Wild T & The Spirit (CAN)
Line Up: Wild T: guitar / vocals
Guenther Kapelle: bass
Chris Lesso: drums 'Guitarist Tony 'Wild T' Springer is known as the Canadian guitar god! Over the years he has performed with many of the greats including David Bowie, The Doors, Boston, Bon Jovi, Jeff Healy, Deep Purple, Yngwie Malmsteen and Johnny Winter. 'Wild T' has also appeared on many late night talk shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman and the Arsenio Hall show. These are just some of the many celebrities that have been blown away by his guitar playing and music!
Growing up in Trinidad, 'Wild T' originally was playing all kinds of musical instruments in Reggae and Calypso bands. He first picked up the guitar after hearing Steve Howe from the band YES, though one may find similarities to Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Eric Gale and Lenny Kravitz in his playing. In 1987, after many successful local bands, 'Wild T' joined True North/Universal recording artists ROUGH TRADE and toured with act throughout Canada and U.S. for many years. In 1990 WILD T AND THE SPIRIT began to take form. 'Wild T' recruited drummer Danny Bilan (MOXY) and bassist Brian Dickie from the club scene. The band signed a deal with Warner Music Canada and released their debut album 'Love Crazy' in 1991. The album began to make a lot of noise on the Canadian blues/rock scene and Wild T and the Spirit began touring Canada coast to coast.
David Bowie, on tour in Canada, made it a point to meet the flamboyant guitar player! After a few meetings, 'Wild T' was asked to play guitar on David's next solo album, 'Black Tie, White Noise'. "He is an absolute delight to work with" says David. The album was released in 1992. Also that year, Wild T toured with Bowie... appearing on all the major talk shows in the US.
By this time, 'Wild T' began to take some time off, to just mainly focus on songwriting. Longtime friends, drummer John Bouvette (FROZEN GHOST, DAVID WILCOX, OUR LADY PEACE) and bassist Chas Laurie joined the band. The band continued to write and record songs, and play around the Ontario region. In 2000, WILD T AND THE SPIRIT released the album 'Strange Modern'. Produced by Alec Fraser, the album had more of a pop edge to it.
Also in 2000, bassist Guenther Kapelle (THE BLAZERS, JIMMY O AND CODE BLUE) joined the band. He had played with 'Wild T' at many local jam sessions, knew and liked 'Wild T'. The sublime bassist brought with him some big grooves, and fresh ideas on the direction of the band. 'Wild T', drummer Chris Lesso, and bassist Guenther Kapelle continued to play the club and festival circuit in Quebec and Ontario. In january 2008 the new album Fender Bender was released on the new label Jazzhaus Records in Germany, Canada and the U.S..
Official Website: www.wildt.ca
Official My Space: www.myspace.com/wildtandthespirit
Label Page: www.jazzhausrecords.com | |
Bernard Allison
Wild T & The Spirit
Discography
