Hot As A Pepper Party Band
The Co-Founder of Hot As A Pepper, and my best friend, Chip McDonald, has Stage 4 Small Cell Renal Cancer and has been fighting it since January of 2021. It’s a difficult battle that keeps him from working, and from performing music.
If you have an extra dollar or twenty, could you help this family out? THANK YOU!
-John M. Hoyt
If you have been living in a cave, you might have missed that our friend and lead vocalist, Chip McDonald, who John M. Hoyt reached out to when starting Hot As A Pepper five and a half years ago, has had a career change that will take him away from the band.
Chip’s powerful and versatile voice will be missed by all of us, but not more than having him with us on stage and off. It’s going to take some getting used to, that’s for sure.
So, just how many people does it take to replace one singer?
Apparently the answer is ONE HUNDRED AND ONE. That’s how many wonderful individuals reached out to Hot As A Pepper when we posted our plea for a vocalist!
Take a second to wrap your head around that number. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE.
No, we didn’t audition that many, we asked each person to provide us with video or audio clips, and the band members and several friends/advisers listened to the best of the bunch and then we scheduled auditions, stacking them 3 at a time, with 1 hour blocks for each of them.
We had a couple no-shows (one person actually rescheduled at the last minute, and then didn’t show up the second time either!), we had a couple who came in with very very short notice and still managed to do a great job!
We thank each and every person who offered themselves up – your time and interest is greatly appreciated!
Ultimately, we were unanimous in selecting Mary Norris to front HAAP!
Here’s a clip of her joining us on stage at The Boiling Springs Ale House for a few songs.
We had no rehearsal, and these are not all songs she is familiar with – which amazes us and serves to further underscore that Mary is the right person for the job!
Actually, we didn’t even get a sound check. We set up an extra mic and a floor monitor, which we rarely do and let her rip.
Thankfully, our sound tech, Pamela was there to make sure it went okay out front…
Mary is studying music and she’s also busy in the Upstate Live Music Scene – she’s a singer, songwriter, guitarist that fronts her own original act.
We’ll be updating our member’s pages, photos and bios soon, so watch for more information about her!
Obviously, this will open the door for us to add some songs from female artists, many of which have been requested!
As always, we invite your requests and suggestions for music, but ask that you be patient as the band works with Mary to get her up to speed for our first shows of 2018 – then we can explore some new material!
Our first show with Mary fronting HAAP will be at Craft & Barrel on January 19th, 2018, we hope you will come and check us out!
Another member change – Chris Carroll who has been playing with us for months has now taken over the permanent main guitarist spot. So he’s officially no longer just a “fill-in”, he’s THE man.
Carlos Perez remains as our backup guitarist!
Happy new year from the 2018 Hot As A Pepper members!
The full band line-up consists of:
The Core:
John M. Hoyt – Bass / Vocals
Chris Eller – Drums
Tony Gardo – Keys / Vocals
Chris Carroll – Guitar / Vocals
Mary Norris – Vocals / Guitar
Habanero Horns:
Ed Wimberly – Trumpet
Tom Wheat – Saxes
Backup Members:
Carlos Perez – Guitar / Vocals
Chip McDonald – Vocals
Sound Tech:
Pamela Hoyt
We are available for bookings after January 19th 2018 – so let us know if we can play your event!
After spending a few weeks posting ads on Craigslist, looking at music stores, checking out online profiles, speaking with over 70 musicians, and meeting with a dozen, last Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012, it became apparent who needed to be in HAAP!
That Tuesday brought together Curtis Butler, a drummer from Greenwood, Tim Howe, a guitarist from Spartanburg, Chip McDonald former vocalist of TDB, and myself, John M. Hoyt, former bassist from TDB.
We had spoken a lot on the phone and via email, but for Tim & Curtis, this was our first meeting and jam ever. We had decided that we would go through our individual song lists and pick a few tunes that we knew in common and hit those during a “jam”. Ultimately we picked, “Brick House”, “Can’t You See”, “Breakdown”, “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Under the Boardwalk”, and “Lights”.
Within the first few measures of the first tune, I instantly knew that Curtis was the best fit out of all the drummers I had spoken to, listened to and jammed with. He’s got a natural groove that I just love as a bass player. Lots of power on the 2 and 4, and super control. I had listened to Curtis on videos posted on the ‘net, and he was exactly what I heard on those recordings. No bait and switch there!
Tim was also a master of his craft, great with rhythm and super with the leads. Totally rock solid, and absolutely not a mimic of the original artists (anyone who knows me, also knows that while I love cover tunes, I love cover tunes done with your own flavor, not exactly as the original artist played it)…. Tim did not let me down. Of course, he’s been doing this a while with other current band, “No Sweat Band”. As in 12 years I believe.
I don’t know what it was about the day, the players, or maybe the atmosphere, but Chip sounded fantastic, in spite having performed Friday night and Saturday at the Bovinova event with me. I had thought he would be stretched, but he may have sounded better than ever. Obviously, everyone knows his range and what Chip brings to the party. He’s a seasoned vocalist who is able to hit those higher registers without ripping his insides out.
You know what fantasy football is? Where people pick the best players from every team and put them together into their fantasy team? That’s what this was! I had listened to some great musicians, but these guys were the best of the best, and I can only imagine what is going to happen. It should be magic!
What’s next? We’re rapidly assembling the songlist of tunes we already known in common, peppering it with some that we don’t all know, but know will be a big hit with the audience, and we hope to be out playing in about 30 days.
Once this songlist is established, we will add newer material to it and custom tailor it to what our friends, family, venues and fans want to hear. Your input is welcome!
I tried to contact each of the 70+ musicians who reached out to Hot As A Pepper and to thank them for their interest, and their investment of time. Those who were not selected were awesome in their own right, in fact, a couple of them were more than incredible, but Tim, Curtis, Chip and I *mesh* in a way I can’t explain. It was exactly what I was hoping to find.
Need a fun, funky and HOT band for your Upstate or Greenville party, festival or even a bar mitzvah? Let us know! We want to play it! Guess we have to include Greenwood and the surrounding area too now with Curtis in!
Fantasy Band? Yewbetcha =)