Stacy P. Todd (a.k.a. Duke)
Biography
The story you are about to read is true. No names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I was born and raised in Delta, Oh., I am the 3rd child of Paul and Thelma Todd, I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. I graduated from Delta High School in 1970 and attended Bowling Green State University for 1-1/2 semesters before deciding to concentrate on music. I taught myself to play guitar and learned to sing harmony with Bev Gerdes and Doug Manley.

I worked at Pike - Delta - York Public Schools for four years as a Custodial Engineer (Janitor) when I got a call from Doug Manley, telling me about a new group that was forming called “Myron & The Van-Dells” and asking me to be a part of it”! After talking with my family and friends, I decided to give it a try. I was allowed a 2 month leave of absence and “hit the road” for Jacksonville, FL. That was on March 15th, 1974. 

Doug and I learned songs and vocal parts on the drive to Jacksonville. In our excitement to get there, we drove straight through. When we got there, I had to learn all the choreography and then go get all my show clothes. On Monday, March 18, 1974, I cut my shoulder length hair, greased it back with Crew Comb (Crisco-like texture) and became a “Van-Dell”. I started my new career at “The Other Place”. My first solo was “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”

My stage name came after I started to sing “The Duke Of Earl”, hence “Duke”. I had been with the group for several weeks, still learning the show, when someone bought me a hat to wear during the show. I wore my new hat one night and started hitting one of the guys to get him to stop clowning around and the crowd loved it. Since I was the shortest member of the group at the time, that added to the humor and my character was born. I became the Sergeant-of-Arms and had to keep the show running smoothly. Since I don’t smile on stage, do eye choreography and wear a hat, my character seems to stand out. As the personnel changed, my character changed also.  Now I am still trying to keep the show running smoothly but, I am also the brunt of Mark’s humorless jokes.

In February of 1976, Myron and some of the band members decided to go in a different direction. That is when “The Van-Dells” were born. We now had four vocals , Doug Manley “Spider”, Stacy Todd “Duke”, Steve Ricks “Moose” and Dave Brumley “Chumley. We were backed up by a 7 piece band that was also a big part of the show. 

I married Saundra Platt in July of 1976 and have been married for 27 years. We have 2 boys, Kasey (16) and Kyle (11). Both of them enjoy entertaining as well. Both boys have appeared on stage with us and help to close the show. Kasey plays percussion with us for our "History of Rock & Roll" show and Kyle is with a singing and dancing troupe called The Showbiz Kidz.

When we are off, I enjoy cooking and baking. I love to go fishing. When I can find the time I also like to play the guitar and I have written several songs.

The Van-Dells are the only group I have been with and I plan on doing this for as long as our fans will let us. Thanks for the ride.

Mark Taylor Barnett
Biography

I love being on stage.. I suppose it all started with my parents. They played in a country and western band. My dad, Alonzo, played the accordion and my mother, Ruth, played an upright bass.

I grew up in Paducah, Kentucky with my sister, Beckie. As a young boy I would spend hours in front of a television watching Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and The Three Stooges.

In the sixth grade I was in a small production put on for the parents. Somehow I accidentally got a big laugh which felt really good. I overheard someone tell my proud dad that I was a natural comedian. From that moment on I decided to become the funniest guy in school.

When I was 14 I went on a bus trip to St. Louis to see The Beatles and my love of music took off.
In high school I was involved in the community theater and every school play produced at Paducah Tilghman High. At 16 I played an 80 year old man in “Death of the Hired Man”. I had the lead roll in “Our Town” and character rolls in “Westside Story”, “The Crucible”, “Tom Jones”, “Up the Down Staircase”,  and “The Mouse that Roared”.

After I graduated I worked for the Kentucky Department of Parks in a Group called The Lakeside Singers. It was produced by actor Tom Ewell of “The Seven Year Itch" fame. I did five seasons with the group. While in The Lakeside Singers I met Jack Crook. Jack and I moved to Nashville and put together a duet. I worked in a hospital and as a waiter. Jack and I performed whenever possible but most of our shows were back in Kentucky. It was fun but not what we wanted. I heard that The Vogues were holding auditions in Nashville. I tried out and was hired and life on the road began. The Vogues had six gold records. I recorded “The Vogues Greatest Hits”. Jack went on the Nashville Network TV show “I-40 Paradise” and joined The Van-Dells after Bill Mentz left the group.

After three years with the Vogues I had an opportunity to do demo recordings for the great country song writer Jan Crutchfield at MCA Records. I left The Vogues to do the recording sessions. It was a great experience but paid very little and I soon found myself facing a depleted bank account. One night, feeling somewhat despondent, I sat in a chair and looked up toward the ceiling. “God,” I said. “I have seven dollars in my pocket. If you want me to eat next week you’d better do something. ”An hour later the phone rang. It was Jack D. Johnson, manager of the Van-Dells offering me a temporary position while Dave Brumley recovered from a serious auto accident. I said yes. I also thanked God for being so quick. That was in 1980 and I am still here. The Van-Dells gave me the chance to do all the crazy things I wanted to do in front of an audience. It is wonderful fun and even though I have set routines many nights I run out on stage with no idea what to expect from my imagination.

Here’s a few things I would like to share with you:

My wife’s name is Tracy.
We have two dogs. Caesar and Barney.
The biggest influence on my comedy is Groucho Marx and Benny Hill.
My favorite food is spaghetti.
My favorite composers are Danny Elfman and Randy Newman.
My favorite bands are The Beatles and Oingo Boingo.
My favorite fictional character is Doc Savage.
My favorite horror character is Frankenstein.
My favorite basketball team is The Kentucky Wildcats.
My hobbies are drawing, photography, and video.

