The Tony Spinner Band, 10 days in Holland!

By Ron van Varik

When you receive an invitation to come and see a concert of The Tony Spinner Band (Tony is TOTO's 2nd guitar player and background singer) all of a sudden a lot of questions come to mind. Last Friday, April 8th Ron van Varik, accompanied by his photo camera, went to Total Music in Schiedam to do an interview with Tony Spinner.

Backstage Tony looks very relaxed. The sound check went ok and everything is going as planned. The new cd Chicks and Guitars is finished and for sale at the venues. Within a short while it will also be available on the website.

My first question is an easy one.....What's more fun, playing the bigger venues with TOTO or the smaller clubs with The Tony Spinner Band ? Tony answers that in fact all the gigs are fun but that he definitely prefers playing with his own band because the TOTO shows are very tightly organized. Every night is the same. With his own band he can do whatever he likes to do, there is more freedom. The boring part of being on the road is the travelling. As soon as he gets back to The States, there will be time for a short vacation. But he needs to travel for that one too. He can't say no because his wife tells him he has to come along.....

It's fun to play in Holland. The distances are short and the audience is enthusiastic. When I ask him what he has seen of Holland, there is a short silence. He tells me that he sleeps a lot during the daytime. After seeing the concert that night I completely understand it. The concert is full of energy. It's a long set and it's worth every penny of it. The band plays from 10 pm till 1.30 am with only a 15 minutes break and that's quite some time. They play high quality blues songs and influences of a.o. Hendrix can be heard. Tony Spinner is not only a fantastic guitar player but he is also blessed with a great voice. During this tour Tony is accompanied by 3 thoroughbred musicians , Sonny Hunt (guitars), Han Neijenhuis (drums) and Pascal Groenen (bass).

For all music lovers, Tony and his band will come back to Holland in August to do a festival tour. The Tony Spinner Band, no doubt we will see and hear more of these guys!!!