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Submitted By: host | Added On: 7/3/2006 | Total Views (866) | Total Downloads: (0)

There has always been the question of which side of the fence you fall on when having to choose between The Rolling Stones or The Beatles and Sammy Hagar or Dave Lee Roth and of course Billy Joel or Elton John. I myself fall slightly into favoring Billy Joel.Even if you factor out the cabaret sounding stuff Elton has done the past 15 or so years I'd still go with BJ.Even if you factor in that Elton's companion lived next door to us in Ansley Park (Atlanta) a few years back I'd still go with BJ.Yes I KNOW that Elton consistently rocked harder in his classic years, but I'd still choose BJ.Maybe it's because he's American (I don't know).Maybe it's because I could relate to the lyrics easier when I first heard these tunes over the radio (Bernie Taupin can be a little deep for a ten year old).
Yes it's true that Mr. Joel has renigged on his symphonic fetish as of lately and given us some more live treats (I'm guessing their daughter is starting college soon and symphonic tunes don't pay the rent at NYU).I'm not complainin'.Gavin DeGraw my ass.Gimme the original Piano Man or a reasonable simulation.

left to right:
Robert Clarke: Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, and Vocals
JT Sumner: Keyboards and Rhythm Guitar
Mark Schaffel: Lead Vocals, Piano/Keyboards, and Harmonica
JD Dohnal: Bass Guitar and Vocals
Dan Eidem: Drums and Vocals
Erik "Tiny E" Hiser: Tenor, Alto, and Soprano Sax, Flute

Nashvillerock.net : Tell us about how Christie's Ex was formed.
JD Dohnal (Christie's Ex) : Mark (lead singer/pianist) and I have been good buddies for several years. About 1 1/2 years ago while we were co-writing one night, he busted into a string of Billy Joel tunes off the top of his head. Being that we both are big Billy Joel fans, it was at that moment when I said we should put together a Billy Joel tribute band. Mark had mentioned several times before that he was sick of the gigging scene, but he said that a Billy Joel tribute band is about the only type of band he'd ever play in. I don't think he really thought I was serious, but I made some calls, found the rest of the guys and told him "Don't back out on me now!"

NR : Have you ever had any lineup changes ? How did you find them ?
JD : When we were first getting started we had a different drummer, but we never played any gigs with him.
Robert, our guitarist, had played with Dan, our current drummer a couple times before, so we just got in touch with him.

NR : Have you ever met Billy Joel?
JD : Unfortunately not, but Mark was working at a studio in New York when Billy was recording the "River Of Dreams" album. He conveniently ended up with several DAT tapes from those recordings--I'm pretty sure Billy doesn't know!!
We also met a chick at our first show who claimed that Christie Brinkley was her cousin. Unfortunately, we were unable to verify that.

NR : What qualities does Christies Ex have that makes it 'the ultimate Billy Joel tribute"?
JD : The fact that the next closest Billy Joel tribute band is in New York helps out a bit--hee-hee:) We dress up in color-coordinated retro attire, we cover the gamut of Billy Joel's cataolg and put on a very high-energy and entertaining live show. Sometimes we think Mark is channeling Billy through some type of voodoo. There are moments when you close your eyes and you'd swear Billy was in the room.

NR : Tell us about your setlist.
JD : We currently cover material from the "Piano Man" album to "Storm Front". So basically from the early 70's through the early 90's.

NR : Does the band stay true to the recorded arrangement?
JD : For the most part yes. We're pretty anal about copping the tunes like the recordings. For some tunes we model them more after live versions than the studio versions.

NR : Have you ever done a B side or album cut?
JD : Oh yeah, we stick in such album cuts as
Prelude/Angry Young Man, Ballad Of Billy The Kid, Miami 2017, I've Loved Thes Days, etc.

NR : Tell us about how you rehearse.Is there a method to it?
JD : We usually just run through the setlist for the next show and try to work on material that is rusty or fairly new. Rehearsals are usually very fun for us. All of the guys have an insane sense of humor and there are no egos in the band. "Chick talk" always occurs to some degree at rehearsals!!

NR : Do you guys have any favorite local bands or side projects you wanna plug?
JD : We love Amber Leigh and Michelle Poe!! Two extremely talented and lovely gals. Amber has a CD coming out in spring which has a cut on it wriiten by me and Mark--buy it!! Also, Shelly Williams, another adorable and talented female country singer whom Robert and I play with as part of her band.

Find out just who DID start the fire this Saturday

March, 4 2006
Lady Godiva Pub
300 N. Maple St
Lebonon, TN 37087

9pm-1am

no cover

for more info
visit their website at
http://www.christies-ex.com
or their MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/christiesex

and email them at
info@christies-ex.com

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