Cypress - About the band
Cypress is one of New Orleans’ Most Versatile Rock 'n Roll/Dance Bands. We specialize in cover music from Alternative to Top 40 Dance to Oldies to Classic Rock or basically, whatever you want to hear.
The various artists whom we cover can be found in our song list. Cypress originated in 1981 and performed in night clubs from Houston, Texas to Montgomery, Alabama and throughout the New Orleans Metro-Area.
Two of the original members remain as part of the five piece group. They are the Percussionist (Bobby Bono) and Bassist (Benny Fernandez). In 1990, the group added a New Lead Singer/Rhythm Guitarist (Billy Vedros) and more recently the "Multi-Dimensional Flair" of Mike Margiotta (Keyboards and Lead Vocals) and Tommy Chadwick (Lead-Guitar and Lead Vocals). Both, Mike and Tommy have been professional musicians on the local scene for many years as well as traveling with well known cover and original bands. They both bring in an entirely new dimension to the group.
Cypress plans to continue rocking the Gulf Coast for many years to come.
Biographies
Benny Fernandez
Benny is one of the two remaining, original, members of CYPRESS and one
of the most versatile Rock & Roll Bassist on the local, New Orleans
music scene. He has been performing with CYPRESS for over 25 years in
various venues from Birmingham, Ala. to Houston, Tx. and throughout the
Gulf Coast Region.
Prior to CYPRESS, Benny performed 5 years with a Marshall Tucker tribute
group called "HIGHWAY" in classic rock gigs throughout the U.S. southern
region. Over the past 30 years, he has opened for groups such as RARE
EARTH, FIRE-FALL, SLY and the FAMILY STONE, ZEBRA and country music
star, JOHN ANDERSON. Also, in one rare occasion, on Mardi Gras Day, in a
place called FAT CITY, jammed with the legend Mr. LEON RUSSELL, to his
hits, "TIGHTWIRE" and "DELTA LADY". …… Just a slight claim to fame.
Providing additional roles as Backup Singer and Sound-Tech, along with
Bassist, his professionalism, along with that of the other musicians,
continues to promote CYPRESS as one of New Orleans Hottest Rock & Roll
Groups, ….forever.
….Bassist at Heart. "Not much Flare, but Always There" !
Billy Vedros
Billy's passion for music began in his childhood. From playing guitar to
singing, Billy developed his talent and the journey began. As a teen,
Billy sang with The Majestic’s, a New Orleans local band specializing in
Dance Tunes and the Oldies.
Later he joined The Castilians, a full scale horn band. Drawn to the
sounds of Classic and Southern Rock, Billy realized his potential and
began singing lead vocals with the band, Festus, playing in New Orleans
nightclubs, festivals, and private gigs. After a short hiatus from the
music scene, Billy joined Cypress as their lead vocalist and has been
with the group for over 15 years.
His talent reaches across the lines from Blues, Southern Rock, Classic
Rock, Alternative, to favorites of the past.
Bobby Bono
Bobby, one of the 2 remaining original Cypress members, has been
providing the steady, punchy percussion sounds to Cypress tunes for a
long time. Bobby started playing drums as a freshman in High School. It
took no more than a year to realize that this was something that he was
going to pursue in life. Bobby started playing in working bands at the
age of 16, and was playing regular gigs in the French Quarter at 17.
After playing in several bands and dealing with different members and
personalities, he finally found a group of guys that was talented and
knew how to have a good time on stage, while providing a great sound to
their audiences. It was like finding a new family. Everyone got along
and worked for the same goal….
Fast forward a whole bunch of years (not enough fingers on your hands to
count) and Cypress is still putting out some great tunes for their
audiences to party.
The band, Cypress, (originated in New Orleans) has performed through the
years from as far west as Houston, all the way to the east coast.
Cypress has opened up for numerous Recording Stars through their
history. Now after recently tweaking some of the members, they are
proving once again that they belong in this city. Bobby says, "After
plenty years of different members coming and going, this is by far the
best collection of musicians in its history, and we've had some really
good musicians pass through this band." If your niche is anything
pertaining to Southern Rock & Roll, Classic Rock, Blues, or Alternative
music, Cypress is your band to follow………..
"If you can find a job that you really like, you will never have to work
a day in your life"
Mike Margiotta
Mike is a local New Orleans area native who has been on the music scene
for over 30 years.
He is a professional keyboardist, songwriter and singer. Although most
of his professional years have been on the road, he has played with
several New Orleans Artists, including Gary Hirstius, Marva Wright, The
Wiseguys, Sho-Tyme and The Junior Mays Band. He has also done gigs with
Bo Diddley and Dick Wagner, who was the guitarist and song writer for
Alice Cooper.
Mike started out at age 7 playing the organ at St. Joseph the Worker
Church on Ames Blvd. He performed there for 10 years until about 1980.
At that time, he started playing in the 50's show band, Dean Darling and
the Wanderers.
He, also, did quite a bit of session work including keyboard work on
Gary Hirstius' "Down River" CD, which was voted one of the best new
releases in New Orleans in 2004. He played keyboards in the 80's with a
group called The Models, which was an all original group. They played
larger venues opening for groups like The Romantics, The Stray Cats, The
Producers, Rick Springfield, just to name a few.
Mike's musical influences: Jimmy Smith, Tower of Power, Weather Report,
Dr. John, Kansas and most Southern Rock artists...Skynyrd, Marshall
Tucker, Little Feat
Tommy Chadwick
Originally sculptured in Southern rock and jazz guitar, Tommy has spent
his earlier years playing in various classic rock, southern rock and
blues bands in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast region and with the
influence and lead guitar styles of the Allman Brothers, Lynerd Skynerd,
Foghat and Carlos Santana, these defined his style in playing with
groups such as J.J.Muggler and Sho-Tyme over the last 20 years.
Just check him out, You'll see !