Aiko
Aiko is a band of musical brothers forged in Nashville Tennessee in 1984 in the spirit of the great jam band masters, the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. As with their forebears, Aiko fuses various elements of American rock, folk, psychedelia, country and bluegrass into lengthy instrumental jams. Aiko is made up of an eclectic group of musicians from around the country. The four original band members, Steve Ballenger (lead guitar/vocals), Ross Mason (drums), Ben Anderson (bass/vocals) and Ted Pattison (guitar/voals) were joined in the late '90's by three additional musicians: Steve Krafft (lead guitar/vocals), Lance Deal (drums) and Stu Manning (keyboards/vocals). Aiko has played to crowds at bars, amphitheaters and festivals around the U.S. for the last 33 years. They were the original house band at the iconic 12th & Porter in Nashville and have frequently played other legendary stages in and around Nashville, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco and many other great cities over the years. Often playing three or four sets of free-flowing dance music over five or six hours, Aiko's core, loyal fans continue to follow them to wherever "the bus" takes them.