Bios
The Band
Jacqueline Nicole - Vocals
Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Jacqueline Nicole started her career as a dancer and musical theatre performer.
She relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area from Chicago at seventeen. Experience in dance and theatre led her to her first job as a choreographer. She was nominated multiple times for "Best Choreography" on the regional level in her first two attempts on stage.
In 2003, Jacqueline began singing with various bands in the Bay Area as her next career step. The music she loves best is, "any music you can dance to!" She's very excited to be joining OpenRoad as their female vocalist.
Jeff Weinstein - Vocals and Lead/Rhythm Guitar
Jeff Weinstein, originally from Berkeley, California, has been a professional musician for nearly 15 years. After studying guitar with former Testament founder Alex Skolnick, Jeff relocated to LA to study music at USC, Performance degree in 2002. After graduation, Jeff returned to the Bay Area. He quickly became one of the most sought after session guitarists. He's opened for artists such as Slash, Joe Satriani, & Scott Weiland. After touring Europe with the funk-rock group, Deciduous, Jeff began to work in earnest with esteemed voice coach and Seth Riggs disciple, John Scott. Currently, Jeff is studying at the Jeanette Smith Vocal Studio while performing with OpenRoad.
Ed Vargas – Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Bass Guitar, Harmonica and Vocals
Ed began playing guitar in cover bands at county fairs at seventeen and paid college expenses with his band earnings. Ed has played corporate events, weddings, festivals, and rock and blues clubs as far away as Pa Markurell's in Stockholm, Sweden . He was asked to jam on lead guitar at his own Santa Clara University reunion with Papa Doo Run Run; the Beach Boys cover band. Guitar influences are Wes Montgomery, Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana. He enjoys playing bass and harmonica too. Ed started OpenRoad in the fall of 2003. He loves playing with experienced, easy-going musicians for audiences that enjoy and dance to the music.
Ed is experienced with marketing, special events and the media. He was a former Director of Marketing & Communications for the World Affairs Council and worked with KQED as Chairperson of their Community Advisory Panel. When he was in the publishing business, he was a Publisher/Editor for a trade magazine and developed international business conferences in the USA, Canada and Japan. Ed currently works for a major telecommunications company expanding their eCommerce Online capabilities.
Lou Ahtty - Bass and Vocals
Lou Ahtty is a San Francisco native that grew up watching and learning from the Bay Area musicians that created the unique “San Francisco” sound. Lou has over 30 years experience playing bass. His life journey as a musician started when his guitar playing friends "needed" a bass player in their group. He loved playing so much he decided to choose music as his college major. He quickly expanded his music knowledge and how to play bass to lay down a groove with the drummer and compliment the melody. Lou is also a seasoned sound production and recording technician.
Lou enjoys playing a variety of music styles: Rock, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Funk and even Country Music. His bassist influences include such notables as Jack Casady, from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame, the inimitable Paul McCartney, Verdine White, Nathan East and James Jamerson, the great Funk Brothers bassist that established the “Motown Sound”.
Lou has played in venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. He has played bass alongside top musicians including Latin percussionist great, Armando Peraza, (recorded with Carlos Santana) and blues legend, Elvin Bishop, (originally from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band).
Lou joined OpenRoad in January 2005 and maintains his easy going attitude by daily doses of watching "The Simpsons".
Bill Ciullo - Keyboards, Guitar and Vocals
Bill has been playing keyboards and guitar in various bands located in the Bay Area for the past 30 years. The styles of the bands covered Originals, Punk Rock, Disco, Top 40, and Classic Rock. His keyboard playing has been heard on some original songs on the Radio. Bill's influences for his keyboard styles focus more on the bands where Classical music influenced the Rock sound. These include bands such as: The Moody Blues, The Electric Light Orchestra, Renaissance, The Alan Parsons Project, Queen, and the most influential of them all, the Beatles.
Bill has combined his passion for music along with his Engineering career to pioneer the development of the physical modeling of instruments and sound. He holds patents in Karaoke technology and has been featured on Japanese Technology television programs.
Bill has completed one album of original music where he plays all of the instruments.
