Band Biography & Photography
GRAHAM WOOD DROUT’S IKO-IKO
“Tough and gritty Blues- Rock played with energy and imagination…” – RELIX MAGAZINE
“IKO-IKO’s Graham Wood Drout is one of the most important, seminal South Florida Blues figures.. more than anyone he personifies Florida Blues.” -BIG CITY RHYTHM AND BLUES MAGAZINE
“Deep, thoughtful songcraft and impeccable musician ship elevates this bayou band above most indie rockers.” -BLUES REVUE MAGAZINE
“IKO IKO is a lexicon of classic rock and Blues music. A builder of fires and a keeper of flames.” – CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“IKO IKO is more than just a hot combo. This is engaging, thought provoking music. It’s Blues but with an Americana backstrap pulling Drout and crew into the realm of Tom Petty, early J. Giles Band and even Bob Dylan. Dirty, funky and with a rock urgency.” – BLUES REVUE MAGAZINE
Iko-Iko:
Graham Wood Drout Vocals, guitar
Drew Preston Vocals, guitar
Mitch Mestel Bass
Ron Taylor Keyboards
Ray Robinson Jr. Drums
Please click on icon at the bottom of the page for IKO-IKO photos!
ONCE UPON A TIME…
It was the beginning of the 1980’s. Miami, Florida was literally on fire. It was a very exciting time. Beautiful people every where. Rock stars, film crews, Mariel Refugees, Cocaine Cowboys, Hippies, DEA agents, smugglers, dealers,drifters,actors,artists, musicians, bikers, bankers, doctors and lawyers. Miami Vice was a big hit on TV and Miami Disco was rocking the radio. With all this going on who could imagine that the hottest spot in town would be an old Miami river bar with a five AM closing time and house band that kicked out nothing but the Blues. Crouching in the shadows of a rather sketchy , beat up and kind of scarey neighborhood, Tobacco Road became the epicenter, the common denominator, the place where it all came together and Graham Wood Drout’s IKO-IKO was there rocking that amazing house almost every week end all through the Me Decade into the nineteen ninety’s.
IKO-IKO’s sound developed out of this very unique environment. A world audience open to originality and American music. Roots and Blues music mixed with island grooves, latin percussion and Voodoo drums.Tobacco Road began bringing touring Blues Bands to Miami and IKO-IKO was there trading sets on two stages, all night long, forty five on- forty five off, with just about every major and minor Blues, Zydeco, and Roots band in America. Albert King, Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, Sun Ra, David Bromberg, John Hammond, an eleven year old Derick Trucks, Diamond Teeth Mary McClain, The Nighthawks, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Dr. John, John Lee Hooker, the list goes on and on. Other musicians visiting Miami would often end up at Tobacco Road in the early hours of the morning jamming with the bands. If you were up late enough you might have seen David Lee Roth, John Jorgenson, David Bromberg, Brazilian Jazz genius Hermeto Pascual, Weather Reports percussionist Bobby Thomas, Steve Stills, Robert Cray, Pinetop Perkins or Jim Belushi
(just to name drop a few) joining the band on stage.
There are many outstanding Blues Artists calling Florida home but only a few of them can be called legendary. IKO IKO has achieved their legendary status over and over again. The band is best known for their thirty year association with Miami’s seminal Blues venue TOBACCO ROAD awarding them the title “Miami”s House Band” sharing the stage with literally every working Blues artist in America from 1982 to the present.. From Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker,to Sun Ra and David Bromberg the list goes on and on. IKO IKO provided back up for Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Ron Wood, Bobby Keys and a host of others. IKO IKO even worked with fellow Floridian Jimmy Buffett on his musical ,”Don’t stop the carnival.” When the state of Florida put together a concert to pay homage to its homegrown musical talent including Lynrd Sknyrd, Sam and Dave,and Marva Wright just to name a few, IKO IKO was hired to provide musical support for all the acts. In 1987 IKO-IKO released their first album on King Snake Records “Snowstorm in the Jungle” featurning lable mate Lucky Peterson on keyboards, reaching number 11 on the American Blues Charts.This record was followed by “Riding on the Rims”‘ :Protected By Voodoo”‘ and “Shine.” IKO-IKO’s latest CD is a best of compilation of Graham Wood Drout’s songs entitled “Bullets in the Bon Fire Vol. I” including two songs recorded by IKO-IKO and good friend Albert Castiglia. A tribute album of Graham Wood Drout’s songs recorded by a host of Florida Blues Bands is being released in the Spring of 2015.
