LaTresa & The Signal

LaTresa & The Signal have been playing together since 2004. The band is composed of five musicians with diverse musical backgrounds. LaTresa Smith (guitar, singer, songwriter) was born in Florence, AL and grew up all over the South singing with a family band "The Hester Brothers", her minister father and his minister brothers, performing traditional country and southern gospel music. She remembers listening to bluegrass music on Saturday nights in an old store front in Mississippi and dreaming of having a bluegrass band of her own one day. She moved out West as a young adult, then returned to the south for ten years in the bluegrass state of Kentucky, until settling in Nashville, TN in 2003. She has been writing songs since she was ten years old. In 2003, she released her first bluegrass CD "Free Spirit" with 12 original progressive bluegrass tunes. She formed the band shortly thereafter and has since released a second more traditional CD "Love, Babies, Jesus and Sweet Potato Pie", featuring the band. Randy Smith (upright bass) is a University of Memphis music graduate. After gaining extensive experience playing jazz and blues on Beale Street, he moved to Nashville in 1999 and became an original member of The Signal in 2004, also serving as musical director for the band. Kyle Wood (mandolin) is a native of Nashville, a former founding member of Crucial Smith, a rock enthusiast, and an artist/songwriter in his own right. Markus Stadler (banjo/dobro) is originally from Munich, Germany. An original member of The Signal since 2004, he is not only an excellent instrumentalist but also a songwriter and accomplished sound engineer. Mike Testagrossa (dobro) grew up in New Hampshire and began playing guitar at age 9. He switched to dobro as a young man and never looked back. His musical influences stretch from bluegrass to classical. LaTresa and the band are presently recording a third CD of bluegrass gospel tunes in Stadler's Bumpin' Heads studio. This latest CD will feature one of LaTresa's songs that was earlier recorded by Vince Gill and The Blind Boys of Alabama. Together LaTresa & The Signal create a fresh and unique sound derived by their individual life experiences and musical heritages, bound together by their love of bluegrass, and they have a great time making music together. Psst…have you heard about their road antics?!