What makes their music stand out from the rest? It's their thought provoking lyrics, stylistic melodies, high-energy guitar licks and passionate vocals in every song. They're story tellers in which all their songs are lyrical tales and tell honest and sometimes funny stories about love and the trials and tribulations of life.

15 MP3 Songs in this album (43:35) !
Related styles: Rock: Country-Rock, Blues: Country Blues, Mood: Upbeat

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Details:
Against Leo:
Tom Polling and Otilia Donaire started collaborating in 2009 laying the foundation for "Against Leo". Three years of hard work has produced their debut CD, "Need Band Will Travel" a compilation of original Blues-Rock-Country songs. The name of the band, "Against Leo" derives from the fact that both founders, Tom and Otilia are Leo's. The word, "against" can mean different things to different people, so we will leave it at that. What makes their music stand out from the rest? It's their thought provoking lyrics, stylistic melodies, high-energy guitar licks and passionate vocals in every song. They're story tellers in which all their songs are lyrical tales and tell honest and sometimes funny stories about love and the trials and tribulations of life. It's obvious when you hear their music or see them perform live that they're playing and singing form their hearts and souls in feeling and believing it, commanding your full attention. Blues is at the core of everything they create and they're currently working on their second CD of strictly Blues music which will be released mid 2012.

Otilia Donaire, singer and songwriter, was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. She has a strong and powerful voice that is gritty and soulful with a unique style of her own. If you were to describe her voice and style think of Koko Taylor's growl with range, Billie Holiday's depth and emotion coupled with the ferocious intensity of Tina Turner's performing in the Ike and Tina years. Like great Blues singer, Koko Taylor, there is a growl in Otilia's sultry voice that is tailored for Blues-Rock music which is pure and raw to the core. She is a high-energy, interactive performer with dynamic stage presence that naturally connects with her audience in grabbing your full attention.

Otilia pronounced, "Oteilia" was born with a natural talent of singing and as a child she sang in numerous school and talent shows; however she didn't pursue her passion for signing until recently because of life circumstances but always felt a calling for it. She reconnected with music In the mid-nineties when she sat in with various well-known blues bands from all over the country, singing her then, signature song, "Mustang Sally. She has sung with a few San Francisco bands and studied and holds alumni status through The Blue Bear School of Music in San Francisco. One of her mentors whom she studied under was San Francisco's Bluesman, Johnny Nitro who encouraged her to follow her passion of performing, so two years ago she finally took his advice to heart, quit her day job and has been pursuing her dream of singing professionally. Otilia's motto is, "It's never too late to go for what makes you happy in life" and singing definitely puts the light in her life.

Otilia has a love for a variety of musical genres and can sing all styles of Blues, Rock and Country music. She loves electric Blues and old time Rock n' Roll and Otilia's musical influences range from Blues singer, KokoTaylor, Tina Turner, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Peggy Lee, Eagles, CCR, Lynrd Skynrd, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Big Momma Thornton, Eric Clapton, BB King, Janis Joplin, Elvis and Patsy Cline. Her favorite band is the Rolling Stones because of how they brought their own unique style and sound adding a Rock n' Roll twang sound to the Blues and Mick Jagger's electrifying flair and energy in performing and connecting with the audience.

Tom Polling, guitar player and songwriter, born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota migrated to the bay area in 1998. Tommy started playing guitar in his late teens and naturally had a feel for the blues. You could find him picking up a harp, guitar, sax, wooden spoons or belting out what ever he was feeling. Only a few years into playing music a close childhood friend and musical confidant abruptly passed away breaking the musical momentum within the small community of childhood friends that Tommy had played with.

Tommy put down the guitar and concentrated on his schooling, work and high-adrenaline, risk-taking hobbies that always pushed him in the direction to pursue the next bigger challenge. Along the way, he built a long list of accomplishments and scars from the mishaps, ultimately, filling up his bull-shit bucket and re-flaming his blues torch. He then immersed himself into the woodshed for an in-depth study of all the late great Blues players, music theory and recording techniques. He quickly moved from playing in his apartment to playing on the streets of San Francisco to playing on stage.

Throughout his journey, Tommy was fortunate to meet the late, San Francisco Blues legend, Johnny Nitro whom he he studied under. Tommy's soul naturally resonates to any style of music containing a blues core and is a true lover of Rock n' Roll and the Country twang, coupled with a high-adrenaline love for adventure which makes him right at home bending strings until they speak his story or break them trying.

Tommy's musical influences are: James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Albert King, BB King, Freddie King, John Nitro, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Otis Spann, Eddie Taylor, Muddy Waters, Jack White, Howlin Wolf, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Tom also serves as the band's leader, producer, recording engineer and basically handles everything. "Tommy is one of the hardest working musicians that make my job so easy and anyone that has played with Tommy knows him as a hyper spirit that you'll never know what to expect from him, neither do we", says Otilia, singer from "Against Leo".

Need Band Will Travel
All music and lyrics written by Tom Polling and Otilia Donaire

Otilia Donaire: Vocals
Tom Polling: All Guitar Tracks, Bass Track 14, Backup Vocals Track 2,13
Ray Hoobler: Bass Tracks 2,4,5,9,11,14
David Collodel: Bass Tracks 1,3,6,7,8,10,13
Gregg Landrey: Drum Track 5
Rick Martinez: Drum Tracks 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15
Reed Overshiner: Piano Track 6
The crew at Expressions Studios: Back-up Vocals Track 2