Playing a mix of danceable blues with a nod towards swinging jazz and an eclectic selection of rock and pop tunes, the Willie Painter Band consists of four veterans of the Triangle music scene. Willie Painter (guitar) and Craig Dittmar (bass) were members of the Boomers, who played for over 20 years in the Triangle and eastern North Carolina. They have performed in the past with Lightnin’ Wells and the Real Gone Cats. Currently they also play with the Pigz Brothers, Mike Hamer and the Rhinoceroses, and the Tommy G Experience. Painter wrote a monthly music column for the Urban Hiker from 1999 to 2004.

John Hanks (drums, web master) currently freelances with lots of folks, including the North Carolina Theater (the Producers, Little Shop of Horrors, etc) and played with the NC Jazz Repertory Orchestra and the Gregg Gelb Swing Band for 15 years until 2008. He has performed with Mose Allison, Mary Lou Williams and many others. He is a longtime music faculty for the American Dance Festival, and teaches percussion at Duke University. Bill Newton (saxophone, harmonica) is a founding member of two Triangle musical institutions: Rebecca and the Hi-Tones and Bill Newton’s Big Blues Quartet. He has recorded with the Indigo Girls and Big Mama E and the Cool, among others.