Liz Springer - Lead/back up vocals and manager/booker
Liz is a relative newcomer to the local music scene. She sang in the shower for many years to what are now "classic rock" favorites. Once getting past some initial stage fright at a couple of parties, Liz fell in love with the camaraderie of working with other musicians in a band setting. In the 1990s, Liz sang briefly with a blues & R&B flavored band called “Problem Child” based in Northern Virginia. That venture ended & performing took a bit of a back seat as other life priorities took over. Since about 2007, Liz got back into the local scene by attending open mics and meeting musicians who encouraged her along the way. Great local artists such as Bobby Manriquez, Bad Influence, and James Mabry (and others) reaffirmed her love for the Blues. Liz continued to try to find just the right mix of talent and personalities to make her blues influenced band idea come to fruition, and Built 4 Comfort is the direct result.
Some of Liz’s vocal influences include Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Lou Ann Barton, Big Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, Eva Cassidy, Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks, Heart, and Melissa Etheridge.
Carl Jasper - Guitar, lead and back up vocals
Carl Jasper brings a range of musical talent to the stage. He has been playing guitar since the age of eight and found his vocal ability about 10 years ago. Together, they make blues and classic rock songs come alive. He had his first gig in high school and after a long hiatus, got back into the performing aspect about 11 years ago. He spent years playing what is now called “classic rock” and discovered his passion for the blues about five or six years ago. Some of his influences are Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Eric Clapton and Robben Ford. Built For Comfort is a fulfillment of a desire to be a bluesman.
Carl owns two PRS guitars but finds that his Stratocaster speaks to his “blues muse.”
Mark Deyton - Drums
Mark comes from a musical family and started playing drums at the young age of 8. One of his biggest influences is John Bonham. He is also a big fan of guitarist & vocalist Joe Bonamassa. When not playing the drums or hanging with his wife and daughter, Mark can often be found racing outlaw drag radials (race cars!). Mark has been frequenting jams lately where he is in big demand as the drummer with "finesse."
Jeff Jolbitado - Guitar
Initially schooled as a saxophonist in Elementary and Junior High school, Jeff dropped out of music and focused on fine arts until High School and was permanently bitten by the guitar. Since then Jeff has been a blues fan and player continually trying to learn and play as much as he can.
Jeff has been playing in local Blues bands since the late 80s. Some of his favorite musicians are Freddie King, Albert King, BB King (of course), John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Duane Allman, Robert Cray, Lowell George, Billy Gibbons, Glenn Campbell, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding.
Jeff prefers the tones of vintage guitars and a good tube amplifier. He plays several different guitars but prefers his customized Stratocaster and Les Paul through a Mesa F-50 amp or Fender Vibrolux Reverb. Jeff rarely uses effects pedals but sometimes uses a Dunlop Crybaby or a Tube Screamer.
Gene Beavers - Bass
Way back in Seminary school Gene had lots of time on his hands and taught himself how to play the acoustic guitar. Although left-handed, the only guitars he could borrow were right handed so that’s how he learned. It wasn’t until a bit later he uncovered the fact that for the right price you can get left-handed instruments but by that time it was too late - he was a “rightie”. Finally in a position to go out and audition for bands he discovered an abundance of guitar players and very few bass players…it was time to make the switch. He figured that 4 strings had to be easier to play than 6. And so his bass playing career began, first step buy a Fender P-Bass and a big powerful amp; all the bass players had these huge rigs back then and everyone played Fenders. Since then he’s been in working bands and more often than not in multiple bands, a bass player’s work is never done. He has been in a couple of bands that have released albums and he does mean albums…as in vinyl. Rude Dudes and Vitamin Z was released back in 1990 and got airplay on the local rock stations in Philly as did the Plyers release in 1991. But he kept his day job as the starving musician thing was not very appealing to him. His influences over the years are many and varied ranging from Phil Lynot from Thin Lizzy, Paul McCartney, Chris Squire of Yes, Chuck Rainey of Steeley Dan fame and all the Motown greats to name a few. These days he is still using Fenders, primarily his 50th Anniversary Precision, a '62 Reissue Jazz, and his latest addition a MusicMan Stingray and running them through a Hartke bi-amp rig.
Photos on this page by John Duffy - check him out at: www.johnduffyphotography.smugmug.com
