Handsome Jack

Playing a lean, hard-grooving fusion of blues, R&B, and garage rock they call "boogie soul," Handsome Jack are a rock band from Lockport, New York, a city not far from Buffalo. The band logged plenty of miles on their touring van and released a handful of self-released discs before they hooked up with the respected indie label spotify:search:label%3A%22Alive+Naturalsound+Records%22 , which gave them their first nationwide release with 2014's Do What Comes Naturally, a swaggering exercise in '70s-style blues rock.


Handsome Jack were formed in 2004 by guitarist and singer Jamison Passuite, Joey Verdonselli on bass, Phil Allport on guitar and keyboards, and Steve Sandman on drums. While the founding members were still teenagers when they began playing out, they&#39;d already developed a strong taste for classic rock, boogie, and blues, and by 2008, Handsome Jack had recorded their first self-released album, Heatseeker, and hit the road on their first cross-country tour. In 2009, Sandman left the group and Chad Salmeri took over behind the drums; he made his recorded debut with the band on the EP Prologue, and in 2011 the band released its second full-length album, Super Moon. More touring followed, including dates where the band shared stages with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:4PI5IHRvANLL76O5gRmGKL" data-name="Blue Cheer">Blue Cheer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4U33udokhmKATsu8UoqUEN" data-name="The Sheepdogs">The Sheepdogs</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5zoKOcTDI9EMOhGNaxL708" data-name="Gov't Mule">Gov't Mule</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:69Mj3u4FTUrpyeGNSIaU6F" data-name="The J. Geils Band">The J. Geils Band</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3qkZBMz5JgmRN9u5wwhRC6" data-name="The Hold Steady">The Hold Steady</a>.


In 2014, the band struck a deal with with spotify:search:label%3A%22Alive+Naturalsound+Records%22 , and went into the studio with Zach Gabbard of <a href="spotify:artist:29FQbwKVUGe1KAI1H2EiDV" data-name="Buffalo Killers">Buffalo Killers</a> and Mike Montgomery as producers. Handsome Jack&#39;s third full-length album, Do What Comes Naturally, was released in the fall of 2014. After lots more live work, Handsome Jack went through some personnel changes when Phil Allport and Chad Salmeri left the group. Jamison Passuite became Handsome Jack&#39;s sole guitarist, and Bennie Hayes signed on to play drums, and this power trio edition of the group cut their second album for spotify:search:label%3A%22Alive+Naturalsound%22 , 2018&#39;s Everything&#39;s Gonna Be Alright. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi