Alan Hewitt & One Nation

Alan Hewitt & One Nation released their first CD Evolution in 2015 on Sony, which is a fusion of rock, jazz & prog with a return back to Alan’s roots where he was inspired by Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report. It won 2 Global Music Awards and a Grammy nomination.

Their upcoming second release, One Step Closer, which is also up for a Grammy nomination for “Best Rock Performance” ventures more into Prog rock with lush vocals and sweeping arrangements reminiscent of early Yes, and Genesis but still retaining their hard driving-fusion elements. This super group line-up includes Alan Hewitt (The Moody Blues) on keys & vocals, Duffy King (John Lodge, Methods of Mayhem) guitars & vocals, David C. Johnson (The Neville Bros.) bass & vocals and Billy Ashbaugh on drums (The Moody Blues, Pat Benatar, NSYNC). As a group they infuse their influences and personalities to make this one of the most musically powerful bands you’ll ever hear and see.

Alan Hewitt has been touring worldwide with the R&R Hall of Fame, legendary band, The Moody Blues as their keyboardist since 2010. They have performed for hundreds of thousands adoring fans on numerous world tours, television shows and recordings. He is also the Music Director/Co-Producer/Writer for Moody Blues bassist/vocalist John Lodge & the 10,000 Light Years Band of which produced a song, “In My Mind,” written by Hewitt & Lodge that was nominated for Best Prog Anthem for the UK Prog Awards. The Summer of 2019 culminated into The Royal Affair Tour with Yes, Asia and Carl Palmer’s ELP Experience.

Alan was also invited to play keyboards on Moody Blues lead singer, Justin Hayward’s “Spirit’s of the Western Sky” solo tour in 2013 which was also released as a live DVD on EagleRock and is airing on PBS.

Hewitt has had the honor of working as a co-producer/writer/keys alongside Maurice White of Earth Wind and Fire
for over half a decade with EWF’s Greatest Hits album going platinum in 2000 and working with many other artists worldwide.

Alan Hewitt’s list of accolades from the industry includes The Golden Planet Award, New York International Film Fest Award, San Francisco Ocean Film Fest, both for best music score, 2 Global Music Awards, ESPY Award and 2 triple platinum albums, Warrant’s Cherry Pie and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Best Of Vol 1.

Duffy King guitarist for John Lodge & The 10,000 Light Years Band, searing, blistering leads, finesse and feel are words that have been used to describe Duffy’s style of guitar playing. Duffy has spent a large part of his life living in the Detroit area. Along with constant performing, Duffy has done numerous studio sessions, including nationally televised ads as well as major label releases that have been nominated for Grammy Awards and Billboard Magazine awards. The combination of these accomplishments, and performing with an array of world class musicians, has earned him a reputation as a top caliber guitarist.

Duffy is best known for his potent Jazz/Rock and R&B/Funk chops. From 2000 – 2010, Duffy has received 6 Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding Rhythm & Blues Artist and has been nominated 9 times from 1999-2010 for the Outstanding Rhythm & Blues Instrumentalist award. As a Clinician, he is able to combine musicality, humor, fun and information to create an entertaining and productive clinic/performance that transcends language barriers.
Companies that Duffy has performed clinics for include Gibson, Yamaha Guitars and Amplifiers, and Egnater Amplification.

Duffy laid the guitar tracks on the recording, Reim3, by Gold and Platinum selling international Polygram artist, Matthias Reim. Another Polygram release Duffy played on was the Grammy Nominated recording, Mean What You Say, by Witness. 2010 had Duffy laying tracks for Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee’s, Method’s Of Mayhem’s worldwide release, A Public Disservice.

Billy Ashbaugh has been playing professionally for nearly 30 years. He is the current drummer for the legendary Moody Blues. He has also toured, recorded or performed with John Lodge (Moody Blues), ‘NSYNC, Pat Benatar, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Gloria Estefan, Britney Spears, Brian Littrell (Back Street Boys), Greg Howe and many more. His experience has led to over 70 television appearances including The Tonight Show (6 times), Super Bowl XXXV Half time performance, Saturday Night Live, MTV Music Awards, Grammy Awards, Rock in Rio 2001 (attendance over 280,000) as well as HBO & Pay Per View Concert Specials. Billy’s also on the currently released Moody Blues DVD – Days of Future Past Live (Featuring the Toronto Orchestra) as well as performing at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2018 with the Moody Blues. As a clinician he has
performed at the Modern Drummer Festival ‘02, PASIC ‘01 , NAMM ’05 and R&R Fantasy Camp.

David C. Johnson, born in Detroit, Michigan, began studying piano at the age of 7. He then went on to take up the bass guitar on his own at the age of 11. At an early age, David knew that music was his calling. He performed all over the Detroit Area until he took an offer to work with a band in S.W. Florida in 1989. Since that time, David has become one of S.W. Florida’s premier musicians, and a “first call” bassist.

Since 2000, David has toured with the Grammy Award winning legends, The Neville Brothers. He is also currently Bassist/Vocalist/Keyboardist of the Aaron Neville Quintet, with performances on Steven Colbert, CBS This Morning, David Letterman, Jay Leno, the Today Show, Ellen DeGeneres and The Martha Stewart Show to his credit.

Cuda Brothers was formed in the summer of 2006 by Tony and Chris Cuda to perform original prog/jazz/rock instrumental music. We wanted to integrate all of the great musical influences and blend them with our own original styles. The emphasis had to be on composition because that is the most important aspect of music for Chris and myself. The very talented Matthew Schieferstein joined us on drums in 2019. This has allowed us, once again, to write, record and perform new music!

The Cuda Brothers have opened for Bran Auger, Stickmen, Brand X, Carl Palmer, Uriah Heep, Project Object, Allan Holdsworth, Adrian Belew, Scott Henderson/Jeff Berlin/Mike Clark, Ambrosia, Frank Gambale, ProgJect, Robert Berry, PAKT featuring Percy Jones, Nektar, Don Preston/Bunk Gardner, Tu:Ner…

Chris Cuda is a self-taught acoustic/electric/synth guitarist. Chris has recorded and/or performed with David Thomas (Rocket From The Tombs & Pere Ubu), Horns & Things, Sonny Geraci (The Outsiders), Len Berry, Tommy Roe, Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Leslie Gore, Billy J. Krammer, The Shangri-La’s, Michael Cartellone (drummer for Tommy Shaw, Damn Yankees & Lynyrd Skynyrd), Michael Gibbs (session w/orchestrator for Mahavishnu, Jaco, and Peter Gabriel), The Kinsman Dazz Band, and CuDa & CuDa Trio, and ProgNation. Some of Chris’ influences include Julian Bream, Bill DeArango, John Coltrane, Miles, James Brown, Yes, John McLaughlin, and 20th century composers.

Tony Cuda is a schooled musician, writer and bass player. After spending three years at Berklee School of Music in Boston, Tony hit the road with an original fusion band in the early 1980’s. After playing the New England scene for about 5 years, Tony returned to Cleveland to rejoin his brother Chris, eventually co-founding their current group, CuDa, Schief & CuDa. Tony plays a 1963 fretless Fender Jazz and a fretted Spector bass guitar. His main influences are Weather Report, Yes, King Crimson and Miles Davis.