, and hone his skills.
Fortunately, over the last several decades he regained his focus and got his mojo working again, regularly performing with numerous bands throughout Northern California and in multiple music genres: Rock, Blues, Jazz, Cabaret, Soul, Prog, Country and Americana. He has recorded albums with Little Buffalo, Luminous Newts and Tremolo Saints; session recordings for a number of Bay Area musicians; and has performed in several musical theater productions in San Francisco. Alan is a recent transplant to Corvallis, and Enjoy The Ride is his first band here.
Stephanie - Lead Vocals
Stephanie was born in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, to parents that fostered a home environment centering on music and dancing. Her father was a worship leader who took Stephanie and her siblings to play music and sing worship songs for prisoners throughout the state. She was exposed to the songs of Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, Elvis, and Abba and, through her older brother, to legends like Metallica and Pink Floyd—often taking his record player and listening to these albums over and over, memorizing every single word and note.
Stephanie’s love for music further blossomed at the age of 16 with the opportunity to study classical music at a local university. She competed in state competitions while continuing to land leading roles in her high school’s musicals. She continued her musical training at Buffalo State and Skidmore College where she learned to refine her soprano craft.
At 21, Stephanie moved to New York City to pursue her career in music. Although a huge leap of faith, she received plentiful opportunities to perform lead and backup vocals for various bands, and even audition for Broadway plays! All that experience paid off quickly—by the age of 22, Stephanie signed a record contract in Italy and became a number one disco tech singer on the charts. For five years she traveled Europe singing and performing her music.
In 2002, Stephanie took a break from the music scene to settle down in the Pacific Northwest and raise her son, Aiden, all the while keeping the tradition of music alive in her household‑—songs and food always as the heartbeat of her home. As her son becomes a man, Stephanie has stepped back into the music scene to continue her love of musical exploration. As BB King once said, “the music you listen to is the music you like.” For Stephanie, it’s all of it.
Nick - Saxophone + Vocals
Nick was born and raised in the heart of Oregons Willamette valley. He grew up in a family that highly valued music and has been singing since before he can remember. At the age of ten, he started learning his first instrument, the oboe. In high school, he started playing tenor saxophone in order to participate in marching band. Shortly thereafter, his interest in jazz became piqued and he joined the high school jazz band. He spent his last two years of high school as a drum major and won the Grant Johnson Memorial Scholarship for excellence in jazz.
Nick’s interest in all types of music continued to grow as he picked up multiple woodwinds through college. He spent four years in the marching band while attending Oregon State University. In 2004, he accepted a job as bass and drum tech for guitar legend, Dick Dale. After a year of touring, Nick returned to Oregon and played in many different local bands. He also began working at Allan’s Coffee where he is currently Master Roaster. In addition to Enjoy the Ride, Nick currently plays in Corvallis based ska band, Ludicrous Speed.
Bryan - Electric Guitar
Bryan’s very first musical endeavor started at the age of 8 in a Kiss air guitar cover band playing for the neighborhood kids behind a drum kit made of empty boxes. His obsession for music only grew from there and at 16 he saved up enough money to buy himself his first electric and acoustic guitars. He briefly took lessons from a local rock guitar player and then learned on his own trying to absorb all he could from jamming and playing with friends and other budding musicians. Four years later he paired up with a vocalist in an acoustic duo occasionally performing in-between set breaks for a popular local Southern California Grateful Dead cover band.
After moving to Oregon in ‘91, Bryan fell hard into the world of acoustic music, playing folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz, and flamenco. He played acoustic guitar and mandolin in various bands around the Lane County area including; The Corn Lickers, Ham Bone, Heckle & Jive and Dancing Moon Orchestra. Bryan studied classical and jazz guitar and graduated from the University of Oregon School of Music, where he played in various musical projects including an East European Folk Ensemble. After graduating from the U of O, Bryan spent a few years teaching private guitar lessons in the Lane County area.
Bryan has lived in Corvallis for the past 20 years and has performed at various weddings, private events and local venues as a solo guitar player. For the last 15 years he has been playing guitar and mandolin in an old timey and folk music duo from Corvallis, The Rusty Hinges, and now also plays electric guitar with Enjoy The Ride.
Matthew - Drums
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Matthew initially began his study of drumming in the 6th grade, playing drums and percussion in the school orchestra. Shortly thereafter his parents got him his first drum set. He was initially self taught, learning how to play by carefully listening and playing along with cassette tapes (especially Boston’s first album) in his parents basement.
Matthew later attended many drum clinics (Ginger Baker, Alan White, Trilok Gurtu, Jason Bonham and others) and took formal drum lessons in Jazz and Brazilian rhythms. His first band was in high school which is when he first began playing his first gigs and recording. Taking a break during college and graduate school he later resumed drumming in earnest, playing in various bands performing blues, bop jazz, pop, soul and ska.
In our local area he has contributed beats to the bands Partly Dave (power pop), Ludicrous Speed (ska punk and rocksteady), and Groove Clinic (pop, soul, r&b, country). Matthew is all about laying down a solid groove accenting with tasty fills as appropriate for the needs of the song.
Andy - Keyboards
Andy’s musical education began in the U.K. as a teenager playing the flute, piano and guitar. As a performer, he could be found in several local folk clubs. After receiving a Master’s Degree in Musicology from the University in Wales, Andy continued musical studies in the USA, at the University of Illinois. While there, he switched academic paths to follow an Engineering career. Although maintaining an interest in musical synthesis and the evolution of midi instruments, at this time there was a hiatus in performance and playing music was only for personal pleasure.
In 1994, Andy moved to Corvallis where he began participating in various musical enterprises including playing in the Community Band, Church Worship Teams, some local bands, and composing music using Digital Audio Workstations and MIDI synthesis.
Andy now focuses on the keyboard and doesn’t lean towards any specific genre. The synthesizer provides a means to explore different musical sounds and styles and he enjoys incorporating these into band performances as well as musical compositions.