The formation of Band of Thieves was many years in the making, five men almost destined to meet in the fall of 2006 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Spurred on by a desire to make music that is timeless in style yet still provoking, they elicit the qualities of rock ‘n roll that conjure up visions of a time and place where music was central. Tyler Rann (singer) left college to write and perform with Midtown, traveling to stages and studios all over America, Europe, Australia and Japan. Musical differences set him on his own and he searched endlessly to find musicians who shared his passion for classic rock n’ roll. Upon a chance encounter with elementary school friend Leigh Nelson (bass), formerly of east coast favorites Billionaire Boys Club, and Indiana-raised guitarist Peter Smith, the band began to take form. Next up was Anthony Riscica (drums) who lends his writing talent that had seen him tour throughout Europe and South America as a session and live drummer for various groups. The final piece of the puzzle finally fell into place with the addition of John Andrews, a lead guitar player who has recorded and toured internationally with artists as diverse as Gavin DeGraw and Helmet’s Paige Hamilton. With the lineup complete, songs were written that invoke the classic sounds that matched their image; songs that triumph in the good times that rock and roll has always stood for. The band’s mission statement was cemented: Make sunny music for shady people. The songs heard on the Woman EP were recorded live in two days during the fall of 2006 at their rehearsal space in Long Island City, NY. What was captured in those few hours was first performed during the 2006 CMJ Music Festival at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom. The months since have seen sellout headlining concerts and performances at Mercury Lounge, the Cutting Room, Webster Hall, the Blender Theatre at Gramercy, Boston’s Middle East, Philadelphia’s World Café Live and many others. Their songs have appeared on TV shows from networks as varied as ABC, MTV and A&E and the band has performed live on FOX and CW11 among others. The song Woman was chosen “Song of the Year” on Z107’s morning show “Fresh Brew” and has received national radio play with no label support or full length release. Band of Thieves is recently recorded their debut full-length album with producer Mikki James (Albert Hammond Jr., Bloody Social, Jonny Lives!) in anticipation of a 2009 release. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.