X-Tra Sauce Blues Band

ABOUT US

X-Tra Sauce is a hard-rockin' blues quintet from the Atlanta region, serving up their own brand of hot, spicy blues. X-Tra Sauce delivers traditional and contemporary blues, plus roots rock and roll and classic R&B, served blues style. Yes, you will hear B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Joe Bonamassa, and Jimmy Reed; but you'll also get the Rolling Stones, Sam & Dave, Bob Dylan...even the Beatles. X-Tra Sauce boasts 4 strong lead singers keeping the sound fresh, song after song. Soloists on guitar, harmonica, piano and organ add to the variety.

Contact Us:

Email: xtrasauceband

678 643 4998

Have a Taste of X-tra Sauce

Gary McCoy: Lead guitar and vocals

“The Blues is the roots; everything else is the fruits.”

Gary grew up and started his musical journey in N.E. Ohio. His relocation to the South deepened his appreciation for the traditional music of the region--the Blues. He started playing in bands in high school and has performed literally thousands of gigs on hundreds of stages. A career highlight was recording an album of all original songs with Hall of Fame musicians Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band. The Howlin' Hill Project has sold copies all over the world.

Elaine Drennon Little: Vocals, keyboards, vocal arrangements

“I've learned that Blues music is embedded in every note of every rock, jazz, pop, and country song ever created.”

Elaine is a part-time novelist and a full-time "adaptable" musician. She has deep roots in rural south Georgia. Elaine has taught vocal music, directed church choirs, and has been a studio vocal coach and piano teacher. She’s played and sung in Top 40, oldies, and/or country bands off-and-on since she was 15, performing on stages from south Georgia to Carnegie Hall. Elaine's major musical influences are The Beatles, Linda/Dolly/Emmylou, Barbara Streisand, the BeeGees, and Nat King Cole.

David Owen: Drums

“No one else showed up for the audition so I got the gig.”

David, who hails from Jacksonville FL, was sitting around with a couple of guys when he was 14 and one of them said hey let’s start a band! He went down to the local pawn shop and bought a drum kit for $99. David played all through high school and college at venues in Jacksonville and South Georgia. David has played for dances, clubs, parties, Navy bases, and played in his church band for 13 years. His early influences were doo-wop bands, the Animals, The Ventures and then, of course, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers.

Michael Ruggiero: Vocals, harmonica, guitar.

“Straight outta Memphis.”

Michael began his musical journey in the birthplace of rock n roll - Memphis TN, where he soaked up the sounds of the blues and rock 'n roll while living a mile from Elvis. Heavily influenced by The Beatles, Elvis, Chuck Berry, B.B. King and all that followed, Ruggo delved backward to the 50s and finally discovered the root of it all – the Blues! Thrilled to be playing the blues with the talented members of the X-tra Sauce Band.

Lew Bridgewater: Vocals, guitar, bass and harmonica.

“He came, he saw, he sang the blues.”

Lew was born in Mobile and was influenced heavily by the black artists of the Fifties and Sixties. Mobile radio was saturated by the likes of Ray Charles, James Brown, Platters, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. The British Invasion was also very important: The Beatles dominated the airwaves, but Lew gravitated toward the “grittier” sounds of the Rolling Stones and The Animals. He studied music theory and harmony and he tends to “see” music in terms of numbers, as opposed to notes. After playing in Rock & Roll and Country bands for years, Lew has come full-circle, returning to his Blues roots.

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