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musical family who breath the same musical air
Danielle, Kris and Nick Schnebelen grew up with the Blues.
Their parents, Bob and Lisa, were active in the thriving Kansas City Blues
scene, playing in local bands and competing in the Kansas City Blues Challenge.
Bob and Lisa’s
band didn’t make it to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis — but
their kids did. When TUF arrived in Memphis for the 2008 IBC they were followed
by huge, wildly enthusiastic throngs of hometown supporters, eager to cheer
for their favorite musical family. And when TUF took First Place in the competition
and Nick won the Albert King award for best guitarist, it was a sweet victory
for the Schnebelen family and for Kansas City itself. TUF has been on a roll
ever since, becoming popular repeat headliners at clubs, festivals and cruises
around the world and releasing CDs and a DVD on their own label.
from the Everly Brothers to the B-52s
In the future, when people speak of the great Blues
dynasties, musical families who breathed the same musical air and produced
the highest form of the art, chances are they’ll refer to the Allmans,
the Dickinsons, the Burnsides, the Brookses, the Neals… and the
Schnebelens.
There’s not a time in her life that Danielle doesn’t
remember loving to perform. She’d sing for the family at holiday
events and also took tap jazz and ballet for many years competing in
numerous events. She also took band in middle school playing the tenor
saxophone and enjoyed it quite a bit but was forced to quit when they
moved to Kansas City and the new school did not offer band.
She comes from generations of singers. Her grandmother
Evelyn Skinner was a big band singer. Her mother, Lisa Swedlund had taught
her everything she knew growing up listening to all different kinds of
music from the Everly Brothers to the B-52s. It wasn’t until she
was 12 that she took to the stage for the first time singing Koko Taylor’s “Never
Trust a Man” at a Blues for Schools program her parents were playing
at Englewood Elementary. From then on, she knew music would be her passion
for the rest of her life. |
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She began singing in coffeehouses and at open mic events
around the age of 14 while jamming with her parents at clubs that would allow
minors whenever she could. At the age of sixteen, she began singing lead
in her father, Robert Schnebelen, band Little Eva and the Works until fall
of 1998 when he became too sick to play. In March of 1999, she started her
own band “Fresh Brew” with
Kansas City music veterans Steve Gronemeyer, Steve Hicks, Chuck Payne and Terry
Roney. They played all over Kansas City for four years and even represented
Kansas City in the IBC.
It was during this time that she and her brothers Nick
and Kris Schnebelen began talking about a family band and what it would take
to make it happen. Not only would Kris and Danielle would have to move to
Philadelphia where Nick was living, she‘d have to learn the bass guitar
to keep it a family band. It took a few years of lessons and saving money
before that could become reality.
When Fresh Brew disbanded in 2004, she was approached
by guitarist John Brandsgard of “The Nortons”, another group of veterans including Dane Henningson,
Randy Kassin, and Greg and Gharett Schaberg and was asked if she’d be
interested in fronting them until she made the move to Philadelphia. The Nortons
branched out a bit for Danielle’s style of traditional blues and incorporated
more contemporary blues into her repertoire. What started as only 6 months
turned into 2 years of touring the Midwest while practicing bass and occasionally
playing shows with her brothers in Kansas City and Philadelphia.
Speaking in her own words Danielle continues, "I
have been a musician all my life. My parents were were in bands as long as
I can remember. Before I could play baseball, I knew what a 1-4-5 was. Before
I had a best friend, I could tell you the difference between a double shuffle
and a 12/8. Music was always something that brought the family together as
was a great strength for us during the hard times"
The drums went into storage
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Chris received his first drum set when
he was 12 years old but that first relationship was a short one. They
moved from their anything but quiet house in the suburbs into a 3rd story
apartment in a 4 story walk-up brownstone in midtown Kansas City.
The
drums went into storage and Chris rarely saw them except when he took
the long trip down 4 flights of stairs staring at the lonely instruments
sitting ever so patiently under their blankets.
