-By Kate Bartlett-
This year, The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce welcomes ‘Who Are You? – A Tribute to The Who’ as headliner for Rock ‘N Roll weekend September 16-18th. The band has been dubbed their ultimate tribute band conveying the power behind the music and the character of its members, putting on a performance that comes as close as possible to Pete and Roger themselves. ‘Who Are You’ plays venues across the US and Canada, bringing their audience an exciting multimedia experience.
Buffalo native Garrett Lechowski is lead guitar, vocals and electronics for ‘Who Are You?’. The band is currently based in West Massachusetts; however, many of their early shows were in Western New York. “The band started playing shows with a different lineup of personnel starting in 2010. We worked our way up from smaller bars to outdoor events and theaters. In the last 12 years, we’ve been up and down the eastern USA and culminated with a 2-night run in Canada in 2015.”
“Who Are You grew out of my desire to be in a band along these lines since I was a kid”, says Garrett. “While many of us in the band have full time careers outside of music, I personally viewed ‘Who Are You’ as my “golf” to blow off steam from my day job of a Psychotherapist.” Garrett works in private practice in Williamstown, MA and holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and 2 licenses in substance abuse.
Current members include original members John Kiernan on drums and Garrett on guitar and vocals. Bassist Brian Burd, who was Garretts college roommate at SUNY Fredonia, joined in 2016. “Brian and I were nearly thrown out of Fredonia on several occasions for playing our instruments at top volume in our dorm to The Who’s 1978 documentary film ‘The Kids Are Alright.’ We grew up on this music.”
“Our present lead singer has a lengthy history in Canadian rock. Carl Dixon came of prominence in and around Toronto in the early 1980’s in the band, Coney Hatch. Their debut album was produced by Canadian legend Kim Mitchell. Flash forward to the 1990’s, Carl became the lead vocalist for Canadian legends, ‘The Guess Who’. He also did a stint as a touring member of the Canadian band, April Wine. He was in the position with the Guess Who on and off for several years until sidelined by a near-fatal car accident in Australia in 2008.”
“Carl had filled in for ‘Who Are You’ in the past, and ultimately joined the band in 2021. We remain incredibly grateful to get to play this wonderful music with a guy we consider our friend, Carl Dixon. In between Who Are You shows, John Kiernan and myself play in Carl Dixon’s solo band when he plays in the United States.”
“It seems everyone knows some of The Who’s songs. If it’s not from the rock opera TOMMY, which spent time on Broadway, it’s some of the hit songs. The Who’s music is about energy and emotion. It is sometimes cerebral, but sometimes Top 40 and pop. With that said, it’s so apart of American culture now, even though British in nature, due to some of their most famous songs being included as the themes for the hit TV show, CSI and its offshoots.”
“Performing, for me, is about relaxing and leaving the realities of day-to-day life behind. The joy this band brings to audiences can’t really be explained. The communal aspect of music connecting with people is almost Spiritual. It’s truly a blessing that we get to play this great material, and get paid for it too.”
Garrett gained inspiration from several artists in his early career, and finds inspiration in his fellow bandmates. “Pete Townshend’s writing and guitar playing has had a profound influence on me. There are so many in the classic rock category that led me to want to pick up the guitar, or keyboards or bass as well. But I can be just as inspired by the old blues or jazz greats as well. Watching Brian and John play as a rhythm section really pushes me and inspires me. Having Carl as our lead singer inspires, as well as having him as our band leader with his solo show. There are so many wonderful musicians in this world, who sometimes struggle with being professional. Yes, it is a fun profession to be a musician, but musicians can only continue to work if they continue to practice, improve, show up on time, be amenable and open to their responsibilities as part of an organization. But watching other musicians play and improve? THAT really pushes me.”
“‘Who Are You’ is unique in that we are a tribute act with a front man with a really cool and interesting history in the music industry. Carl Dixon toured with Coney Hatch opening for Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Coney was shown on MTV in the early days. Legendary music commentator out of NY Eddie Trunk STILL brings up Coney Hatch (as recently as 3 weeks ago) as a band that “should have made it.” And this guy is our friend. He has no ego about him whatsoever. He is one of the most grounded men I know. We have four guys that are genuinely friends and love each other. That is pretty unique in this day and age.”
Garretts’s words of wisdom for aspiring musicians are “Practice. Practice. Practice.”. And in addition to that, one cannot learn if they are not open to input from others. I think I’ve made it this far being in 3 bands (down from 4 or 5, I had to cut back) because of the willingness to learn. Those who dug in their heels and were not open to input from those outside of any of those bands no longer work with any of us, which is sad. But you can only get better by acknowledging your strengths and your shortcomings. All four of us are living proof of that.”
‘Who Are You’ will take the stage at the EVL Rock ‘N Roll weekend on Saturday, September 17 from 1-4pm at the main stage outside the Winery of Ellicottville. The band will travel straight to Buffalo from their show in Ellicottville to perform a solo show for Carl Dixon in Buffalo on Sunday Sept 18. The show is a benefit for TOTALLY BUFFALO CARES at Buffalo River works.
“Our hope is that we bring the spirit of The Who and the sense of community to the show. That’s our goal: spreading joy. We truly hope that our love of this music that we are sharing with everyone will lead to a good feeling for everyone. To quote Pete Townshend’s solo song, “Let my love open the door to your heart.”
Visit online www.whoareyouusa.com follow on Facebook @ WhoAreYouUSA email Garrett at glechowski@verizon.net and learn more about Lead Singer Carl Dixon at www.carldixon.com