Band Bios

Having started playing music in kindergarten, Alec Tackmann began learning to read music almost before he could read words. Originally a pianist, he switched to drums as an early teen and played in every group possible, in and out of school, including jazz band, marching band, and countless garage bands. 

Alec attended Berklee College of Music where he graduated with an honors degree in Drum Set Performance in 2008, studying with such greats as Rick Considine, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Mike Mangini.

As a performer, Alec has toured nationally and internationally in a dozen countries, playing major festivals including New Orleans Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival for artists such as Annie Mack, The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Jenn Bostic, Davina and the Vagabonds, and Gunhild Carling. As an educator he has held a roster of 50 weekly private students at his home studio and is the author of the GoAndPractice® series of drum instructional books available worldwide.

 Erich has 20+ years experience playing bass in various SE Minnesota bands. He started playing bass around age 12 with his first song being What I’d Say by Ray Charles. He describes his happy place when playing Soul, funk and rock music genres. He enjoys playing with other talented musicians and most of all playing live for crowds that enjoy getting on the dance floor.

Jerome Richardson, born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota has been playing saxophone for 12 years. He began playing in his school band and quickly began playing in venues and festivals such as the Twin Cities Jazz Festival and Ordway Music Theatre at the age 16. Early in his music career he was coined as a child prodigy, his ability to read music and play by ear surpassed his peers. Jerome plays a wide variety of jazz, classical, fanfare, blues, gospel, afrobeats, R&B and more. 

He primarily plays saxophone, but has experience with most woodwinds and rhythm section instruments. He aspires to travel the world playing music that heals people and inspires other young African American youth.

Guitarist and educator Lance Ruby recently opened his teaching studio in Fort Collins, Colorado after earning his Masters of Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado studying with renowned guitarist, Steve Kovalcheck. 

A Utah native, Lance completed his Bachelor’s degree in Guitar Performance from Utah State University studying with Corey Christiansen. 

While in Utah, Lance co-founded the soul/funk band Danger 5 and has continued in this project with lead singer Dani A'mor. Since moving to Colorado, he joined Fort Collins based bands, Musketeer Gripweed, Graham Good and the Painters, Bevin Luna and Sugar Britches.

 Ben Richter is a multi-instrumentalist from Bloomington, MN. He has been a sub for many bands while focusing on raising two boys. With kids getting older, he’s joining Dani’s band more regularly on keys. Some of his piano influences include Ben Folds, Gabe Dixon, Russel Ferrante, and Billy Joel. His favorite genres are funk and gospel. 

A native of southern Minnesota, guitarist Ben Gateno earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. 

Following graduate school, Ben studied for one year with renowned teacher and performer Antigoni Goni in Brussels, Belgium. After his return to the US, Ben spent five years performing extensively as a member of the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet.  

A versatile musician, Ben enjoys presenting solo guitar programs that feature a wide range of styles and genres, with a special emphasis on classical, country blues, and ragtime. In 2020 he released A Time When Things Were New (listen on Spotify here or below), an album featuring solo guitar music from the 1920’s. In 2021 Ben joined the roster of esteemed educators and performers at Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop. For SGGW, Ben has produced two books of acoustic blues and ragtime transcriptions, and Stomping Along the Fretboard - a series of three extended video lessons. 

Since 2021 Ben has also been the electric guitarist for the Crop Circles, the backing band for singer-songwriter Luke Hendrickson.