The drum set is a unique
instrument in that it requires a static situation to flourish. Theirs
was anything but that. so for a time he turned to visual art. "When
things were rough in the house, I could always just pick up my journal
and hit the road. Art wasnt ever completely fulfilling for me but it
would have to do for a while."
After a few more intense years he finally got into that
static situation he was craving. They moved back to Kansas City where
things started to take off. Playing 5-8 shows a week for the next 2 years,
they must have we played every nook and cranny in the town and it was
time to branch out. |
They toured regionally for a bit but once again things changed
as they often do. In January of 2008 the band won the International Blues Challenge
and have been touring internationally for the last 3 years. Playing such festivals
as Notodden in Norway, one of the largest blues festivals in Europe, Montreal
Jazz Fest, one of the largest festivals in the world, the Legendary Rhythm
and Blues Cruise, the pride of Roger Nabor and one of the top gigs in the blues
scene.
The sky is the limit for Trampled Under Foot. In September
2010 they started a relationship with Intrepid Artists International, a great
and well respected booking agency in the business. The band's newest release
titled the Wrong Side of the Blues is definitely a step up and in the right
direction. Produced by Tony Braunagel and engineered by Johnny Lee Schell,
both industry pros with very creditable resumes more then a mile long. This
was a very huge experience for Trampled Under Foot . Chris admits he grew
10 years as a player during those sessions. "Tony was a great influence
on me and is a great instructor. Showing me parts and guiding me through
the songs. Even taking the time to show me some techniques to take home and
practice. These pros did not have to take us into their arms and instruct
us so. It was a great moment and one I’ll
treasure for ever."
cutting his teeth on guitar
Nick Schnebelen has been playing guitar
all of his life. Coming through over three generations of guitarists
and musicians, in many ways, he is just another vessel for the spirit
of music. Growing up in the blues scene of Kansas City, Nick knows many
of the KC greats, those alive and those who’ve passed.
After cutting his teeth on guitar with father Bob Schnebelen,
Nick moved out East in search of a new experience. Nick says,”Someone
once told me, if you want to be known, you gotta be from somewhere else”.
That stuck with him and led him to Philadelphia where he lived for nearly
nine years. Hitting blues jams that very same week he landed East, he
was playing shows the following week.
Half a year later, at nineteen,
he was playing most of the Blues and Rock clubs in New York City Manhattan
in the Village. Nick, and friends Chris Schutz and Jesse Harris, and
Justin DiFebbo formed the popular Philadelphia based Killing Floor later
known as K-Floor. K-Floor brought high energy blues to an area where
there wasn’t so much blues. This group was very successful up and
down the East Coast for six years and got to open up for countless acts
such as Johnny Winter (several times), Robin Trower, Robert Cray, Derek
Trucks, George Thorogood, Steve Miller and James Brown. |
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For a short time Nick was a member of Buddahead, a New York City based Pop
band and traveled all over the US for two years. Opening for Everlast on a
national tour and getting to record with Jon Popper from Blues Traveler was
just a few of the experiences they had. He received an excellent write-up in
the New York Post for a performance opening for Everlast at the Bowery Ballroom
in New York City in 2003.
The band is now currently writing their next album. They released
Wrong Side of the Blues almost 2 years ago and it's definitely time. They have
some good songs and have had a lot of positive inspiration as well. They are
looking to slow down and hang around home for the holidays so they
have the perfect amount of time off to record. Trampled is using Ultra Tone
Studios in LA again and are running a Kickstarter campaign to fund it. the
goal is to not only remain close to the fans, but independent and retain
rights to their music.
The songwriting process it varies. They sometimes write together sometimes
write separately. Danielle says, "We definitely write from the heart ,
and from experiences so as our lives change our music definitely reflect those
changes. The last album "wrong
side of the blues" was definitely a very groove-based album. This next
one I would say a harder edged blues. We've touch on many different styles
of blues and I'm really looking forward to recording."
Written by
trampled underfoot and our awesome producer Tony Braunagel. Also expect
some European touring coming up early next year, and a lot of heavy touring
through the US in between. 2013 will be a year that you will be hearing much
about this awesomely talented family. Stay tuned...
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