"May all your favorite bands stay together" – Taylor Goldsmith

 

Some bands are destined not only to stay together, but to bring the house down with every performance and inspire people. The Speakers is one of those bands.

 

Drummer Jordan Levy and saxophonist, guitarist, and singer/songwriter Geoff Coggeshall met at Lagond Music School in the historic Sunday Ten O’Clock Rock Band. They spent years in the trenches learning different styles of music and honing their chops, as teenagers do. In 2010, after a gig in Elmsford, they met legendary entertainer-extraordinaire Kerryn Prieto and forged an unstoppable trio.

 

After a brief hiatus post-high school graduation in 2013, the band reunited in the fall of 2019, with support from Lagond Music School and the Lasdon Foundation. They were determined to spread messages of hope and overcoming challenges, releasing new original music, rocking the house, and making everyone dance. In 2023, talented keyboardist Greg Levy walked into Lagond Music School looking for musicians to play with. The chemistry was undeniable, and they asked Greg to join the band.

 

The name The Speakers was initially chosen on a whim for a last-minute gig, but it has since come to embody a deep meaning for the project.

 

Kerryn explains: “The Speakers are speaking up for musicians with disabilities who are often overshadowed, shunned, left in the back due to their condition, not knowing the many talents we musicians with disabilities have to share with the world. Our job is to bring us to the front of the line.”

 

Geoff adds:  “We are out there to prove to everyone that you can overcome obstacles and achieve your dream.”

 

Together, The Speakers continue to break boundaries and light up stages, proving that music has the power to unite, heal, and inspire.

 

 

Core Band Members:

- Jordan Levy, Founding Member – drums

- Geoff Coggeshall, Founding Member – sax, guitar, co-lead vocals

- Greg Levy – keyboard, guitar

- Kerryn Prieto – guitar, lead vocals

 

Accompanying Band Members:

- Paul Maddison – keyboard, auxiliary vocals

- John Marc Degaard – bass, auxiliary vocals

- Charlie Lagond – sax

 

Honorary Band Members:

- Sam Demagistris – keyboard 

- Ben Polsky - trumpet

- Thomas Ice – keyboard

- Sam Mason – keyboard

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