Toler/Townsend Band ‎– Toler / Townsend Band (2009)

"DANGEROUS" DAN TOLER: I started playing guitar in my hometown of Connersville, Indiana at age 12. I had many influences ranging from Johnny Smith to Chet Atkins. After seeing Chet play once on the Grand Ole Opry, I set about attempting to learn his style of play. Lonnie Mack was another early influence. His instrumental version of Memphis was a guitar player"s dream song and when I finally learned how to play the solo I was ecstatic. R&B was also the thing in those days and I loved that music.

Bill Lakes and the Playboys, a local band, was one of my first bands in which I had the opportunity to grow as a young player. We played a lot of R&B and Blues, which was a great training ground for any guitar player. I also enjoyed playing country music, as long as they had a decent pedal steel player. I got pretty adept at picking out the chord formations and playing along in harmony.

JOHNNY TOWNSEND: Johnny is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Early on Johnny chose playing in an R&B band over medical school after his own group The Rubber Band started touring constantly behind several regional hits. One of those regional hits made it into the national spotlight and near the top of the charts when James and Bobby Purify released "Let Love Come Between Us", a song originally recorded by Johnny and The Rubber Band.

When the chance to move to Los Angeles came about, Johnny made the most of it. His first L.A. success was with the group Feather whose hit "Friends" kept Johnny working coast-to-coast for quite a while. His experience and success as a singer and songwriter eventually led him to join with his now long time collaborator, Ed Sanford, with whom he formed The Sanford / Townsend Band. Together they scored the self-penned smash hit, "Smoke From A Distant Fire" and toured the world for a decade behind it's success.