Ivanhoe History

From May 1995 until August 2000, I was in a modern-rock cover band called Ivanhoe. We played for around 5 years and had a plethora of musicians play or fill in for the band

Ivanhoe started as an acoustic band, a la MTV Unplugged, where we'd play popular songs heard on the radio but in an acoustic setting, where the drummer used brush sticks, I played an acoustic guitar, and the bassist used an acoustic bass. The name of the band came from the singer's first name: Ivan. Ivanhoe is a classic literature book.

The first line-up to play included Ivan Anglero on vocals, Bob Judkins on drums, Chad MacDonald on bass and myself on guitar. Our first gig in May 1995 was at Ivan's colleague's house for a party! I scored some congas from a place I used to work at so Bob was able to incorporate them into the set.

After a few months, Bob started getting burned out, especially since he was in the National Guard and once a month had to be in early on weekends. It got to the point where he was even rushing to eat that at one show (Logan's in Hartford), he tried to play a few songs with one hand while eating with the other! Classic Bob...

I made some calls and we were able to find Bryn Mutch who had just finished a stint with Tattoo Jungle. He joined the band. Then, in October, he headed off to Scotland for a semester of studies so we then went through fill-in hell! We had Matt Franklin, Mike Crivellone (who along with Chad would go along to form The Flames), my brother Rich, and for a while we had a steady drummer in Harry Blackwell (son of legendary jazz drummer, Ed Blackwell). He also played with Shotgun Justice back in the day.

Well Bryn came back from his semester (around February 1996) in Scotland and lo-and-behold I forget to tell Harry that Bryn's back so they both end up showing up for a show in Southington. After a few minutes of scratching our collective heads, Harry decided he'd let Bryn take the gig.

Right around the same time, Chad had to leave to pursue The Flames full time, so we scooped up Dave Chirico.

A couple of years go by and Ivan finally decides to call it a day. Before he leaves, we play a few shows with Tom Pagani (Sequin Ruij) but let's just say it didn't work out.

At this point the gig turns into Ivanwhore. I would just book gigs and if someone couldn't make it I'd call whoever I could find in my organizer. Towards the last year of the band's existance, I didn't even play half the time! Jim O'Keefe or Mike Menta would fill in for me. Check out the list of people that played in the band and what they're up to now.

Bryn finds power vocalist Pozer Rob Pelletier. After a few gigs with him, he decides to quit for no apparent reason and then Bryn calls up Jim Collins from the duo, Jim & James. He hangs in there for a few months and then we call Ivan to finish off some shows, since I had moved to New York and Bryn and Dave began pursuing other bands. Dave joins the R&B Maxi Walker band. They both finally end up in Believer, the Ozzy tribute.

Our last gig was scheduled for late August at Slider's in Westerly, RI right on the beach. Bryn and Dave get stuck in traffic and get to the club too late and with the threat of rain, we end up having to pack up and thus end the legacy that was Ivanhoe.

Click here for more 'Hoe pictures!