Graham Wood Drout’s IKO-IKO “A must see!”- Rock and Roll Road Trip, Rolling Stone Magazine . The San Diego Tribune describes IKO IKO as “An eclectic mix of southern musical traditions.” The band calls it Urban Swamp Music: a swirling mix of Blues, Mardi Gras , Gulf Coast Americana, jazz, jam band sensibilities, Rock and Roll music with a Bo Diddley beat, steller musicianship and the award winning song craft of Graham Wood Drout. Graham’s songs have been a favorite of AAA radio and the satelite stations. His tunes have been covered by IBC Blues winner Joey Gilmore (who credits Graham’s “Ghosts of Mississippi” for putting him over the top. Ghosts of Mississippi went on to win the 2008 Blues Critics Award for song of the year.) and Ruff Records guitar slinger Albert Castiglia who scored a hit with the fabulous Mr. D’s “Big Toe.” Albert’s latest recording “Solid Ground,(which has reached number 10 on the Billoard Magazine Blues charts) features three of Drout’s songs. “Craig Rusky of Delta Snake Magazine says, “As a songwriter Drout is a powerful master.” Ed Ivy of Blues Revue Magazine says, “This songwriting is on the order of Gordon Lightfoot or Jim Croce….great and emotionally complete.” Patrick O’Donnell of Blues On Stage writes, “Graham is an artist in every sense of the word.”
IKO-IKO CONTACT INFORMATION
Graham Wood Drout / IKO IKO (305) 542-9151 e-mail: gwdiko@aol.com Web site: www.iko-iko.com
BAND BIO:Graham Wood Drout, John Wenzel, Mitch Mestel, Ron Taylor, Jimmy Daniel
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GRAHAM WOOD DROUT: GUITAR VOCALS
Graham Wood Drout was born in Newark, New Jersey on March 22, 1953 and at the age of eight moved to the south side of Houston, Texas. His family relocated again in 1966 to Miami, Florida and once more in 1968 to Rio De Janiero, Brazil where he graduated from Escola Americana in 1971. Graham credits his high school teachers for encouraging and helping to develop his love of writing, music and the arts.”I had two English teachers who were very young and very hip.They turned me on to the beat poets like Allan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac and Blues players like Robert Johnson and Elmore James.” Graham graduated Florida International University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Degree. It was during his time at FIU where he met IKO-IKO’S Blues guitarist Good Rockin’Johnny Wenzel and began playing with Johns group the Incredible Fat Chance Blues Band.In 1987 Graham and IKO-IKO were signed to KING SNAKE RECORDS and shared the roster with such artists as Bob Greenlee’s Midnight Creepers, Kenny Neil, Root Boy Slim, Lucky Peterson, Nobel “Thin Man” Watts, and the “Sauce Boss” Bill Wharton just to name a few.Graham also helped write, play bass and produce Albert Castiglia’s first CD “Burn” on Graham’s own little silver records and Joey Gilmore’s “The Ghosts of Mississippi meet the Gods of Africa” on BluzPik records. Over the years Graham has won numerous awards and accolades for his work as a song writer, musician, band leader, graphic artist and mentor.His current status: LEGENDARY
RON TAYLOR: KEYBOARD
Ron Taylor (Keyboards) is a Grammy Award-winning artist who started his musical career at the age of 16 performing with local bands in Central Florida, including the Tight Shoes Band fronted by the late, great bluesman, Big Dave Fiester. He moved to South Florida and began his professional engineering career with KC (of the Sunshine Band). He followed that up spending the next several years on tour with The Bellamy Brothers, also co-writing two Top 5 Country hits with them. Ron has performed with a huge range of celebrated musicians that includes The Florida Buttrockers, The Legendary Groove Monsters, Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Carlos Vives, Luis Fonsi, David Bisbal, Alto Reed (Bob Seger Silver Bullet Band), George Terry (Eric Clapton), Steve Thorpe, The Blues Entourage and many others. Ron has also worked behind the mixing console with some of music’s legends including Frank Sinatra, Phil Ramone, Gloria Estefan, Donna Summer, 2 Live Crew, Timbaland, P. Diddy, Madonna, Chris Cornell, Britney Spears and others. Ron’s ability to upset the room with his keyboard work is worth the price of admission alone. Physical, fiery, passionate, genuinely beautiful, heartfelt and moving, Ron Taylor is an artist of the highest degree.
