Unique Touring Supergroup to Celebrate ‘Road Warrior” Award with Special NYC Homecoming Concert
THE HIT MEN are being recognized by the Nashville museum that honors the talented but often overlooked musicians who played on the greatest recordings of all time. For decades, this unique Supergroup’s members have recorded or performed with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and members of The Who, Cheap Trick, Foreigner, Toto, Journey, The Ramones, and dozens more.
“The Hit Men are musicians in a class all their own” – M Music & Musicians Magazine
WATCH & LISTEN: The Hit Men’s Jimmy Ryan on The Beatles Channel/Sirius XM
NEW YORK (March 21, 2019) ― THE HIT MEN, classic rock’s unique Supergroup of legendary side men, have been selected by the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum™ in Nashville to receive a special award “for their years of dedication to the music, and the countless miles … that they have traveled in delivering so many hits throughout the world.”
THE HIT MEN will be celebrating their receipt of the prestigious Road Warrior Award from the Nashville institution with an especially intimate New York homecoming show Saturday, April 27 at the Cutting Room, 44 E. 32nd St., NYC. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets $35-$75 at www.thecuttingroomnyc.com.
After decades recording or performing with classic rock superstars Paul McCartney, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and members of The Who, Cheap Trick, Foreigner, Toto, Journey, The Ramones, and dozens more, THE HIT MEN ― Lee Shapiro (keyboards/vocals, and Frankie Valli’s former musical director), Jimmy Ryan (lead guitar/vocals, and Carly Simon’s former musical director), Russ Velazquez (keyboards/percussion/vocals), Jeff Ganz (bass/vocals), and Steve Murphy (drums/vocals) ― are being recognized by the Nashville museum that honors the talented but often overlooked musicians who actually played on the greatest recordings of all time.
What the Wrecking Crew meant to the pop music revolution of the ‘60s, THE HIT MEN have meant to some of the most indelible hits of the ‘70s, ‘80s and beyond. A Supergroup like no other, it’s only now that the evolution of THE HIT MEN’S story – fueled, in part, by their countless first-hand experiences as eyewitnesses to rock history – has become a revelation.
And now the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum™ has made it official.
Joe Chambers, founder and CEO of the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum™, notes that the Road Warrior recognition “is different from the honors we normally present to the musicians who have spent most of their careers in the confines of the studio.”
“The Road Warriors, in addition to their work in the studio, also take the music to the people,” says Chambers. “Night after night, month after month, year after year, they are out there keeping the music alive and keeping it real, seldom getting the recognition that they all richly deserve. The Musicians Hall of Fame takes great pride in recognizing THE HIT MEN for their years of dedication to the music, and the countless miles ― which nobody sees ― that they have traveled in delivering so many hits throughout the world.”
The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum™, a premiere Nashville attraction, is the one and only museum in the world that honors the talented musicians who actually played on the greatest recordings of all time. Some, like Jimi Hendrix, are well known, while others, like L.A session drummer Hal Blaine, are not as well known to the public but have played on hundreds of hit records from Elvis, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, The Byrds, The Mamas and The Papas and The Beach Boys, just to name a very few. Studio-based session groups inducted include the Wrecking Crew (LA), the Funk Brothers (Motown), the Stax-Volt Studio Band (Memphis) and the Sigma Sound Studio Rhythm Section (Philadelphia). The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum™ has on exhibit the very instruments that these musicians used to record many of these classic hits.
“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized for the work we’ve each put into our careers supporting the greatest names in the music industry,” says founding member Lee Shapiro. “Hitmakers from every style of music have seen it desirable to book us on their sessions and tours – everybody from classic rock to pop to disco has used THE HIT MEN on their recordings and performances and we’re forever grateful that this prestigious institution would honor us in this way.”
True to the spirit of the Road Warrior Award, classic rock’s unique Supergroup of legendary side men are currently on their 2019 U.S. tour, aimed at delivering even more of the hits they first played with the original superstars, with additional classics emerging in their shows as the tour marches on.
From transistor radios, vinyl, 8-track tapes and cassettes to the Sony Walkman, CD's, digital downloads and the Apple iPod, THE HIT MEN have seen and heard it all. And they have the stories to go with it!
The Hit Men, L-R: Jeff Ganz, Jimmy Ryan, Lee Shapiro, Russ Velazquez, Steve Murphy
(photo credit: Bobby Bank)
THE HIT MEN continue to recreate their classics while proving again and again that you absolutely can teach old dogs new “tracks.”
THE HIT MEN 2019 TOUR DATES
March 23: The Rialto Theater, Loveland, CO
April 7: Lock One Community Arts, New Bremen, OH
April 10-12: Artis/Naples, Naples, FL
April 19: The Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, FL
April 20: Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown, NJ
April 27: The Cutting Room, NYC
May 10: Blue Gate Theater, Shipshewana, IN
June 13: The Paramount, Huntington, NY
June 15: Broadway Theater, Pitman, NJ
July 13: Vinegar Hill Music Theatre, Arundel, ME
More dates to come!
THE HIT MEN ON THE WEB:
www.thehitmenlive.com
www.facebook.com/thehitmenlive
www.twitter.com/thehitmenlive
