Rock’n Me 15: Talking About Western Music - One-Man Bands [Prog Only]

Hello, I’m Joshua, and I love talking about Western music.
For the 15th installment, I’ll be discussing one-man bands. Now, the term ‘one-man band’ here does not refer to bands dominated by a single member (like Tom Scholz of Boston, David Coverdale of Whitesnake, or Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails). Instead, it refers to highly talented artists who play all the instruments themselves and create entire works on their own. Famous names like Paul McCartney, Prince, and Lenny Kravitz would make for a less interesting discussion, so I’m deliberately imposing some strict rules on myself: the artist must be relatively unknown and must perform progressive rock (henceforth prog) masterpieces.

■ Brody Dolyniuk

Brody Dolyniuk, originally from California, began his music career as an Elton John tribute artist. He later relocated to Las Vegas, the city of entertainment, where he has performed in tribute concerts not only for Pink Floyd but also for David Bowie, The Who, and Led Zeppelin. In addition, he hosts his own show called Symphonic Rockshow. One of the Pink Floyd songs he has chosen to cover is “Time”. The promotional video stays true to the song’s concept and is remarkably well-crafted.

○ Brody Dolyniuk “Time” (Pink Floyd cover)

Next is a cover of Supertramp. There’s some debate about whether Supertramp counts as prog, but at the very least, this cover is fantastic. Based on the video, it’s clear that he’s playing all the instruments himself. (Although, there’s a goofy character who pops up midway, like a drunken Todd Rundgren—he could’ve done without that.)

○ Brody Dolyniuk “Dreamer” (Supertramp cover)

■ Tyler Warren

Among the artists introduced here, Tyler Warren might be the most well-known. As the touring drummer for Queen + Adam Lambert, he has traveled the world and delivered an outstanding performance during their Japan tour in January 2020.

After the 2017 Queen + Adam Lambert tour, Tyler had the following train of thought: “Once the tour is over, my life will have changed.” → “To stay grounded, I have to immerse myself in music.” → “I should cover an entire album by my favorite band, Rush.” → “Even if I play everything myself, no one will believe I did it.” → “Then I’ll make sure to record a video as proof.”

As a result, he recreated Rush’s masterpiece Permanent Waves (1980) in its entirety. The accuracy of his reproduction is simply astounding. Not only did he perfectly replicate the drums, but also the bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals, and even the engineering and production—all to an almost unreal level of perfection.

○ Tyler Warren “Permanent Waves” (Rush Cover)

Thinking “This guy is no ordinary musician,” I decided to dig a little deeper. It turns out that in 2016, to celebrate his 30th birthday, he released a cover album titled T30. (So that means he’s still only in his mid-30s!?) Just like with Permanent Waves, he played and sang nearly all the parts himself, faithfully reproducing the original songs—or perhaps even elevating them beyond the originals. The tracklist is all over the place, featuring covers of Rush, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Muse, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Jeff Buckley, and more. And once again, his ability to replicate every instrument and vocal part is simply mind-blowing. The best part? You can download the entire album for free at the link below. I’d love to sit down with Tyler for an hour and interrogate him about just how much talent he actually has. (Though, maybe it’s obsessive fans like me that make him feel the need to disappear into his music.)

○ Tyler Warren “T30” (Covers of Rush and More)

■ Antoine Baril

Antoine Baril is a Canadian musician based in Quebec. He runs Hemisphere Studio (Rush fans will definitely recognize this place) and is also the drummer for the technical death metal band Augury. Additionally, he has been active in tribute bands for Genesis and Rush. Antoine seems like someone who was born to play progressive rock. Why? Because he has uploaded stunning one-man medleys of Genesis, Yes, and Rush—all performed entirely by himself.

His Genesis medley is enough to make any prog fan yell “Yes!” from the moment the Mellotron intro kicks in. And then, the vintage instruments just keep coming—guitars/basses: 1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom, Rickenbacker 4080 (double-neck guitar/bass), drums: Simmons electronic drums, keyboards: Mellotron, ARP Soloist, Moog Taurus bass pedals, Oberheim synths, and more. Not content with just a Hammond organ, he even takes it a step further—playing a pipe organ in a church. When someone goes to this level of detail, you just know their performance is going to be top-notch.

○ Antoine Baril “One-man Genesis” (Genesis cover)

Next up is the one-man band tribute to Yes. When it comes to Yes’s live performances, the opening track is always “Firebird”. Of course, the bass is primarily the Rickenbacker 4001, and in “Changes”, he uses an 8-string bass with the same alternate tuning as the original. The guitar recreation might be a bit off, though. He uses the same 1966 Gibson ES-175 as Steve Howe, but with a slightly heavier distortion. There are also some parts where he uses a Jackson guitar, which might draw some criticism from hardcore fans who could say, “That’s not it!”

○ Antoine Baril “One-man Yes” (Yes cover)

The Rush medley is on a completely different level, starting with the drum set. The bass drum head is customized with the Rush logo, and every single phrase – not just the words, but the entire performance – is done to perfection. The bass is a 1973 Rickenbacker 4001, and the recreation is incredibly accurate. The only thing that stands out is the guitar, which is a 1990 Gibson Les Paul Custom, unlike the original. However, if someone were to say, “Well, you play it then,” the only response would be, “I can’t.”

○ Antoine Baril “One-man Rush” (Rush cover)

It’s time to wrap up this column, but there might be someone out there thinking, “What about King Crimson or Emerson, Lake & Palmer (EL&P)?” King Crimson has a reputation for being strict about copyright, so I decided to skip them on purpose. I did look for someone who plays EL&P solo, but couldn't find any peculiar individuals doing so. However, to meet the demand, I’ve included Antoine Baril, along with Christian Paco and Francis Gregoire, performing EL&P’s “Tarkus” (Eruption). There are so many incredible people in the world.

○ Antoine Baril, Christian Paco, Francis Gregoire “Tarkus” (EL&P cover)

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