No one thought it could happen. Especially when their five lives are constantly intertwined with careers in different cities across this great state. Nevertheless, when you get these ne'erdowells in a room together with a couple dozen cold cans of Schlitz and a dream of making music that will calm the senses and inspire, you never know what kind of magic will happen.

This was indeed the case for John Hall, Sean Merold, Debbie Niles, Michael Casagrande, and Tony Whittaker, the members of the seminal, yet landmark band, UTZ! and the Shuttlecocks. Trapped inside their musical shells for some time now, these five musicians had been longing for an opening in the offensive line of balladeering for far too long. It was one fateful trip to Lake Tahoe that would indefinitely change the landscape of music forever. Feeling the effects of a blitzkrieg-style water balloon fight and battling sobriety after finishing nearly 30 games of beer pong, the idea of performing was first envisaged by John Hall, insurance coverage lawyer/drumming virtuoso/recording engineer/lovemaker who saw this golden opportunity and decided to grab it (very, very hard I might add.) He expressed his concerns to Sean Merold, a commercial real estate consultant by day and guitar strategist/shower vocalist by night.

"There was no hesitation, not one second," said Sean, who had been drinking Rebel Yell for three days and putting nacho cheese on everything in sight. "I knew that with John behind me, there was nothing we couldn't do (musically)."

In an effort to further push musical boundaries and walk the shores of musical bliss, they added Debbie Niles, whose beautiful vibrato can bring tears to even the cruelest dictator and warmth to the emotionally vacant.

Indeed, folks, yet another piece to the Utz! puzzle has been set in stone with the arrival of Dr. Michael Casagrande, dentist to the stars/sassy man about town by day and bass/guitar god by night. And boy is he handsome!

Last but not least, a local crooner and dance battle champion, Tony Whittaker, entered into the mix to complete the Utz! equation and enhance the band's sex appeal. Whether TWhitt is singing, keytaring, dancing or air drumming, expect him to bring the pain. And more likely the hangover.

The fate of music is in their hands. With your support, they will play their melodies and pour out their emotional capacity through every last song.... until they are thrown off the Home Depot intercom.