Mellow Yellow: Summer of Love 50th Anniversary Tour

Mellow Yellow pays tribute to the Summer of Love with songs by The Beatles, The Turtles, Jefferson Airplane, and of course, Donovan, that embody the cultural revolution of 1967.  With groovy costumes, go go dancers and big screen visuals, it’s a full-on, far-out experience of the songs that defined an era.  Thanks to the five versatile band members, the music – and the spirit – lives on!

MELLOW YELLOW BAND

David Cooper (aka “Brad Daddy-O”): Vocals, keyboards
David grew up in Brooklyn, NY and is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a founding member of the band 46bliss, David co-wrote and co-produced their numerous CD’s, whose songs have been featured on CSI:NY, Veronica Mars, Joan of Arcadia, and many other television shows. David is also the co-author of Captain Gravy’s Wavy Navy, a wacky children’s stage musical that was featured in both the NY Fringe Festival and the NY Musical Theatre Festival. Upon arriving in Burlington, VT in 2007, he went about putting together Mellow Yellow with the goal of creating the ultimate 60’s tribute band. His training and talents allow him to focus with incredible attention to every detail of the music. Currently, David produced the debut CD by A2VT called “Africa, Vermont,” featuring local singers/rappers from the refugee community newly arrived in the US from various African nations.

Linda Bassick (aka “Dusty Love”): Vocals, guitars, flute, trombone, tambourine, maraca.
The multi instrumentalist began reading music shortly after learning to read words, playing the clarinet and baritone horn for many years in a competitive marching band in the Boston area. She finally picked up a guitar at the age of 19 and has never looked back. 
In addition to her fiery vocals, Linda provides the guitar parts that round out the Mellow Yellow sound, and serves as the band’s one-woman horn section. She also currently plays in  the Burlington, VT supergroup, Steady Betty.  An educator by day for many years, Linda is also the director of Girls Rock Vt , a camp empowering girls through rock and roll and has led the Friday Morning Sing Along for kids of all ages at the Radio Bean since January of 2013.

Ken French (aka “Kenny Diggit”): Vocals, lead guitar, keyboards
Ken started his rock and roll career in the 7^th grade, playing guitar at school dances and parties in the Boston area. He was also another marching band member, playing trombone, as well as saxophone, flute and piano before falling in love with the electric guitar. He idolized Jimi Hendrix and aspired to the level of musical expression Jimi showed the world. Ken is an accomplished recording engineer and video producer. Along with David, he is responsible for accurately recreating the many unusual vintage sixties sounds heard during a Mellow Yellow show. He also performs with two other Vermont-based tribute bands: “Ragged Glory” a Neil Young tribute and “Abraxas” a Santana tribute.

Frank Zammeillo (aka “Franco Sunshine”): Drums
A classic “pencil-tapper” in school, Frank’s drumming history goes back to his childhood when he would bang on every available surface.  In 7th grade he joined the school marching band, the concert band and the jazz band. Since he started playing professionally in 1986 he’s toured across the country and played everything from punk and metal to ambient pop, but his favorite musical era is the sixties, in particular the Beatles.

Brad Sourdiffe (aka “Flip Funk”): Bass
Brad began playing violin at 7, becoming an accomplished player by the time he was in high school. But when he first heard Led Zeppelin everything changed as he came to realize that bassists could attain the same virtuosity within the context of a rock band. John Entwistle and Chris Squire became his inspirations as he honed his craft. Beginning in his early 20s he played in many of Charleston, SC’s best bands, playing progressive rock, jazz, disco and soul music. He subsequently resumed his classical violin, and jazz mandolin studies, rounding out his musical pedigree. As our band historian, Brad is a wealth of information. He has read more album covers and remembers more obscure facts about sixties music than anyone.