Music

Biography

Popular rock band Superior Olive has been filling dance floors and concert halls at hotspots from San Diego to Olympia, performing everywhere from original showcases to dance rock clubs to charity concerts for the likes of Toys for Tots. Combining danceable pop rock with progressive influences, Superior Olive succeeds in blending orchestral arrangements with raw primal rock energy, as if the spirit of Mozart inhabited Ozzie Osbourne and became the front man for Pink Floyd.

Delivering lyrics with power and emotion, Superior Olive front man and 2008 New Artist of the Year Tom Savell captivates and charms his audience through his unmistakable voice, and then surprises and delights when he switches mid-song from rocking guitar to a fiery violin solo then back. The award winning singer, songwriter, guitarist and violinist’Äôs 2007 debut solo album You Just Gotta Love It received extensive radio airplay with two #1 radio hits in 2008. Radio industry executives honored Tom by naming him Adult Contemporary New Artist of the Year at the 2008 New Music Awards in Hollywood, CA. And it’Äôs not just radio singing praises:

'Any new artist that starts off their CD with two covers of Moody Blues founder Mike Pinder has got to be worth a listen. A cover apiece of Pinder’Äôs 1968 Moodies b-side ’ÄúA Simple Game’Äù and ’ÄúSo Deep Within You’Äù from 1969 are two of his best and Tom Savell does them both justice’Ķ’Äô
Robert Silverstein, 20th Century Guitar Magazine, May 2008

'’Ķone need only listen to the solo present during ’ÄúPlay Me’Äù to see the beauty of the act.’Äô
Neufutur Magazine, Jan. 2008

Tom Savell received "Best Local Musician" in the Santa Cruz Metro Goldie Awards for the second straight year in 2008 and the You Just Gotta Love It CD was ’ÄúAlbum of the Week’Äù on music journalist John Shelton Ivany’Äôs influential website. The accomplished guitarist and violinist, who regularly performs violin with Bay Area psychedelic rockers ’ÄúIt’Äôs A Beautiful Day’Äù, is working on a new album with Superior Olive slated for release in mid-2010.

Superior Olive bass player and singer Joel Savell was recently featured along with his brother and band leader Tom Savell on the latest album Mutiny from legendary drummer Aynsley Dunbar, known for his work with Journey, Frank Zappa, Jefferson Starship, and many others. In addition to being featured performers on the album, Joel and Tom contributed their songwriting skills to the new release. Joel co-wrote the lamenting rock ballad ’ÄúMourning’Äù and Tom wrote the progressive blues-rock tune ’ÄúTough To Beat’Äù. Mutiny was released in Europe in November 2008 and in the US in January 2009 on SPV Records. Besides his work with Superior Olive and Aynsley Dunbar, Joel has released an album of his surf-alternative music entitled Fetal Pigs In Brine

Instrumentation
Tom Savell - Guitar, Violin, Vocals
Joel Savell - Bass, Vocals
Aynsley Dunbar - Drums
Eric Sanford - Keyboards, Vocals

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Click play below to listen to a sample music clip:

Comprised of seasoned musicians of varied age range and personal backgrounds, but with similar influences and goals, DISTANT VISIONS is a newly-formed band from Santa Cruz, California.

Tiran Porter - Bass Guitar / Vocals

Tiran has been playing professionally since 1966.  He was an integral part of eleven bands prior to his membership with The Doobie Brothers from 1971 to 1980.  He then played with eight more bands before re-joining The Doobie Brothers from 1987 until 1992.  Concurrently, Tiran worked on his album "Playing To An Empty House", which was released in 1995.  Tiran was part of the Moby Grape reunion tour in 1996, and has been a member of multiple bands since that time, most recently playing in "The White Album Ensemble".

A solid, multi-talented veteran, Tiran is a fundamental element of DISTANT VISIONS' solid rhythm section.

Glenn Behanna - Drums / Vocals

Glenn began playing drums at the age of four, in his hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts and he hasn't stopped since.  At the age of thirteen, Glenn purchased a drum set and started his first rock and roll band and played on the East Coast until relocating to Santa Cruz in 1981.

