About Me
Bandana is a 5piece band playing Country, Rock and Blues hits from yesterday and today. Bandana is the product of several bands molded and melded over time into what it is today. Dean Saul (lead singer), Paul Valenti (lead guitar), and Mark Williams (drums) have played together for over 15 years now and formed the core of all of them. The first meeting for these three was in a band called “Bandana”. The band formed in 1992 with Fred Wood (guitar), Dave Carver (acoustic guitar) , and Dan Chapman (bass) and began touring a 4 state area playing clubs, events, fairs, festivals and rodeos. They opened for Johnny Lee and West Coast Flyer (“Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places”). They also helped open a one-time popular Johnson County club called Orlando's, which was broadcast on Q104 by TJ McIntyre (a popular K.C. Disc Jockey). They played the Lineman's Rodeo for 8 years straight. In 1998 due to irreconcilable differences Dean, Paul, Dan and Mark left Bandana to form “Showdown”. That group added in Pat Lafferty (keyboards, mandolin, cello, accordion and various percussion instruments) and Marty Ewing (fiddle). This powerhouse group played together 2 years, playing all the gigs that Bandana had done plus a few. However in early 2000 the road and time having taken its toll the band split up for what some might have thought was 'for good'. However in early 2007 Mark Wlliams and Rick Eidson (bass) would decide to rekindle things and upon calling Dean and Paul they decided to form RiverGard. Soon after deciding to reform the old group they contacted Nelson Struewe (keyboard) and he joined the group. Since forming in January of 2007 RiverGard has played gigs in bars, member's only clubs, weddings, birthday parties, and outdoor events. RiverGard participated in Country Wars (a local battle of the bands) twice. The band opened for Curb/Asylum recording artists “Cowboy Crush” in concert at the 109th Annual Johnson County Old Settlers celebration in September of 2008. The group had a lot of success as RiverGard and through the course of time had developed different directions and so Rick Eidson left the band and Steve Wayne joined and they again became "Bandana." Through providing quality entertainment and connecting with their audience Bandana hopes to play all the top venues in the greater Kansas City area and also a few excursions to Lake of the Ozarks and other outlying areas a bit 'closer to home'. The bottom line is...these guys have the talent, the experience, the songs and the desire to please their audience and their clients. If you're looking for quality entertainment, look no further.