"May all your favorite bands stay together" (Taylor Goldsmith)
Some bands are destined not only to stay together, but to bring the house down on every performance and, most importantly, to inspire people. The Speakers is one of those bands.
Drummer Jordan Levy and saxophonist, guitarist, and singer/songwriter Geoff Coggeshall met at The Lagond Music School in the historic Sunday Ten O’Clock Rock Band. They spent years in the trenches learning how to play different styles of music and honing their chops, as teenagers do. In 2010, after a gig at Elmsford Day, they met a legendary entertainer-extraordinaire, Kerryn Prieto, and forged an unstoppable trio.
The name The Speakers was initially chosen on a whim when they needed to announce themselves at a last-minute gig, but has since come to have a deep meaning for the project. Kerryn explains:
“The Speakers are speaking up for musicians with disabilities who are often overshadowed, shunned, left in the dark due to their condition, not knowing the many talents we musicians with disabilities have to share with the world.”
Geoff adds:
“We are out there to prove to everyone that you can overcome anything and achieve your dream. Anyone can. And we are here to show everyone they can achieve their own goals.”
In the fall of 2019, the band--with help from Lagond Music School and the Lasdon Foundation--reunited, determined to spread messages of hope and overcoming challenges; while releasing new original music, rocking the house and making everyone dance.