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BiographyLydell started playing drums at age five on one of his uncle's drum sets in Middlesboro, Ky. At age six, the family moved to Martinsburg, WV, where he got his own set of blue sparkle Ludwig drums. The next six years were filled with jam sessions, neighborhood parties, and get-togethers with fellow musicians. More organized musicianship became the platform as the family moved to Winchester, VA, and Lydell joined the jazz and marching bands in junior high and high school. By high school, Lydell became bored with what he was doing and branched off in a new direction, writing and composing his own music and teaching himself to play guitar and bass. In 1981, Lydell went off to college. DJing, learning to play keyboards, and improving on his writing and composing skills took Lydell to a whole new level. A few months before graduating from Howard University, he met Robbie Shiley, who invited him to play drums in the top 40 band Grand Illuzion. 1984 saw Lydell pursue a full time career as a musician on the road, where he spent the next five years exercising his talents as a bassist, vocalist, and drummer for the band. It was at this time that he learned the art of performing, arranging, and producing shows. Grand Illuzion's disbandment in 1989 didn't slow him down. For the next few years, his prior experience as a writer, producer, and DJ kept him busy working with many local artists, vocalists, rappers, bands, and not to mention his own projects. In 1995 another opportunity to perform for an audience came along. Lydell met guitarist Jay Powell and drummer Rob Pipes, and the rock trio Mama's Nightmare/KGB was formed. It was a loud, but fresh and exciting vehicle to showcase his rock influences and gain more experience as a bassist and singer. By 1996, Lydell was performing in three bands simultaneously - Nightmare, (the rock band) Basement Funk, (a funk R&B band) and had been enlisted to try a couple of gigs with the just starting out Souled Out Band. By the summer of 96, Souled Out was on a roll and the other bands had fizzled out. This brings us to the present, which finds Lydell as music manager for the band. In Lydell's spare time, he continues to write and produce CD's, and collaborates with local artists on various projects. Lydell's musical influences range from the likely James Brown, Prince, Parliament/Funkadelic, EWF, and Isley Brothers to the less likely Queen, Genesis, The Cars, AC/DC, and Metallica. |
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