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Byron Stingly
(vocal performance: Chicago)
and
DJ Spen
(DJ set: Baltimore)

plus dj's
Blueprint
(garage 416)
Moreno
(hot stepper / g416)
Felix & Gani
(milk.)

Friday, July 28, 2006
at
99 Sudbury St., Toronto
map

$15 advance tickets soon available at:
Play De Record, Rotate This, Delphic, Cosmos, Gypsy Co-op
more at the door - doors open at 10pm


Byron Stingily's Bio:
The lead vocalist for Ten City and later a solo star in his own right, Byron Stingily had one of the most beautiful voices in house music, a sweet and impeccably clear high register akin to Smokey Robinson or disco celebrity Sylvester. A singer since the age of five, Stingily grew up on the west side of Chicago, and though he attended Blackburn College in rural Illinois during the early '80s, he became a part of the Windy City's exploding house scene midway through the decade. He recorded his first single "Funny Love" in 1985, and licensed the song to Trax Records. After meeting up with house maestro Marshall Jefferson, Stingily recorded two early Chicago classics, "Can't Stay Away" and "Just a Little Bit," and impressed many as the support slot for Jefferson's visit to New York City.

While in town, Jefferson and Stingily decided to make the rounds at the major labels, and impressed Atlantic Records enough that the label offered them a contract before they had even formed a group. By 1988, the pair had recruited guitarist Herb Lawson and DJ-turned-keyboardist Byron Burke to form Ragtyme. The trio released "Devotion" and "Right Back to You," later changing their name to Ten City and recording their debut album Foundation. Though the group recorded two more albums for Atlantic (all of which did well on the club scene but failed commercially), the label dropped them by 1993. Ten City then wrote a song with Masters at Work titled "Fantasy," and though the single received massive club play, it was over a year before their fourth album That Was Then, This Is Now appeared. By that time, the buzz had died down and Ten City rapidly disintegrated.

Though Byron Stingily was offered a solo contract by Columbia, he opted to return to the independents and began working on his composing and production skills: he worked with Kim English for the singles "Nitelife" and "Time for Love" plus Michael Watford and Maysa Leak (of Incognito). Stingily began recording for Nervous in 1996 with two singles, "Love You the Right Way" and "Don't Fall in Love." The following year both "Sing-A-Song" and "Get Up" became rather large garage-crossover hits, and in 1998, Stingily released his debut solo full-length The Purist. Club Stories followed two years later.

Check out Byron Stingily's discography
Check out Ten City's discography

DJ Spen's Bio:
Spen began his career at the age of 13, producing mix shows for WEBB AM in Baltimore. Even at that young age, Spen founded one of the area's first hip hop production groups, the Numarx. In 1986 they wrote and recorded a track called “Girl You Know It's True”, which was later covered and made famous by Milli Vanilli.

Spen’s radio career continued to grow and lead him to a radio career working at various FM radio stations in the Baltimore and Washington areas. In 1992, Spen developed a mixshow on 95.9 FM in Baltimore called the “Flashback Saturday Night Dance Party”. Though Spen eventually moved on from radio, the show is still a hit today, with Spen’s close friend KW Griff at the helm.

Spen's production talents lead him to Basement Boys Records in 1989. With the formation of The Basement Boys record label in 1994, Spen formed Jasper Street Company, and released his first full production, “A Feelin”. With the Basement Boys and Jasper Street, Spen gained consistent commercial and dancefloor success, and became an in-demand remix producer. He has created remixes for some of clubland's biggest names, such as Diana Ross, Everything but the Girl, Ann Nesby, and Shaun Escoffery. While at Basement Boys, Spen partnered with Teddy Douglas, Thommy Davis and Karizma to create works that are still considered house anthems.

Having reached his full potential with Basement Boys, Spen stepped out on his own and partnered with Gary Deane at Code Red Recordings in January 2004. He hasn’t stopped moving since! Spen is still producing and making records that are sure to become legend. He has formed a new group called the MuthaFunkaz whose first release, “The Best I Can” shows a new side of Spen. Spen’s new venture has found him back with former partners Thommy Davis and Karizma creating the successful “Voodoo Ray” and “4 the Love” respectively. His new Spiritually Sound label will be sure to give Spen fans more of the gospel and inspirational house music Spen has become famous for.

With a career span of more than 20 years and his famous studio and production work, Spen has become one of the most sought-after DJs in the U.S. Today, Spen can be found jetting off to gigs at some of the premier clubs around the world while juggling his demanding studio work and time with his new baby. He plays regularly in the UK, as well as France, Italy, Japan, and Australia.

Check out Spen's discography

© Hot Stepper Productions 2006