Graham Wood Drout (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Percussion): With a history that literally defines diversity, Graham Wood Drout was born in Northern New Jersey, but raised in Brazil and Texas before his move to Miami, FL. His musical styles bring flavors of his past to present day performances by paying tribute to those who have influenced his life and music. Drout's music has received multiple awards including Songwriter of The Year and Best Blues Band from New Times Magazine and a Jammy Award for Best Blues Band.
His legendary Monday night Graham's Blues School has produced a huge range of performers working with some of the biggest names in Rock, Pop, Country, Latin, Blues and Alt. Country today as his reputation for demanding a strong musical vocabulary has elevated many players to the next level. In addition, Drout's songs are performed by a wide range of other artists - including Albert Castiglia, Grady Champion and Joey Gilmore. Gilmore's version of "The Ghosts of Mississippi" won him the "Best Blues Artist" award from The International Blues Foundation's IBC awards in 2006 and BluesRevue magazine calls it "Blues Song of The Year" for 2006. Drout's original song, Big Toe, hit #2 on the national contemporary Blues charts in 2006 as performed by Albert Castiglia.
John "Good Rockin' Johnny" Wenzel (Lead Guitar)
An incredible showman and gifted guitar player, John was a founding member of the original Fat Chance Blues Band and was the one who first hired Graham more than 25 years ago. As FCBB evolved into Iko-Iko in the 1980's, his textures and dynamic musical vocabulary drove the songs as well as the powerful live shows, themselves. His performance credits are extensive and include work with Good Rockin' Johnny & The Wise Guys, Nicole Yarling's Little Nicky & The Slicks, Off The Wall, Yonge Street Band, Big City Blues Band and many others. John has performed or shared the stage with such artists as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Sam and Dave, John Lee Hooker, Greg Allman, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, James Cotton, Buddy Guy, George Thoroughgood, Bobby Blue Bland, Koko Taylor and many others.
Mitch Mestel (Bass Guitar, Background Vocals)
A resume that includes gigs with Charlie Pickett, Paul Deacon (The Mavericks), Mary Karlzen, Jolynn Daniel, The Volunteers, Diane Ward and he IS Catfish of Val C. Wisecracker and The Walkin Catfish, Mitch is the man to have for in-the-pocket monster bass. After working in both Miami and Nashville, he has performed over a long period of time with Iko-Iko - and even backed up Tobacco Road's cabaret namesake, Diamond Teeth Mary. He appears in a variety of music videos for the artists he's performed with and even had a cameo in the cult-horror film, "Lycanthrope." Mitch's playing and singing work on tour, in sessions and in the shower brought him back to Iko-Iko and he recently joined as a full-time member at Graham's request.
Daniel East (Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals)
Oddly enough, and with a background in audio engineering and marketing, Dan started as Iko-Iko's front of house engineer back in 1991 while he was performing with other groups and working in production. In addition, he managed the band for five years and toured with them through two national releases. Dan has performed with artists in Blues, R&B, Rock, Soul, Cajun, Alternative and Hot AC including his own Daniel East Band, Grammy nominee (Traditional Zydeco) Fernest Arceneaux, Warren Ceasar, Delmar Brown, The Volunteers, Gerald Levert, Alex Gomez (PBS Blues Slide Guitar Workshop), Backbeat & appeared/performed with Albert Castiglia, Glen Burtnik, Tommy Conwell, JC Faulk, Billy Mann, The (original) Soul Survivors plus many others.
About the Band
This is not your father's IKO-IKO. With a hot new line-up, a new studio release due in late Spring of 2007, and more artists than ever covering their songs, the latest incarnation of Miami's home-grown favorite band performs with more energy and a bigger sound than ever. Constantly reinventing his music, Graham Wood Drout, lead singer and principal songwriter for the foot-stompin', Blues-rockin' legendary IKO-IKO for nearly a quarter-century, is proud that his music has been heard all over the world and is covered by a wide range of artists on top of his deeply planted Florida roots for the band.
A favorite of AAA, Blues and Alt Country radio, Graham Wood Drout and IKO-IKO get more attention than nearly any artist not signed to a "major label" and they have the accolades to show for it. As the twice- featured band of the week on KPIG in San Francisco and appearances on the hugely popular National Public Radio productions " Music of the Caribbean" the original "BlueStage," the band reaches far and wide with fans in many music genres. Other media appearances include MTV, HBO, ABC, Fox, NPR and many more (see complete press kit for details).
This award-winning band also has movie soundtracks to their credit. "Don't Mess With The Voodoo" appeared, as did the band, in the Martin Scorsese film, Cape Fear starring Robert DeNiro and the band performed on the soundtrack for the film, Contact starring Jodie Foster. The band has released four albums including Snowstorm in the Jungle on Kingsnake Records, Riding On the Rims, Protected By Voodoo and Shine on Little Silver Records with the latest release, The Bittersweet Sessions, as an acoustic duo from Drout and Albert Castiglia.
Today,Graham Wood Drout & IKO IKO ensure their audiences of a different show with every performance and include both full electric band shows and their now-legendary "psycho-acoustic" shows as well. Flavored by the past, inspired by present and ready for the future, this lineup creates the real sense of a concert - even in a local venue. The band is new, fresh and with the things we love still in place that will KEEP them a favorite for their fans worldwide.
