THE HOUSE BAND
Bootleg Rhythm & Blues
Band Members
Dan Monnat
Vocals / Drums
By age 14, Monnat was drumming and singing in The Lion’s Mane, the house band at the downtown Wichita teen club, The Attic. That led to local gigs at the Odessa, the Phone Booth, the Hour Glass, the Fireside as well as playing in Kansas City, Denver and San Francisco. Most recently, Monnat played with the Crime Doctors and C Major’s, The Jukes. Always looking for another house band gig, Monnat is thrilled to be a part of this one.
Doug Davis Webb
Vocals / Guitar
The first blast of rock ‘n’ roll on the radio forced Webb to steal his older brother’s trumpet—which had been in the closet for several years. The horn was traded for a rented Stella guitar and three free lessons at Chuck Dooling’s Paramount Music. He soon graduated to the electric guitar and never looked back, having performed with an array of bands over the years. Webb was a founding member of the 2016 Kansas Music Hall of Fame inductees, Sawdust Charley.
Phil Snow
Vocals / Bass
Music has always been a part of Snow’s life. In fact, while still in the womb, he traveled with his mother as she toured the south singing in a ladies quartet. Born in the Ozarks, the Snow family always made music on the front porch, and until he came out of the hills, he thought everyone played and sang. At 14, Snow donned a fake mustache to perform at Wichita nightspots. The fake moustache is gone, but Snow still plays with the same enthusiasm he displayed in his teens.
BIO
During the time of COVID, three life-long Wichita musicians gambled that they could safely gather, make music, and shed some of the pandemic blues. With most area live-music venues closed or permanently shuttered, the only available gig was the rehearsal space in the guitar player’s basement. Since the practice area greatly resembled a bar and already was referred to as The Rafters, the trio soon began calling themselves “The House Band.”
With no gigs on the horizon, the unwelcomed sheltering did, however, provide one unexpected benefit, the ability to explore musical avenues outside their rock ‘n’ roll and blues comfort zone. So, in addition to material by Taj Mahal, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Allen Toussaint, “The bands set list quickly grew to included songs made famous by such notables as Bruno Mars, Frank Sinatra and George Gershwin.
Solid musicianship, tight arrangements, and a strong sense of camaraderie are points of pride for the group.
The House Band is comprised of Dan Monnat, drums and lead vocals; Phil Snow, bass; and Doug Davis Webb, guitar. Individually, the band members long have been a fixture in the Wichita music scene and actually have been the house band in numerous road houses, bars and taverns over the years. Monnat was a founding member of the Lion’s Mane and later the Crime Doctors; Snow was an original member of the Jokers as well as the FunTones; and Webb was a founding member of the Kansas Music Hall of Fame inductees Sawdust Charley and later Cady & Webb. Scroll down to view music videos of The House Band.
