The guys of Larry Awesome
Sloan Morris
A multi-instrumentalist who can play harmonica, mandolin, guitar and bass, Sloan has been playing music most of his life. He has been in bands for as long as he can remember. In addition to being a member of Larry Awesome, he's also the guitar player for Catch and Release, a Portland band that plays songs about...yup...fishing (and other cool tunes).
He and Chris met years ago when it turned out Sloan’s wife was a high school friend of Chris’ back from their days as summer camp counselors! It’s a small world, isn’t it? The first teamed up to form SloeGinFizz with Gillian Rubin and jazz cat Alan Cook. After SGF broke up prior to the pandemic, with a phone full of licks, he and Chris started writing and recording many of the songs that will be released this year as part of the Larry Awesome catalogue.
Dan Cogan
Lead singers who can hold the audience in the palm of their hands don't come easy. Dan is one of those folks - his energy, humor, and presence all scream rock 'n roll. For the past (almost) 40 years he's been the voice of Danny and the Originals, a 50s/60s cover band inspired by the Portland legends Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts. He once sang before thousands at the '86 Worlds Fair and has performed too many proms to count.
He and Chris met in high school when the guys in Danny and the Originals needed a new lead guitar player. Their first independent project produced the classic “Le Stylo” a jazz/blues/metal tune that has been lost to the sands of time. They wrote While You Sleep (which Larry Awesome recently recorded as a ska tune, complete with amazing horn section – to be released later this year) back in 1985 and have been great friends ever since. Dan and Sloan met for the first time when all three guys decided to hang out together and spontaneously write music. That first song (Give The People What They Want) was a tongue in cheek homage to the 80s. Look for it later this year!
Chris Wilson
Having started playing the guitar at age 12 when his aunt Ellie taught him Puttin On The Style, Chris has been in love with strumming and picking ever since. He's been in bands since the 1980s, with Danny and the Originals (see above), in the 1900s with Andy Harrison, and in the 2000s with both Mister Fisk and SloeGinFizz.
He wrote his first song (soon to be release as part of the Larry Awesome catalogue) Obsession when he was 15. Dan introduced him to Fishbone in college and you’ll hear Larry Awesome’s homage to that amazing American ska band when Summertime is released. He sees himself as the band’s recording and mixing engineer, though not without the valuable contributions of his band mates as the process of recording and mixing unfolds. It’s all about collaboration.