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.