How long will The Van-Dells go on?
As long as people want to see us.

Glenn Bowles
Biography

Glenn has been singing his entire life. Some of Glenn's earliest memories are of music. Glenn is the youngest of four children, growing up in a house with his mother, grandparents, brother and two sisters. As a child, Glenn heard many different styles of music, by being subjected to the musical tastes of all the older members of the family. As a result, Glenn grew to have very eclectic tastes in music.

Glenn's greatest musical influence was Elvis Presley. After witnessing an Elvis concert in person, in 1973, Glenn spent many days, throughout his youth, singing and performing Elvis songs in his room, pretending to be Elvis, but never with any intent of performing for the public. To him he was merely pretending, as all children do.

Upon Elvis' death, in 1977, Glenn first attended an Elvis impersonation show. He was not pleased by what he saw and wondered if there was something he could do to defend Elvis' memory from being distorted by these performers who, by now, were popping up everywhere.

The following summer, while working as a ride operator at a local amusement park, Glenn convinced the musical director, of the park, to audition him to perform his Elvis imitation. He was hired on the spot, and asked to perform on weekends while still performing his ride operator duties, during the day. This lead to Glenn forming his own band the following year. Glenn continued to perform his Elvis impersonation throughout the U.S. and Canada from 1979 to 1990. During this time, Glenn had the opportunity to perform with many legends of the music business, such as: Chuck Berry, Conway Twitty and Roy Orbison, just to name a few. In 1987, Glenn received great acclaim as the world's best Elvis Impersonator, by winning the very first "Images of The King International Competition" in Memphis TN.
By this time, Glenn had the desire to grow as a performer and not limit himself to just being known as an Elvis Impersonator. Therefore, beginning in July of 1990, Glenn began his association with the Van-Dells, "The Nation's #1 Rock & Roll Review." Glenn continues, to this day, to tour with this well established group, performing many of the great hits of the Rock & Roll Era, as well as continuing to perform his award winning Elvis tribute as part of the Van-Dells show.

Sometimes a departure from the familiar is the only way an artist can truly move forward.  Chris “Abby” Abbondanza certainly believes that to be true, which is why the former Povertyneck Hillbillies singer is focused on only one thing these days - his new solo career. 

Once the Hillbillies called it quits, Abbondanza wasted little time worrying about the prospect of “starting over.”  Instead, he chose to embrace the opportunity to finally write and record the material he’d been saving for himself.  With a new album recently completed and due out in November, Abbondanza confesses the approach has been a refreshing change.

“I’ve always cared more about being a good songwriter than anything else,” says Abbondanza, who wrote or co-wrote nine of the album’s eleven tracks.  “Working now as a solo artist has really allowed me to explore some different directions that I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with before, so this whole process has been kind of liberating for me,” he adds.

Abbondanza, known to friends simply as “Abby,” didn’t begin writing music or even playing guitar until his late twenties.  Growing up in a small town 50 miles outside of Pittsburgh, where a career in music was about as likely as finding a Cleveland Browns fan, Abbondanza spent much of his time hunting, fishing and playing baseball and football.  In fact, at one point the brawny singer accepted a baseball scholarship and played two seasons at Penn State.

One chance night in a karaoke bar would change his career path forever, though.

“I won a karaoke contest singing ‘Friends in Low Places,’” he remembers.  “I had never even sung in front of anybody before.  The next thing I knew I was in a band and we were selling records like crazy.”

Ok, it wasn’t quite that easy.  The band Abbondanza joined in 2002 was the PovertyNeck Hillbillies, regional stars in western Pennsylvania that were just starting to enjoy national acclaim when the group eventually folded in early 2008.

The Hillbillies had already amassed a dedicated fan base along the East Coast, however, thanks largely in part to their energetic live performances.  Based on that reputation, and little more than word-of-mouth buzz and local radio, the band sold over 50,000 copies of their two independently released albums.  It probably didn’t hurt that they were named the Official Band of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006, either.

These days, when Abbondanza isn’t writing, recording or performing, he can probably still be found in the studio – the television studio.  The singer hosts the popular “Bullseye Outdoor Adventures” show, a hunting and fishing program that can be seen on the Sportsman’s Channel and the Man Channel.  Aside from the exposure of being broadcast in more than 30 million homes, it also provides a truly unique opportunity to mix business with pleasure.

“I can’t think of a better job than getting paid to play music for people,” Abbondanza muses, “but getting paid to host a hunting show would be a close second!” he laughs.

Now, with the upcoming release of his first solo project, Promised Land, Abbondanza admits his career has entered into uncharted territory once again.  “It’s kind of scary baring your soul and hoping everyone else likes something you’ve created,” he admits, “but I can’t wait to get out on the road and see the fans’ reactions to the new songs.”

Promised Land is certainly the most diverse music Abbondanza has ever made, an accomplishment he credits to a deeper and more mature collection of songs to draw from. 

“For six months after the band broke up, I spent most of my time focusing on my songwriting,” he reveals.  The result is an album that he feels confident old and new fans will certainly appreciate.

“The thing is, I’m still a fan at heart,” Abbondanza says.  “I know what it takes to make the audience connect with a performer.  I’m still excited when one of my favorite singers comes out with something new, so I hope my fans are the same way.”

With a renewed sense of independence and his first solo album on the way, the “Promised Land” is indeed starting to look like familiar territory once again for Chris Abbondanza.