Deezle Church

Southern-style rockers DEEZLE CHURCH roamed into the ROCK ON RADIO studios all the way from Harrisburg, PA. These four fellas are on a mission to "bring the real southern rock and outlaw country back to America, one fan at a time."

Comprised of JIM HORN on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, DARRELL ADAMS on lead guitar, MIKE EISENHAUER on drums, and temporary bassist ERIC YOST, these guys pull from some southern roots, yet have a straight forward rockin' edge that makes for a very interesting blend of styles.

DEEZLE CHURCH formed two years ago when HORN and drummer EISENHAUER got together and decided to give it a go. HORN, who hails from Kentucky and appears to be the main southern influence, handles most of the lyrics, but they all have a hand in the music side of things.

Influenced by a unique group of diverse musical backgrounds, each member brings a little something different to the band's sound. HORN has a heavy country/southern style, whereas ADAMS grew up on classic rock, and EISENHAUER and YOST were into the punk genre.

Named the "Best New Artist" two years running in 2008 and 2009 at the 717 Music Awards, DEEZLE CHURCH has accomplished much in their brief existence. Besides the aforementioned award, they've also opened for country music's David Allan Coe, as well as Randy Houser. This Wednesday, they will be opening for Stoney Curtis, and then in Harrisburg on May 2nd, they'll be opening for Pearl (daughter of rocker MEATLOAF) at the Dragonfly Club.

Wrapped around a full gig schedule, they are currently in Asylum Studios working on a new six-song EP to go along with their recent three-song effort, "Life's A Trip."

A really great bunch of guys who are committed to their craft, this show host feels that they haven't even begun to hit their stride yet. If anyone would like to find out more about DEEZLE CHURCH, you can do so at www.myspace.com/deezlechurch or at www.deezlechurch.com.

Tickets for any of their upcoming gigs are also available at these sites, as well as copies of their EP. Look for DEEZLE CHURCH out in the Harrisburg area or back here in the NYC, Philly circuit, as they have plans on returning soon.

I want to thank CC COLETTI, ANTHONY KRIZAN, TJ JABLONSKI, JOHN HUMMEL and ARNIE WENDT as they welcomed myself and BC into their rehearsal at SONIC BOOM STUDIOS. We were privy to a rehearsal for their upcoming tribute show "EXPERIENCE JANIS." This show, which takes place on Friday, May 7th at 8pm EST at the BOUND BROOK THEATER (located at 10 Hamilton St. in Bound Brook, NJ), is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and they're available thru www.ticketweb.com. Keep a sharp eye out here, as I'll be posting a blog about the rehearsal as well as a review of the show.

This Sunday, April 25, Asbury Park, NJ acoustic rocker TONY TEDESCO (www.myspace.com/tonytedesco) will be my guest on ROCK ON RADIO.

Turn on... tune in... and ROCK ON!


Danny Coleman is a central Jersey resident and a long-time area musician. He is currently the host of Rock On Radio which airs Sunday evenings at 10pm (EST) on www.wifi1460am.com. - Chorus and Verse Blog

