The Desert Canaries
Formed from members of Whiskey Horse, a popular New England country cover band, The Desert Canaries are an alternative to country music, blending elements of rock, alternative, country, and more into their originals and reworked versions of cover songs.
Jon Giegengack
Bill Mudrick
Jon grew up in Philadelphia, listening to his dad’s Simon and Garfunkel and Roberta Flack records, Pink Floyd, and artists from the “Golden Age” of hip hop. At 25 he attended a family wedding in Houston. When he picked up his Ford Taurus rental car, he realized he had forgotten to bring any music for the drive. But fate intervened. The previous renter had left a homemade mix tape in the stereo, and he spent the next week with the greatest (and sub-greatest) hits of Robert Earl Keen Jr. on endless repeat.
His love of the sadness, hope, and poetry of “real” country music was born – from Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Drive by Truckers and Chris Knight to Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton. He played in whiskey horse and has performed solo from New Hampshire to North Carolina.
Bill first started playing the banjo because it was the only instrument with strings laying around his parents house. After trying to play songs on the banjo by The Beatles, Aerosmith, The Stones and Skynyrd, he decided it was lame. After acquiring a bass, Bill played in several bands, most notably The Rage that was popular in the New York City area in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Berklee followed, and time spent in Boston included working with The Crime and Drive All Night. Drive All Night had some local radio airplay and shared the stage with music legends John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, James Cotton and NRBQ.
Additionally, Bill played with numerous bands including Sneeky Pete, Johnny Blue Horn and the Caretakers, a brief and fruitful reunion with Drive All Night, and then Bill formed Whiskey Horse in 2018.
Bill plays Dingwall, Rickenbacker, Fender, and Mongrel Custom basses along with a variety of bass amps.
Stu Krupnick
Stu grew up in the Chicago area and his love for music started as early as he can remember, since his parents were always spinning records in the house. At 10, he received his first cassettes of Aerosmith, Boston, and Kiss as a gift. After hearing those songs and sounds, he was hooked. Stu just had to play an instrument like his heroes. With dreams of sitting behind a big drum kit, he began taking drum lessons. But after three weeks, he was still doing exercises on a block of wood with cork on top. That wasn’t going to cut it for an impatient 11 year old. So, he switched to guitar and never looked back.
Stu's passion is in playing live and is adept at a wide range of styles, which is evident from the many bands he has been a part of including original rock with Deep7, rock covers with Sneeky Pete, 70’s disco with Double Knit Dance Party, and country with Whiskey Horse.
You'll see Stu play a variety of gear on stage but his favorites are vintage Hamer guitars. Not only are they stellar quality handmade instruments, he grew up in the same town where they were made. So there's a there's a connection that's more than just musical!
Mark Baldassare
Mark's bio coming soon!