Album Notes

On a late night drive in the dead of winter, somewhere between Poughkeepsie, and Brookfield, Rick Tedesco told Dennis Dunaway that he would organize the musicians and record his original songs in his new studio. Soon after, as those sessions progressed, it became apparent that the creative chemistry among the players was exceptionally strong, so what began as a solo endeavor became The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT featuring Rick Tedesco, Russ Wilson, and Ed Burns.


Influenced by Glam, the second wave of British bands, and all things theatrical in music, Rick Tedesco began playing guitar in the early 70’s. And more recently, he played and sang on Ian Hunter’s Rant and Shrunken Heads sessions. Rick also runs his own successful business (guitarhangar.com) where he sells vintage and rare musical instruments. However, one guitar that Rick will not sell is the Les Paul that Mick Ronson played on David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album. After Rick acquired it, he loaned it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where it was in company with Dennis’s Gibson EB-O bass. And now the Ronson guitar can be heard on The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT CD, Bones from the Yard.


Russ Wilson had played drums in several bands with Rick, as well as in the capacity of a studio musician. Besides his solid rock drumming, Russ also studied jazz, which adds a sophisticated backbeat to the group and influences their arrangements.


Ed Burns began playing piano when he was only five years old. As he progressed, he perfected a growling technique on the Hammond Organ, which, combined with Ed’s arsenal of keyboard enhancements, magnifies the massive wall of sound created by The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT. However, it was Ed’s powerful voice that initially caught the band’s attention.


Drawn to their enthusiastic energy, award winning songwriter, Ian Hunter, began to show up at The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT recording sessions. “That’s when things really kicked into overdrive,” said Dennis. “One element of our music is rock n’ roll and Ian is a true master.”


From 1964 to 1976, as the founding member of the group known as Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway collaborated on the music and theatrical staging that pioneered the most elaborate of arena rock productions. When “School’s Out” became the biggest selling single in the history of Warner Brothers Records, and the Billion Dollar Babies album hit #1 on the charts in Britain and America, the original Alice Cooper group went on to sell more than twenty five million records worldwide. Dennis’s signature bass lines that dominated the original Alice Cooper albums are now a driving force in The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT.


In concert, The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT accentuates their original hard rock compositions with new renditions of the Cooper classics. And because the band features two accomplished lead vocalists, Rick and Ed, as well as Dennis’s heartfelt character vocals, their audiences hear a variety of musical styles. Their smile-evoking rocker, “Little Bitty Kid (with a big, big gun)” is a world apart from their sweeping epic, “Kandahar”, yet The Dennis Dunaway PROJECT, through all the twists and turns, maintain a smooth continuity.
“This is a fun group because all of us genuinely enjoy what we’re doing,” says Dennis.