Sarah Potenza and the Tall Boys

Sarah Potenza

Sarah was born in 1980 in Providence, Rhode Island, spent much of her youth fascinated with the voices of Blues & Country musicians like Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, and Greg Allman. In the late 90's Sarah attended Rhode Island College for a BA in Music. There, she studied Musical Theatre, Violin and Vocal Performance. It was not until 2002 that Potenza began to perform her own music.

As a solo act she began honing her skills at a local bar called "The Custom House Tavern". In 2003, Sarah moved to Chicago to peruse her love of blues music. Potenza performed as a solo artist at some of Chicago's premiere venues such as House of Blues, The Metro, and the Double Door. In 2005 she met fellow musician Dan Orduff and together they began to form "The Sarah Potenza Band".

In 2006 Sarah's original song, The Eastside, was accepted on to Acoustic Chicago, a compilation of the cities top artists. Since the release of Acoustic Chicago in 2007 Potenza has been putting together a new band, Sarah & the Tall Boys. The band includes her long time guitar player, Dan Orduff, her husband, Ian Crossman, and a drummer Brian Sansom. In 2008 Sarah & the Tall Boys recorded their first album, "Shiny & New". It is a self-released collection of original Americana. In 2008 the group has performed at the Taste of Chicago, WGN9, Old Town School's Folk & Roots Festival, Estrojam, and The Glenwood Arts Fest. "Who but A Fool" was featured on 93WXRT. In 2009 Sarah & the Tall Boys were honored to perform at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium park. They have also been performing at legendary County venue Fitzgerald's, and many festivals. Most Saturday nights you can catch Sarah & the Tall Boys at The Underground Wonder Bar, in downtown Chicago. Sarah & the guys will be hitting the studio this year to record "A Lifetime Worth of Sin" their second full length album. So keep an ear to the ground for new tracks!

Ian Crossman

Ian was introduced to music very early in life. His father has been an actively gigging musician his whole life, and in turn showed his young son the ropes. While his father was firmly rooted in blues, he didn't shelter Ian from all other forms of music. So while his father perfected his blues style, Ian adventured from genre to genre. Through the many phases of his life Ian had a band that reflected it. All starting at about age 13 with AmFm (punk/rock/terribleness), and culminating with becoming a Tall Boy at age 27, it has been a long haul that contained metal, punk, blues, funk, jam, rock, jazz, big band, ect. While primarily a guitar player at heart, Ian has played bass in a number of other bands, and musical genres.

Bryan Sansom

Bryan was born and raised in the foothills of Chicago, IL. Mt. Prospect, to be exact. He got his first record player before he was three and his first drum set before he was six. Influenced early on by his father's musical tastes, Bryan cut his drumming teeth on albums by The Who, Hendrix, Zeppelin, and King Crimson, among many others. Bryan eventually attended Elmhurst College, where he received a degree in music business. It was during his time at Elmhurst that he discovered his love of jazz and reggae, having played in numerous ensembles and teaching school for a short time in Jamaica. Lately Bryan's musical interests have been in groove based music, with major influences including Medeski, Martin & Wood and Thievery Corporation. He has played in numerous bands in and around Chicago and has performed with a jazz trio all over the Mediterranean on board the largest privately owned cruise ship, "The World". Bryan met Dan at an open mic, who then introduced him to Sarah, and it was good. He also enjoys beef jerky and interpretive dance, as well as photography and beer, but not in that order.

Dan Allen

Dan started his musical career as a teenager when he was recruited as the acoustic guitarist by a producer for a showcase cover band. This was in Lake County, IL and the idea was to have no one in the group over 18. It was a moderate success and that year was spent doing a handful of local festivals that took Dan out of the basement and onto the stage. Once on stage he couldn't get enough and traded the acoustic for an electric and proceeded to play with anyone he could. Never enjoying the more synthesized sounds of the 80's he became part of a growing group of musicians in the 90's that embraced the more raw, organic sounds of the 60's and early 70's along with the philosophy of experimental improvisation that went along with many of the groups of that time.

This ideal was made manifest in a number of bands in the Chicago area and out in the western United Stated including Gunboat!, Wreckingball #9, Ping Pong Mafia, and even a brief excursion into jazz in San Francisco. One thing about all these groups was while the musicianship was extremely strong, the singing was usually more of an afterthought. Upon returning to Chicago from living out west Dan decided he was going to focus on finding great singers that might need a helping hand fleshing out their music. He got a steady gig as a host for a local open mic where he had no problem finding some of these great singers whom he still plays with to this day. Oddly enough he didn't meet Sarah Potenza through this channel but through a mutual friend. Blown away by her huge, soulful vocal ability and great songwriting he joined her as a bass player but quickly moved over to guitar. He's been having a blast playing with her and the band ever since!