This trio is known for the large collection of musical instruments they use to play a dizzyingly diverse variety of musical styles and genres, running the gamut of American musical archetypes:  old time country, New Orleans jazz, swing, Broadway, delta blues, Latin and Americana folk.  Their repertoire features primarily original compositions that dovetail well with covers from bygone eras of American music.  They have released two CDs: one of all original songs entitled, 12-Piece Trio, as well as a live CD.  Kansas City area radio station 90.9 The Bridge featured the album and played the track You Lied and Now I’m Lonesome in regular rotation.

Mick Luehrman can be heard on vocals, guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, and occasionally cornet.  He has been performing professionally since the late days of the Ford administration and was a founding member of regional acts such as Diamond Jim, Mister Smith, The Hummin’ Birds and Monkey Grip.  A dedicated songwriter and musical archivist he is also a visual artist and a retired faculty member from the Department of Art & Design at the University of Central Missouri (UCM),

Multi-instrumentalist Tony Shaffer, long time member of country legend Leroy Van Dyke’s band, provides stellar musicianship, entertaining wit and comic relief. Tony is featured on a boatload of different guitars, dobro, banjo and harp.  Tony has toured and performed nationally and internationally with an amazing array of country music stars including Roy Clark, Narvel Felts, Rex Allen Jr., Jimmy Fortune, Moe Bandy, TG Shepard, and Bobby Bare, to name a few.  Musically adept in many styles he is also a published author and taught writing for many years in the Academic Enrichment Department at UCM.

Not to be outdone, John Check can be found manning many instruments on stage: the upright string bass, sousaphone, clarinet, trombone, and occasional vocals. Check teaches music theory at UCM and is a member of UCM faculty instrumental ensembles.  He is at home with a diverse group of musical genres, from classical to jazz and even polka, a musical form that he learned at an early age playing in his father’s band in Wisconsin.  John’s father was a renowned polka band leader who wrote hundreds of polka tunes, some of which are standards, and recorded dozens of albums over the course of his career.