The Steely Damned is a Steely Dan tribute band (duh) originally featuring Rockola's Bob Tedde, Four Eyes guitarist Marc Decerbo, and several other local players. Guitarist Hank Easton frequently performs a medley reproducing the guitar solos from several Steely Dan guitarists, including Larry Carlton, Denny Diaz, Elliott Randall, Rick Derringer, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
The original Steely Dan songs were so meticulously arranged and brilliantly played that it's a thrill to hear Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's musical fussiness copied so faithfully. Tedde doesn't sound exactly like Fagen, but he's got the laconic inflections down. And the hands of guitarist Easton channel original Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's licks so well it's scary -- to say nothing of his rock-solid copy of Jay Graydon's lead on "Peg," 12 bars of the most innovative rock guitar ever recorded. It says something that it takes several dedicated people to imitate the sound of a band that consisted of two guys. But that's the beauty of the Dan -- and the duty of the Damned.
A new incarnation of the group was launched in 2016, Steely Damned II, featuring Hank Easton and Marc Decerbo alongside longtime members Kevin Esposito (trombone), Chuck Phillips (sax), Etoile Presnell aka Ruby (vocals), Gary Taylor (drums), as well as Rob Gironda (keyboard), Doug Meeuwson (trumpet), Jim Reeves (bass), Tripp Sprague (sax, EWI, keys, percussion), and Doug Booth (guitar, keys, vocals).