CubanStack Is
. . .
Chris “Mickey Mikula
hails from Hampton, Virginia, and has been playing drums since
very early in his formative years. His approach toward the
instrument is aggressive, a positive characteristic. However,
he does possess the ability to harness this fury and provide
the necessary grooves to compliment the music.
Tom “Tdubs” White
immediately found a niche in between the guitar work of Martinez
and Stack that the trio was able to ride to quite a bit of
success. White plays percussion like none other and has even
been known to play through the likes of a dislocated shoulder,
and still carry the damn band.
Brad Lee boasts Waterford,
Virginia as home but lays claim to the LA suburbs as his birthplace.
Lee and Stack went to high school together before Lee went
on to Radford where he was formall taught to play a standup
bass. He has played and received accolades from the likes
of Gary Granger and Jason Mills, both playing professionally
throughout the country, Granger who's been cited many times
in "Bass Player" Magazine and Mills who has toured
with "Stomp." While Brad can find the "pocket"
quite well, he's also able to lend an added soloing ability
to CubanStack's free form flow.
Ramon Eric Martinez grew up
in Kensington, MD and has been playing some sort of instrument
since birth and it shows. His bands number in the double digits
as do the instruments that he plays. This singer/songwriter/musician
boasts a broad catalog of written and recorded material. Eric
capably and deftly plays: Guitar, drums, bass, keyboards,
percussion instruments (as taught by various folks at FutureMan’s
drum camp) and can record, produce, and mix himself playing
them all.
Joshua “Pokey” Stackhails
from Lovettsville, VA. And learned that he could sing by having
to continually fill in the lyrical gaps that a college mate
of his would leave in Pearl Jam songs. After a fashion, Josh
just sang them himself much to his own surprise. He’s
famous for his grace and his hair…can’t miss either,
although sometimes he does.
HISTORY. . .
CubanStack formed in May of 2002, when Josh
Stack and Eric Martinez decided to start playing out together.
This meant nothing other than 3 or more Open Mics a week.
Josh & Eric had been recording material together for about
a year prior, but had yet to hit the streets with their sound.
The Open Mics gave them a sense of what they could do. On
August 12, 2002, playing at a vigil for the late Michael Houser,
Tom White added his skills on percussion to the mix. CubanStack
went on to garner attention and lots of gigs in the DC Metro
Area for the next 6 months, including a mini-tour of Colorado.
In February of 2003, Jason Woodle, an old college buddy of
Josh, came on board because he could smell what was cookin’.
The chemistry worked well and CubanStack had a fourth member.
Finally, in June of 2003, longtime friend of Tom White’s,
Chris “Mik” Mikula, offered his skills as the
drummer and the full band took shape. The full band debuted
as a 5 piece in August of 2003.
This organic growth from 2 acoustic guitars to 5 full force
musicians has helped to solidify CubanStack as one of the
premier up and coming acts in the DC Metro Area, having garnered
gigs at the likes of BB King’s Blues Club in NYC, debuting
as a headliner at the Iota Club and Café in Arlington,
and being slated to play the State Theater in May. All of
these accolades in only 6 months of playing as a 5 piece is
quite an achievement and serves as testament to the work ethic
of all of the members
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Josh Stack, Chris Mikula, Brad Lee (Jason
Woodle pictued above), Tom White, and Eric Martinez are CubanStack.
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