Steve Molinari - Drums and Vocals
Steve began playing drums when he was 8 years old. He learned his drum set skills from his father, who has played drums for over 50 years. Steve played in high school and university bands, as well as independent alternative rock bands as he got older. Steve has toured in many of the western US states and as far away as Nice, France. Most recently, Steve was in an alternative rock band in Southern California which regularly gigged on the Sunset Strip.
As a native of the East Bay, Steve's early influences included the funk/punk scene in San Francisco with bands like Primus, Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Currently, Steve is inspired by the drumming skills of Josh Freese, of the Vandals, Guns N' Roses, Matt Chamberlain, one of the most widely heard session drummers, Zigaboo Modeliste, a founding member of the Meters and Dino Campanella of Northern California's Dredg.
Steve enjoys the challenges of handling many musical genres in OpenRoad. His favorite styles of music to play include Funk, R&B, and Rock. Steve looks forward to sharing his passion for drumming with his son.
Guest Musicians
Cyrise Beatty - Vocals, Keyboards
Cyrise Beatty has been entertaining and uplifting audiences in the S.F. Bay Area for over 15 years. Cyrise is a vocalist, pianist, songwriter and performs an array of musical styles ranging from Jazz, Classic Rock, Funk, and Motown, to Sacred and World Music.
Cyrise has been featured on numerous recording projects including the 2004 release “Women of the Bay” a CD featuring some of the hottest up and coming female vocalists of the San Francisco Bay Area. Cyrise composes and records her own original music featuring piano and voice. She performs with her husband singing a jazz set with the Saul Kaye Quartet. Cyrise also performs with a Women's vocal ensemble, Ya Elah, and with contemporary world music artist, Rebbe Soul.
Cyrise is also a poet, with an MA in Creative writing from San Francisco State University and teaches voice, piano, and creative writing.
Steve Vargas - Percussion
Born and raised in San Jose, his debut performance was at the Santa Clara County Fair in an eight piece R&B group with horns as a freshman in high school. Steve's early influences were Ray Charles, Buddy Rich, Peter Erskine of Weather Report and David Garibaldi of Tower of Power.
Steve and his brother, Ed, played together in local San Jose bands for several years. One of their groups was Elliot Fox. They played colleges, class reunions, corporate events, weddings, boat cruises and festivals throughout the Bay Area.
Steve is well known by Bay Area musicians for his range of drumming styles. He has performed in local clubs from JJ's in San Jose to Lou's Pier in San Francisco . He has played drums with local recording artists including Lydia Pense of Cold Blood, and Tommy Castro of the Tommy Castro Band. He plays electrifying rhythms on timbales, congas and bongos. He sits in on percussion for larger, festival OpenRoad venues or as a back-up drummer.
JJ Tong - Vocals, Trumpet
(JJ is on indefinite maternity leave)
Growing up in a musical family, JJ learned to love music at a very early age. Her love of music continued as she sang with the church choir and toured internationally with a children's chorus. She has embraced all genres of music from country to pop, classical to hip hop.
In addition to singing, JJ also plays multiple instruments. She started with piano, French horn and guitar. She decided to pick up the trumpet later so that she could perform in a funk and soul dance band. JJ loves performing and has also had the opportunity to be on stage as an actor/singer/dancer with “Broadway by the Bay”.
When not performing, JJ can be found at the poker table, swinging the bat in softball games or training users on data loss prevention software.
Mike Levy
Mike established himself in cover bands starting when he first learned the guitar at the age of 13. He progressed from teenage garage bands to singing lead in a 7 piece band at UC Davis that helped him pay his way through college. After graduation, he performed for two years on the road with “The Sounds of Joy”, a dynamic show band that worked in hotels across the country. There he shared lead vocals with Bay Area favorite, Val Diamond of “Beach Blanket Babylon” fame. More recently he helped found and front “Big Trouble Mister” a popular Bay Area local cover dance band. Audiences love the energy Mike brings as a vocalist and entertainer that gets people dancing and asking for more. Mike plays electric guitar, sings lead and harmony vocals and joined OpenRoad in 2008.