AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

Featured AMP Member Roy Shakked, also known as Holmes (among other musical aliases - his AMP name is sweetholmes), has been a working musician for his entire adult life. Born and raised (until about age 12) in Israel, Shakked worked as a bar pianist and session keyboardist in Boston while studying at the renowned Berklee College of Music, moved on to work in New York City as a composer, and now resides in Los Angeles, producing records (as Jazzelicious, among many others), composing for film and television, and running his own record label, Groove Gravy.

Roy and his guitarist, Mike Sawitzke, are now taking Holmes on the road in Europe (login to AMP and ask Roy how he booked the majority of the tour with the help of AMP). Click
here for tour dates and other information. Holmes performs power pop, hard-hitting rock, and tender singer-songwriter ballads, all with a melodic core, influenced by 70's era rock & roll with a nod towards The Beatles. Listen to Holmes on either his MySpace page or his website.

If you're in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, or Italy, try to catch one of Roy's shows in the next month! Roy will also be blogging on AMP as he goes through his tour. Click here to hear my (very casual) interview with Roy, just prior to his current tour. Listen carefully and you might hear his dog Jazz contributing some heavy breathing...