| Kyle Ripsch |
| Since I get 10X more compliments and recognition for my wicked cool piano stool than I do on my playing, it only seems right to make it my main picture . This way you can see it without Roger having to move aside. |
| Howdy. I'm Kyle Ripsch, (or Swat, as some of you call me) the keyboard player...(I'll pause while you click back to the bio's of the guys who play cooler instruments...). You might recognize me as the guy you get to see during the brief moments when Roger isn't standing in front of me. It's for the best, I promise. I deliver pizza for my "day job", which instantly removes any coolness that playing in a band might afford me. I also enjoy going to concerts, being outdoors, auto racing, collecting autographs, and wasting five years in college only to find out that I don't want to do what I studied for. Although my bandmates constantly refer to me as "rookie", (as in, "Hey Rookie...fill up the beer buckets on break") I am not exactly the newest member of The Clients. Terry brought Jonelle on board one rehearsal after me once he realized I had lied to him on the phone and couldn't really sing as well as I had said. What can I say? I wanted the job. Again...it's for the best. By default, though, I think she should be fetching the drinks... I am, however, the youngest by a good 6 years. The rest of the guys could all easily be my dad. Roger thinks he might be. So I'm new to the band, but certainly not new to music. I've grown up in a musical family, with grandparents on both sides playing the piano, and my Dad (Kirk) and Uncle (Stan) playing in "The Night Shift" around the Grundy County area for around 25 years. I started playing the piano in 2nd grade, and have picked up several different instruments since then, including drums, bass, trumpet, and a few others. I started "playing out" when I was 17, filling in on bass/drums/piano with a local band called Flashback. I then began playing with the Mudturtles Big Band from Mokena in 2003-4, as well as the JJC jazz band. Then in October of 2004, I met the Bloomington-area country/rock band The Cattle Bandits and joined with them, suddenly putting me on stage 80+ nights a year around Central Illinois. I still play with them occasionally on the nights I'm off from The Clients, and we recently released our first studio album "Homegrown". Check it out on itunes. I also play bass and sing lead (!!!) in a couple of garage power trios with my brother Cale on drums: "Heather and the Doritos" with radio personality Dan Wolfe on guitar, and "Wasted Degrees" with auto shop personality Randy Decker on guitar. A few "thank you's" *To everybody I've played with before for making me the musician I am today. *To my many friends and family for coming out and watching the shows and buying the drinks that pay for us at the end of the night. *To the rest of this band for giving me a chance to actually play with what has been my favorite local band for years...this is kind of a dream come true. *And the biggest "thank you" certainly goes to my parents for all of the encouragement, support, instruments, cheap rent, and also for opening up your home to band rehearsals for the past few years. Well...that about does it for me. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you at a show soon! |