Luehrman, Shaffer & Check Bio As the title of their latest recording, “12-piece Trio” suggests, this group is known for the large arsenal of musical instruments they use to play a dizzyingly diverse variety of musical styles and genres, running the gamut of American musical archetypes: old time country, New Orleans jazz, swing, Broadway, delta blues, Latin and Americana folk. Their repertoire features a large number of original compositions that dovetail well with covers from bygone eras of American music. Mick Luehrman can be heard on vocals, guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, and occasionally cornet. He has been performing professionally since the late days of the Ford administration and was a founding member of Kansas City regional acts such as Diamond Jim, Mr. Smith, and The Hummin’ Birds, as well as the Columbia, Missouri, group Monkey Grip. An insightful songwriter with a sense of humor and a musical archivist, he is also a visual artist, teacher in the Department of Art & Design at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), Multi-instrumentalist Tony Shaffer, long time member of country legend Leroy Van Dyke’s band, provides stellar musicianship, entertaining wit and comic relief. Tony is featured on a boatload of different guitars, dobro, banjo and harp. Tony has toured and performed nationally and internationally with an amazing array of country music stars including Roy Clark, Narvel Felts, Rex Allen Jr., Jimmy Fortune, Moe Bandy, TG Shepard, and Bobby Bare, to name a few. Musically adept in many styles he is also a published author. John Check can be found on upright string bass, sousaphone, clarinet, trombone, and occasional vocals. Check teaches music theory at UCM and is a member of UCM faculty instrumental ensembles. He is at home with a diverse group of musical genres, from classical to jazz and even polka, a musical form that he learned at an early age playing in his father’s band in Wisconsin. John’s father was a renowned polka band leader who wrote countless songs that are standards and produced dozens of albums over the course of his career.