Meet The Band

Chuckie Dunn
Lead Vocal / Guitar
Chuck's mother was a country singer.
From the age of 5, with Mom's help, Chuck has been singing ever since. At age 14, started singing in his first band,picked up guitar at the age of 17 and has never stopped playing. "Hooking-up with the Blues Monsters has been the best thing ever!" "These guys are the most fun and talented bunch I have ever had the privilege to play with."

Email Chuck

Tom Barnes
Vocals / Bass
Tom got his first guitar when he was 10 years old. He switched to the bass guitar a few years later to play in band with his brother through high school. The band traveled Minnesota and the Dakota states playing gigs on the weekends. After high school Tom continued traveling playing in country and r&b bands furthering his skills to become a seasoned player. In 1985 he came to Reno Nevada to work with a show band playing the casino circuit. Seven years later he joined his band mates to form The Blues Monsters and has been laying down a solid grove for the past 30 years.

Barry Slayton
Vocals / Lead Guitar
It has been said that Barry is the "Music Man" of the group. His lead guitar style and tone is always a pleasure to listen to. Full of soul, he can play the blues whether it's a cover or an original his guitar is out front and on top.

Michael Overhauser
Vocals / Drums
Michael "Overdrive" as he is known to the players in the band is the backbone of The Blues Monsters. You can't help but feel the groove in every song. A veteran player from the Truckee/ Tahoe area, "O" is always ready to pump it up and keep it movin.

THE GROOVE MONSTER HORNS

About The Band

The Blues Monsters have been taking center stage for over 30 years! A red-hot rockin' blues band from the North Lake Tahoe and Reno area, The Blues Monsters were voted the #1 blues band in North Lake Tahoe for 7 years running "Blues Access" a national publication reviewed their 2nd CD "Live Vibrations" and could it be said any better, "this band has all the ingredients for a great show." The Reno Gazette Journal stated "this CD should be used as a teaching tool for anyone who wanted to record a live CD." Their first CD "Red Hot Hat" received substantial airplay on KTHX Reno as well as "Mick Martin's Blues Party" the blues show broadcast on NPR radio in Sacramento and sold thousands of copies.

As an example of such diversity, though primarily a blues rock band, the funk instrumental selection off the CD 'Red Hot Hat," entitled "Blue Monster" written by Barry Slayton was used on the benefit CD " Tahoe Jazz 2000" featuring a host of artists such as the Yellow Jackets, Michael Franks, Marilyn Scott and others.

Members of the band have shared the stage with a Monster cast of musicians- Journey's Neal Schon, the Drifters, David Coverdale of Whitesnake, Jimmy Page, Creedence Clearwater's Doug Clifford and Stu Cook, Stephen Stills, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, Bo Diddley, Grateful Dead's Bob Wier, Booker T and the MGs, The Commitments, Kenny Loggins, Kenny Neal, Tinsley Ellis, Pablo Cruise and more!

It's amazing to find such a powerfully unique combination of R&B, funk, jazz, and Chicago-style blues high in the mountains. Polished, tight, yet bursting at the seams, their originals are fresh and new, even though it's still the blues. Their covers are framed in signature arrangements that demonstrated the depth of the band's talent.

Whether paying respects to the masters of traditional blues, or rockin' out other tunes, The Blues Monsters get the whole house up and dancing. They're a red hot time – a great reason to choose blues!