Glenn's dynamic, melodic style has been the driving force behind many West Coast bands, including:  Renegade, Heat of the Night, RYZ, The Romp, Soul Patrol and Ty Oliver.  His energetic style is a vital part of DISTANT VISIONS.

Sunni K - Vocals

Sunni was born into a musical family and began singing "before she could say the words" and began her professional career at the age of eighteen.  Her musical calling has taken her in different directions over the years.  From country, to blues to rock and roll, where she co-founded and performed with Heat of the Night until her "retirement".

It took something special to bring Sunni's spunky energy and powerful voice out of "retirement", and DISTANT VISIONS is it!

Jesse Holsapple - Guitar / Vocals

Though he began playing music at age seven, Jesse didn't pick up a guitar until he was eleven years old.  Within a month of that first plucked note, Jesse was listening to rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Santana, teaching himself to improvise and play "from the soul".

With influences as varied as Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Bonamassa, Albert King, Sonny Landreth, Billy Gibbons and others, Jesse brings DISTANT VISIONS a fresh and innovative perspective of tried and true musicianship at its best.

Will The Thrill - Keyboards / Vocals

Will is a working musician out of Santa Cruz, currently performing in multiple bands.  Will plays many different instruments and styles of music, focusing on keyboard instruments and guitar.  With influences covering a vast spectrum, from all styles of rock, funk, blues, metal, grunge, progressive, jazz, classical, gospel, folk, and music from the 1930s to 1990s, Will is insistent on changing the direction popular music is headed.

Will gives DISTANT VISIONS music that is based in solid rock style, but with inventive and novel execution.

DISTANT VISIONS - Yesterday, today and tomorrow...
The extensive and varied backgrounds of these five musicians bring a remarkable combination to DISTANT VISIONS, with the ability to produce music that is fresh and innovative yet simultaneously established and comfortable.

JOE FERRARA

Sixty year old Joe Ferrara was born and raised in San Jose.  Joe has been fortunate to have two careers; one selling comics and another as a performer, playing guitar and singing in local venues. 

In 1976 Joe, a full time musician,  moved to Santa Cruz and opened Atlantis Fantasyworld as a hobby. Eventually Joe's two vocations switched roles. 

Joe has been entertaining audiences from Santa Cruz to San Francisco since his first gig at the Grog and Sirloin in Los Gatos in 1968. Throughout the seventies he played the steak house circuit, developing his interactive performance style at The Winery in Palo Alto, Borrell's in San Mateo, The Rusty Scupper in San Francisco and The Loft in San Jose.  Joe first formed his reputation as "Mr. Request" at the original Garret in Campbell, where he played from 1971 to 1981. In 1976 Joe moved to Santa Cruz and immediately found a home at The Grapesteak in Capitola, where he played for thirteen years until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake closed the business. In 1990 Joe did a "fill in" at The Cats restaurant in Los Gatos that became an extended 16 year engagement. An avid Giants fan, Joe has performed the national anthem for San Francisco every year since 1983, a string of twenty-eight years and counting!

Joe's rich baritone voice and comfort with his audience have attracted fans of all ages. His repertoire of over 500 songs includes STANDARDS: As Time Goes By, Till There Was You, Makin' Whoopee, and Unchained Melody. SHOW TUNES: Mariah, Send in the Clowns, If I Were a Rich Man, and The Impossible Dream. FOLK SONGS: Scotch and Soda, Today, Puff the Magic Dragon, and Eve of Destruction andCLASSIC ROCK from The Rolling Stones, Eagles, The Beatles, and Don McLean.

Joe performs songs by a wide variety of artists such as Neil Diamond, Harry Chapin, John Prine, Roy Orbison, Ray Charles, Carole King, Billy Joel, Bobby Darin, Louis Prima, Gordon Lightfoot, and many, many others.

Joe was voted Best Local Solo Musician in both the Good Times and Santa Cruz Weekly Best of Santa Cruz polls this year.

Joe performs every Friday 6:30 to 10:00 in the Rock Room Lounge at The Shadowbrook in Capitola, Ca.

Joe and Dottie have been married for twenty-two years. They have four children, seven grand-children and three great-grandchildren.