Deezle Church is an original, powerhouse band from Central PA. If you look closely you will notice that it is the former members of the band most people have come to know and love, as Tripp McNeely. They unfortunately had to change their name due to some legal issues, but everything else pretty much remains the same. You still have Jim Horn “The Talent” on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Eisenhauer, “The Face” behind the drums, Greg Gongaware, “The Wildcard” on bass and vocals, and their newest member, Darrell Adams, “The Mouth” on guitar and vocals. They will still be playing all of our favorite originals like “Catastrophe,” “Stripped,” and “Off and Running.” Plus they’ve already created some new songs including one I heard the other night called “Southbound Train.” They are no where near ready to stop doing what they love, they feel like they’ve only just begun.
They’ve only been around for a little over 2 years, but they’ve already accomplished a lot in the Harrisburg area. At the 2009 717 Music Awards they were awarded the Best New Artist of 2008, this year they are nominated for the Artist of the Year and Best Rock Act of 2009, the awards show will be held in April at Gullifty’s to see if they are the winner. The awards show is open to the public, so come on out and support them. They also won the 2nd Annual Capital City Clash at the American Music Fest in July of 2009 and the Penn Live Battle of the Bands in August of 2009. In November they had the opportunity to open for National Recording Artist, Kenny Wayne Sheperd at The Chameleon in Lancaster. Like I said, quite the list of accomplishments. During the interview the guys rambled off these accomplishments, but then Mike Eisenhauer said, “Our best accomplishment so far has been forming a Band of Brothers.” It’s not easy getting four guys together to form a band, or write songs, or do anything together, but Deezle Church feels like they finally got the right line up. Since the beginning of January things just seem to click. They can just look at each other on stage and know what they are thinking. Mike said, “Being in a band is very mechanical, you need all your pieces…” and they definitely have them. Hearing their latest original you realize how true that statement is. Darrell helped write the melody, Jim helped with the lyrics, Greg helped tie it all together, and of course, Mike wrote all the drum parts! They are all very comfortable in their roles in the band. They love that they are not dealing with any egos, or attitudes. Mike said, “The other day we drove a whole 300 yards in one van without an argument. We are ready to tour across the country now!” I don’t know if they are quite ready to go that far, but they are definitely ‘Off and Running’ just like their song says.
Deezle Church is currently recording a new five song EP at Asylum Sound Studios in Newport. Their recording time was one of the perks to winning the Capital City Clash in July. Joe Abbondanza is the studio owner and Tony Murlin is their engineer and mix master. They can’t wait to hear the ultimate product. It’s their best work so far. This time around there will be no slow stuff! All hard hitting and filled with energy and lots of harmonies. Deezle Church’s music is a mix of everything from Bluegrass to Grunge to Classic and Southern Rock. They really feel that “Variety is the slice of the musical pie” and they are full of it!
I’ve seen these guys perform in many different situations, and every time I’m thoroughly impressed. It just so happens that the very first time was last year at the MMC when Jim Horn came up and introduced himself to me at our booth. Then he played and sang “Catastrophe” right there on our Acoustic Stage on the trade show floor, that night I went to see the ‘rockin’ full band version at Gullifty’s, ever since I’ve been hooked. I’ve seen them play acoustically at The Quarter and the full band at the Capital City Clash at American Music Fest in front of hundreds of people.. a lot of them wearing Tripp McNeely shirts! Not to mention when they played at Whitaker Center one of the nicest venues in the area, I would love to see them play there again. When they have these “huge/special” shows they always seem to have something special for the fans as well, which is usually a new song or two. It always amazes me that they have the confidence to be playing a brand new venue, and stand up there and say, “and here’s a brand new one for ya… we just wrote this one Sunday night!” Seriously!! Yes, seriously. These guys are constantly coming up with new songs. Even when I saw them for their private party at Goldsboro Fire Co. they even had a brand new song then too. Even though it was their very first show playing as a four-piece. They play everything with such confidence and enthusiasm, you would never know how nervous they truly were, especially Mike. The next time I see them they will be playing Main Stage at the Radisson Penn Harris for the MMC on Friday, February 19th at 10pm. Again this show is open to the public so please come out and support them and the Millennium Music Conference.
Deezle Church is very grateful to all of their family, friends, and especially their fans for sticking with them through this transition. They want you all to know with confidence that the core will keep going, they are moving forward.
You can catch Deezle Church live at the Radisson Penn Harris on Friday, February 19th, in the meantime you can become their friend at myspace.com/deezlechurch or search for them on Facebook under “Deezle Church.”
- Pennsylvania Musician Magazine

Deezle Church is a dynamic new sound that owes it’s uniqueness to the beauty of acculturation.

The band was formed 2 years ago as another project and through the years has undergone several transformations that have resulted in the current product performing today.

Deezle Church was created as a means to vocalize the strife of the working class person and the everyday struggles that face them.


Deezle Church is performing at the Radisson Penn Harris Convention Center at 10:15 p.m. on Friday Feb. 19 for Millennium Music Conference 14.

Deezle Church as it exists today consists of Jim Horn on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Darrell Adams on lead guitar; Greg Gongaware on bass; and Mike Eisenhauer on drums. Deezle credits their distinctive sound to the generations of musicians that have influenced them over the years. The band is proud to have such genres as Southern Rock, Country, Blues, and Alternative/Progressive Rock as persuasions to their sound.

The members of Deezle Church were originally members of another local original act that was nominated best new artist of the year in Central Pennsylvania for 2009. The act was also winner of American Music Fest’s Capital City Clash in July of 2009 and PennLive.com’s Battle of the Bands in the fall of 2009.


Other highlights include sharing the stage with blues legends such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd and members of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s backing band Double Trouble.

Deezle Church is currently in the studio working on another EP scheduled for release in early summer of this year. Deezle Church is currently booking gigs for the March/April/May time frame and can be reached by phone at 717-821-1685 or via email at Deezlechurch@gmail.com.

For more information visit www.myspace.com/deezlechurch or look up Deezle Church on Facebook.
- Pennlive.com

Tripp McNeely formed in the summer of 2007 and has become one of central PA’s hottest new bands to hit the local scene. They were voted “Best New Artists in Central PA” at the 717 Music Awards held earlier this year at Gullifty’s Underground. They also won the second annual Capital City Clash - Battle of the Bands at the American Music Festival in July held in Harrisburg. I absorbed the musical growth and the popularity that Tripp McNeely had gained since my first encounter with them at the 717 Music Awards when recently attending The Whitaker Center's 10th Year Birthday Bash. I am sure Stephen Krempasky, Vice President of Theater Operations at the Whitaker Center was very pleased with the turnout which also included performances by talented solo artist Brooks West and the ever popular Jellybricks with the endless energy of lead man Larry Kennedy, Garrick Chow, Bryce Connor and Tom Kristich.

