Karla Vega
Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Karla Vega has worked and recorded with Shakira, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada and many more influential artists. She has performed at the Latin Grammys, Festival Calle 8, and the prestigious Carnegie Hall. Karla joined Spank The Band as the lead singer, and has made a great band even better.
Dale Reed is originally from Canton, Ohio and claims to have fled the northern cold to attend the University of Miami “because it's too damn cold to play the drums barefoot in Ohio”.
Dale started his musical stylings at the age of five and has shared the stage with performers ranging from Chuck Mangione to Lenny Kravitz.
During the day, he is forced to don shoes and serves as the President of a South Florida real estate development firm. If he isn't drumming or working, you'll likely find him on his Harley Davidson or whistling for fish in the Everglades.
"Doolittle is a master of his instrument,” said Reed when asked about his band-mate, “a true phenomenon on the guitar. Some nights I just want to jump off the stage, join the audience and watch him in action."
Kevin Doolittle is a native South Floridian who grew up in the keys and later relocated to Miami. Although he was raised the son of a commercial fisherman, his friends and family always said he was born to play the guitar, a true “ace of the axe”.
Kevin has been dazzling the local music scene for decades and has been in bands including Alias, The Garage Band, Doolittle and Fool's Errand. While his soul is driven by rock and roll, his background includes an extensive repertoire of blues, R&B and jazz in addition to the power chords that most frequently emanate from his rack. During the day, he keeps the peace in the local court system as a bailiff. His last name is oddly appropriate as for most of his life his "family" has been a veritable menagerie of animals he has adopted.
James Drury, known as Jimmie D., and Dale Reed performed together with Charlie Sullivan as part of Jimmie and Charlie's project Perpetual Change. Sharing a love of big band Jazz, Jimmie and Dale quickly became friends and often could be found discussing music theory and the philosophy (and dying art) of the big band.
After attending numerous SPANK performances as an audience member, Jimmie was eager to play with the band and brought his saxophone to a gig. He impressed the audience and band alike, and became a regular addition to Spank.
“Jimmie is a highly talented, classical musician who has a great voice, particularly for Southern Rock,” said Reed. “It is very rare that a rock and roll band can present an incredible horn player as part of their show, and we get that treat with Jimmie D.”
Robert Sherber is known throughout the South Florida music scene and beyond as phenomenal musician. Kevin describes Rob as, "Rock solid! He establishes a perfect pocket and has impressive solo skills on top of that!" Dale agrees, stating, "We are very fortunate to have such an exceptional musician anchoring the band." Rob is a native Floridian who attended Dillard School of the Arts and played in the school’s prestigious commercial music ensemble alongside blues prodigy Josh Smith. In 2005, Rob became the bassist for legendary TK recording artist Clarence Reid aka Blowfly, contributing to the album "Blowfly’s Punk Rock Party," appearing in the film “The Weird World of Blowfly” and touring with the group until 2010.
After touring, Rob returned to South Florida to pursue a Bachelor's of Arts in music at Florida International University. In addition to his role with SPANK the band, Rob can also be seen performing funk-rock originals with Camel Toe, a Miami-based guitar, bass, drum trio and with Tell ‘Em, a rock cover band.
Mark Lamendola joined the band under fire when he was asked to sit-in at a gig with only 6 hours notice. His performance was spectacular, locking in a pocket with Reed that resulted in an amazing groove. Mark, also known as MC, hails from New York City and is an alumni of the East Village Music Scene. Previously managed by Hilly Kristal, owner of CBGB Punk Rock Emporium, he also recorded under the CBGB record label. Mark has shared the stage with many notables ranging from Blondie to the Ramones and now lives in Boca Raton, where he still spends most of his time banging on that bass.
“Mark has a dynamic stage presence and can certainly spank audiences with his groove.” said Dale Reed after Mark had agreed to join the band. "We are thrilled on the special occasions when Mark rocks with us!"
