Pinnacle

Although Pinnacle have concentrated on writing material for CDs, they have performed to enthusiastic crowds at the Sterling Hotel (Allentown), Our Beer Bellys (Bethlehem), Brenda & Jerry's (Bath), ProgOctoberfest (Saratoga, NY), and ProgDay (Chapel Hill, NC). They backed Nick D'Virgilio (Tears for Fears, Genesis, Spocks Beard, Mike Keneally Band) at one of his east coast solo concerts and opened for the legendary Spocks Beard at The Forum Theater and for Polish band Riverside at the Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. Pinnacle has played several shows for NJP at the Progschool as headliners, including their CD release party for the Meld CD. The band's musical goal is to write accessible songs that are still firmly rooted in the best Progressive Rock traditions. The three members have influences which are wildly different in most cases, but with certain obvious overlaps. Pinnacle's roots go back to 1997 when Karl Eisenhart was playing a job with his acoustic duo, Red and spotted Greg Jones in the audience. Greg was wearing a Steve Morse tee shirt and Karl instantly knew he had found a kindred spirit. Karl and Greg soon started playing together, going through a variety of other band members in the process. Under the name Dread Pirate Roberts and later as Landslide, they played a few jobs around town, but players moved on and they were searching for that magical third person to complete the band. Bill Fox, known by Karl for a while, was finally asked to join. After one rehearsal together, it was obvious that the combination was a good one. Everyone involved was pulling in the same direction. They set to work learning Progressive and Classic Rock covers by bands such as Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull and The Police to both get some local gigs and gain some experience playing together. This also allowed them to fully explore just how many different things were musically possible in a three-piece band. Greg Jones favors bands like King Crimson and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Spock's Beard. Bill Fox comes to the band from a varied background of '60s pop, electronic and ambient music, folk, and classical. His top picks are The Beatles, Toy Matinee, Klaatu, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and The Vinyl Kings. Karl Eisenhart brings a guitar-oriented influence to the band, heavily influenced by Rush and the Steve Morse Band, and loves a well-crafted pop song. Seal, Joe Jackson, Til' Tuesday, Marillion, and Jethro Tull have influenced Karl. In 2010, we added Karl's childhood friend Matt Francisco as vocalist. BTW, he plays keys, too!