So where did “Tripp McNeely” come from? I posed the question to guitarist/band manager Mike Clarke who stated, “The band toyed with different names for weeks. Our drummer Mike saw this part in a movie; it was the movie “Can’t Hardly Wait” with Jennifer Love Hewitt and there was a character named “Tripp McNeely” played by Jerry O’Connell. He mentioned it at practice and it stuck. It had no significant meaning to us, we just liked it.”

About a year ago, Mike Clarke took over the booking for Tripp McNeely and had a plan of success in mind. First on the agenda was to perform and attend the Millennium Music Conference; second was to play at the American Music Fest and then hopefully the Capital City Clash. The next goal was to win the Capital City Clash. The band knew getting 100+ family and friends to drive to Harrisburg on the 4th of July weekend would be a feat in itself, so they came up with the incentive of giving away t-shirts at The Quarter during a pre-party. Tripp McNeely had a large crowd of fans at the Capital City Clash and won the event (videos are on You Tube). After winning the Capital City Clash, things took off for Tripp McNeely and all of the goals they made as a band have come true thus far, along with some unexpected surprises.


Tripp McNeely has recorded two EP’s thus far; the first EP was recorded in the winter of 2007 which was something they put together for a press kit, so they could begin booking shows. The second EP, Songs From Mike’s Basement was engineered, mixed and mastered by Jason Shaffer. It was recorded in the winter of 2008 with bigger aspirations like getting into the Millennium Music Conference, American Music Fest and The Whitaker Center. The band is hoping to enter the studio to record a full-length album in November or December. Seems these guys like warming up the winter laying down some hot music tracks. Currently, the song “Off & Running” is a fun song and gets the crowd dancing which is always a spark plug to the band. Other favorites are “Something ‘bout, Southern Man” and a song they just wrote this past week called “Pretendin’”. You can find some of these videos on You Tube.

They describe their music as rock with a southern drawl. Not so much a southern rock band, because then people expect Lynyrd Skynyrd and they don’t think that is the sound that best describes Tripp McNeely. They all write music in the band and Jim Horn writes all the lyrics to the music. Most of the time their songs develop spontaneously, without a whole lot of thought, but lyrically Jim writes about his life experiences and other’s life experiences that he has been a part of or witnessed.

That is not to say that southern rock is not an influence to the band because Lynyrd Skynyrd is an influence in their writing along with others such as The Beatles, Pearl Jam, Tonic, Matchbox Twenty, Seven Mary Three, The Black Crowes, Everclear and Johnny Cash. “They have been the biggest influences on Tripp McNeely’s writing style and it would be an honor to even speak with those performing bands. Opening a show for them would be a dream come true,” says Clarke. Locally in the Harrisburg area, some of their favorites are Driving Vegas, Sickle Eye, Knotfal, and April Skies just to name a few.





The best part for Tripp McNeely is that they are now playing more shows. Clarke states, “We love performing and getting our music out there. The biggest obstacle we face is that we do not play covers, which makes gaining a fan base a slow process and prevents us from making money to put toward recording. We have nothing against bands that do so, but for our band, playing covers is just not something we are interested in doing.” That seems to be a comment that resonates with many bands performing original music. It is difficult as many venues give preference to cover bands. Harrisburg and the surrounding areas have so many talented bands but the bars in the area need to be more open-minded about booking original bands, even if it is to open for cover bands.


Tripp McNeely has learned that they can’t rest for one second in promoting their band or pursuing gigs. They are not afraid to hear the word “no” and have pulled off some great shows just by simply asking. They also learned that friendships with other bands are important and leaving a good impression on everyone you meet can make or break your band. Clarke emphasizes, “Work hard, believe in your band and network with every band you can. Make good impressions on everyone you meet as well because making a bad impression on one person could mean difficulties in the future success of the band.”

With much enthusiasm, Tripp McNeely plans to continue working hard and to make the most of every opportunity given. Their biggest goal for the next 12 months is to play larger venues like The Whitaker Center, Chameleon Club in Lancaster and Pullo Center in York. Outside of the Pennsylvania area, they would love to play Madison Square Garden and/or Red Rocks. Two amazing venues that only the best of the best get to perform in. “If you play either Red Rocks or Madison Square Garden, you have officially ‘made it!” comments Clarke. They are also looking to do a Carolina Tour sometime next spring. They are currently looking for a permanent lead guitar player who is well versed in southern style rock lead playing. If you can play the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd solos, they want you in their band.


Although Clarke expressed that building a fan base is slow for a band that does original music, I can tell you first hand that their fan base is pretty darn healthy and will only continue to grow as long as the band stays hungry and as long as venues continue to support local music. Cover bands are talented and hard working as well. They make it fun since the lyrics are already embedded within your brain but just keep in mind that the music they perform was once someone’s original songs! I encourage venues to give bands that do original music a chance to share their creativity and hard work because without venues some of the greatest music would have never made it out of the garage or in Tripp McNeely’s case … Mike’s basement!!
- PA Music Scene