SOLOMON, An Original Band

Lenny Solomon -Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals, Mouth Harp, Songwriter

Dennis Gurgul - Drums/Percussion & Bill Gibbs - Lead Guitar, Mandolin, Lap Steel, Banjo, & Vocal Harmony



The Solomon band, formed in 1998, has performed in many of the Greater Boston's clubs, coffeehouses, and other venues. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Lenny Solomon, whose style has been compared to that of early Bob Dylan, Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff Walker, began his career in the late 1960s. A fixture of the now defunct Idler Coffeehouse in Harvard Square, he regularly performed there on Friday nights for over eight years. The Idler was a training ground for such luminaries as Geoff Bartley, Paul Rishell, Spider John Koerner, and Ric Ocasek. During his years as a solo performer he shared bills with many name performers such as Chris Smither, Carolyn Hester, Bonnie Raitt, and Spider John.

In 1998 Solomon formed a country/folk band called, appropriately enough, Solomon. Performing his original material, the Solomon Band released three CD’s, one of which, Not Life Threatening, is still available. Not Life Threatening received very good reviews and won airplay on over 30 public and college radio stations. In 2004, Solomon released a solo album titled Armando’s Pie.

Of Lenny Solomon’s solo project, a review in Rambles.net stated: “The 14 tracks on this CD are all excellent and diverse enough to ensure that any listener will find a few that could become favorites. Solomon has the wisdom of that other person of that name. He gives us songs to make us think but never lets the message get in the way of the fact that to transmit any message, the medium must grab and hold our attention.”

The band has been described as sounding like "…Cat Stevens meets Barenaked Ladies meets Bob Dylan…" Solomon is a vocal-oriented, primarily acoustic trio that blends intelligent lyrics, melodic melodies, varieties of rhythmic styles, and instrumental improvisation. Their music combines elements of folk, jazz, blues, country, pop and rock traditions and is all original.”

Drummer Dennis Gurgul came from a musical family. His father played in a band and his sister is a jazz singer. Dennis took up guitar in the 1960s but switched to drums in late 1970s. He's been in several rock bands including The Seals, Urban Eyes, Craw-Not-Craw, Hogs On Ice, and the LCDs. Extremely versatile, he's performed with swing, jazz and rock bands, and has also worked with a jazz flute playing poet.

Bill Gibbs has had various musical experiences including playing bass in a metal band, playing guitar in several jazz combos, and performing for several years with the popular Massachusetts South Shore cover band "The Accelerators." Bill's musical influences range from Holst's "The Planets," to Billie Holliday, to ZZTop. He now plays acoustic, electric, and lap steel guitar; mandolin; and banjo for Solomon.


First Created: 05 February, 2001


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last updated: Mon Jul 12 12:07:30 2004 solomon_AT_harvard.edu