MEMBERS

Janique Cheesman

Janique hails from the country of Trinidad and Tobago. Her island roots give her an aura of composure and chill. Singing and music has always been a major part of her life. Even at the young age of 6 she grabbed opportunities to perform in front of a crowd. Her very first public performance was at her primary school where she entered a calypso competition. Her charisma and singing ability were on full display even then and she won first place. She’s been performing ever since. In her early teens, she joined a choir led by Marilyn Lalla and performed with them all around the country until moving to the U.S. at age 19.

Her songwriting ambitions came during her mid-twenties. “I moved the U.S. to pursue a degree in engineering and to hopefully start a fulfilling career. But at 25, I found myself wondering if that was what I really wanted. When I first came, I had this singular goal of obtaining my degree to get a well paying job, but in the process I inadvertently stifled a big part of myself. I knew that I could either choose to ignore until it was completely gone, or give it a means to blossom. So, one day I signed up for a songwriting workshop in the city and since then I’ve been writing songs and developing my musical style.”

Her major music influences are singer songwriters with powerful and moving lyrics over catchy and melodic piano and/or guitar sounds. Nina Simone, Sara Bareilles and Jason Mraz are always in her music rotation. Janique’s songs reflect her view of the world around her. Honesty is her greatest tool and her music comes from a deep and authentic place.

Dom Jones

Dom Jones is a graduate of Lehman College where he received his MAT in music education. He has been playing guitar since age 12 and bass since age 14. He attended Talent Unlimited H.S. in Manhattan where he played bass for the productions of Footloose, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Jones has performed everywhere from Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall to City Hall. A few NYC venues include Tammany Hall, Webster Hall's main stage, The Brooklyn Bowl, and Joe's Pub. When he was 17, he played bass for the off-Broadway production of HAIR at the Lion Theater in Times Square.

Jones has played with the Queens Symphonic Band, the York College Big Band, the Queensborough Jazz Ensemble, and the Lehman College jazz ensemble. Other ventures have included off-Broadway productions of Dreamgirls, RENT, Into The Woods, You're a good man Charlie Brown and an east coast tour with Grammy award winning recording artist Shaggy. He recently has become the primary bassist of the Soul Saving Station church in Harlem, NY. Jones continues to freelance around NYC while also performing with groups and artists such as Spells and Curses, Sage.Honey.Brandy, Stephen Oran, and Robert Ramson. 

Darrell Bridgers

Darrell Bridgers hails from Daytona Beach, Florida.  His very first album was The Monkeys. They had a television show that he would watch every Saturday morning. He loved their humor and watching their friendship intertwine with their music.

At age 10, his mother bought him a saxophone so he could join the local middle school band. By age 12, he was performing in parades and local talent shows.  Unfortunately, a year later, his mother was forced to pawn his saxophone to pay rent.  At around the same time, he and his siblings were also shipped off to Philadelphia to live with their Aunt Mae, while their mother stayed behind to try to piece their lives back together.  Fortunately, the story does not end there.  They say every cloud has a silver lining.  His Uncle June bought him his first electric guitar.  He was also introduced to Philly soul for the very first time. He would spend hours in his aunt’s basement listening to her old records. From Hall and Oats to Boyz to Men, he found something soothing in their songs, being separated from his mother. Hip hop also began to take root and grow as a musical genre. One of his fondest memories during his Philly years was sitting in his Aunt Mae’s back yard in Southwest Philly recording a video for his third Cousin, Eddie D, with all their family and friends in the neighborhood joining in and helping out.  

Although “Cash Money” never became a big hit, he imagined how The Monkeys must have felt bringing their music and friendships together in one place. The rest, as they say, is Sage.Honey.Brandy.