BAND BIO

The Northwest Playboys are five Honky Tonkin’ refugees from dozens of raucous country bands who got together after COVID to play the music they love and grew up with. Since early 2023, their upbeat Bakersfield sound, signature fiddling and corn-pone humor has been packing in bigger and bigger crowds in small towns up and down the I-5 corridor, from rural hamlets of Portland to Seattle.

Each of The Northwest Playboys are master musicians who have tours, records and decades of performances to their credit.  The Playboys each take turns at the wheel as they drive through a set list of favorites from the 50’s-90’s mixed with original material. 

If you live in the Northwest, and pine for a good dog, an old truck, or had a broken heart before the 1990s, back when tape cassettes were new technology and the AM dial still ruled the airwaves, you are going to be glad you spent time at a Northwest Playboys show.

Lead guitarist Monty Moss has been playing Fenders since he was 5. He favors 1960s storytellers like Tom T. Hall, Hoyt Axton and Haggard, as well as the new country sound of Vince Gill, Garth Brooks and Keith Whitley. He has a bright strumming and picking style that somehow is both crisp and comfortable, like a fresh-washed pair of old Levis.

Fiddler Al Callan picked up his first fiddle at the age of 7. After winning regional contests, he had his first paid fiddling gig on a Missouri river boat. His bow work is lightning fast, so don’t be surprised when he picks up the line dance pace.  Or, he’ll spice it up even more with his banjo, mandolin or his Buck Owens -autographed Red, White and Blue Telecaster, one which was owned by the Bard of Bakersfield himself. 

Percussionist Bob Ferrante grew up in Portland in a musical family. He spent a year in his teens drumming in his older brother’s band in Hawaii, where he picked up his fast-paced style. Bob is a household name in the Northwest music scene, having played with greats like the Ventures, The Haggard Brothers, Countless Reggae, Blues groups and occasionally crosses the pond to join R&B/Soul legend Franke Pharoah on stage in London.

While all the Northwest Playboys claim they were musicians from an early age, Bass Guitarist Rob Gaskill tops them all. Rob made his stage debut at the ripe old age of six months, alongside his piano-playing dad on an old Portland TV show called “The Hoedown.” Rob has thumbed his bass down many musical roads since, from rock to pop to church hymns, but always comes home to country.

Rhythm Guitarist Aaron Judah rounds out this country crew. He traces his country influence to a childhood summer his family spent camping and roving the long lonely roads of Texas. The car radio fed him a steady diet of George Strait, Merle Haggard and Lefty Frizzel. By the time he got home to The Dalles, he says, his brain was hard wired for neo-traditional country

For bookings, mosey on over to https://www.northwestplayboys.com/press-kit-contact, or grab one of their upcoming gigs posted at https://www.northwestplayboys.com/shows.