THE VILLAGE
1991 TO 1997
The Village was a New England band that formed in October 1991. Members included Chris Beardsley on guitar, harmonica and vocals: Eric Dojan on lead guitar and vocals; Ono Brandi on bass; Ryan Voisine on drums and vocals; and Kenny Acousti on keyboards. After one year, The Village became just four members when Kenny left the group.The Village developed strong followings in New Haven, Bristol and Hartford since they were from Connecticut. New Haven was a home away from home because they played the famous Village Pub every Wednesday alternating between the full band and Chris and Eric playing as an acoustic duo. Eventually they played gigs from Maine to Florida as their devoted following grew. The Village played some landmark venues such as Toad's Place in New Haven, CT; The Bitter End in New York City and Nectar's in Burlington, VT. They played along side some popular touring bands of the time such as Merle Saunders, Moe and From Good Homes.
The Village produced two full-length CD's and one four song EP. The first CD was titled "Lost in the Shuffle" which featured their most popular song, House on Wheels. The EP, titled "Earth One", featured four songs. The title, Earth One, was named after their touring van. The EP sold out two pressings in six months and then went out of print. Their last CD, titled "Rock and Roll Messiah", was more of a blues based CD.
The Village broke up in February 1997.
All three of their releases and several bootlegs from various live shows can be listened to on their own separate pages. . The bootlegs will feature different tracks from time to time so make sure you come back to visit. (Listen to the bootlegs at your own risk because they were not professionally recorded or mixed, so we get a lot of sound board and audience type recordings. These are included to show the spirit and excitement between the group and their following.)