The people who make the music

Darryl Grandison Vocals, Percussion

Darryl Grandison is a singer who has been writing poems, lyrics and songs since he was 14 years old. As a young boy, Darryl sang in the choirs of his paternal and maternal grandmother's churches as well as participating in school bands, choruses, and choirs. Darryl started out in the music business in Baltimore, Maryland as a roadie for Zebulon and the Fullness Band in 1991. In Early 1992, the greatest song Darryl has ever heard, was born unto him in the form his one and eternal son named Malik! Shortly after the birth of his son a string of serious unfortunate events caused Darryl to have to relocate and be separated from his only son. In 1993 Darryl moved to Seattle and met the prolific and Legendary Jamaican Reggae singers/musicians Azeem of Sessions and Rebel Soo Bands, and the late, great Alric Forbes of The Defenders. After some tutelage from the aforementioned Reggae legends, Darryl soon became the tour and road manager for Azeem's Rebel Soo Band and toured the Western States of the U.S. (1994-96). It was during this time that Darryl learned how to play the bass guitar (once more tutored and encouraged by Azeem and Alric), as well as develop his distinct and smooth lyrical yet rude dancehall style of singing! Throughout the last decade Darryl has been in several bands either as a lead vocalist, Bass player, back up vocalist or all of the above.

Orion Anderson Guitar

Orion Anderson was born in Minneapolis Minnesota, and has lived in Washington since he was 7 years old. After joining the junior high school orchestra to play Viola and Upright Bass, he soon quit for lack of interest in the school's curriculum of classical music. When he was 17 he bought a rusty used guitar with two broken strings from his little brother for $5 and started to teach himself how to play. Soon after that he hooked up with a veteran guitar player from a local Seattle band who taught him how to play the Texas blues. Blues and R&B completely revitalized his interest and dedication to music, and after hearing the uplifting, infectious rhythms of the Wailers, the Maytals, and the Upsetters his love affair with Jamaican music began. In February 2001, he formed the Seattle blues/funk/rock trio Apriori, and performed at various clubs and bars around North Seattle. In February of 2005 he met Toby and David as the inception of the Orbits was beginning.

David "Ozzie" Giles Hammond Organ

Ozzie lived in Melbourne, Australia until one day his Mum asked him if he wanted to visit Disneyland. He didn't notice that she hadn't mentioned ever coming back. So they headed to Disneyland, and then up to Stockton, California, where he met a lot of people who confused the Bible with the Bill of Rights and couldn't find Australia on a map, but could quote Crocodile Dundee flawlessly. Needless to say he was horrified and vowed never to fit in. He tried repeatedly to get back to Australia and was thwarted by the Gods at every turn. But he heard the sound of a Hammond organ on the radio and knew he wanted to play it before he even knew what it was. He made friends who talked him into a garage band and resurrected the old keyboard which had been sitting in the back of his closet since he had almost learned to play it at age twelve. When he got to college in Davis, California, he spent all his free time in the dorms torturing the kids who lived above the piano room with the same three blues riffs and blew his first financial aid check on an organ. And he discovered Ska just before everyone else forgot about it. When the Danish-Congolese Free Jazz guru John Tchicai (who played with John Lennon, John Coltrane, Sonic Youth, and more) found all the good piano players in town were busy, someone recommended David. So he had to finally learn to actually play, not to mention to read music, and had a good old time composing long intricate avant-garde Jazz and Spoken Word. With a few friends from Tchicai's Sound and Poetry Source, Ozzie started the Pacific Avenue Jazz Quartet. These days he's a TA in the Anthropology and Comparative History of Ideas departments at the University of Washington and spends his Sundays making food for Homeless folks with Food Not Bombs. But when the rain started, he sought out Ska to cheer him up. Then he met Toby. Then David, and then the Orbits. So now it looks like he's in it the long haul. But he's never, never going back to Disneyland.

Dan Loren Flugelhorn, Trumpet, Bugle

Dan Loren won first place in a whistling competition in his home state of West Virginia at the age of seven. Since then, he has remained in the spotlight, performing on and off of broadway, eventually dropping out of broadway to join a traveling dance troupe. Though Dan's interests have always been in the performing arts, he also finds comfort in his hobbies. When he's not parading across the stage in tap shoes, Dan spends time organizing his collection of ceramic horses, grooming each one carefully as if it were his own child.

Gregory Larson Trombone

Gregory Larson is a stereotypical Washingtonian. He drinks coffee, he rides a bicycle, and he wears shorts in the rain. Greg also plays trombone and attends Cornish College of the Arts, where he is on a 3 year mission to seek out his BA in jazz performance. Studying from local jazz stars such as, Julian Preister, Denny Goodhew, Chuck Deardorf, Jovino Santos Neto, and Jim Knapp, Greg is constantly being inspired to climb to the next plain of musical existence. Even though he has played many instruments, Greg has found the Trombone allows him to convey his musical ideas best. Ever since high school Greg has always had the utmost respect for any style of music (even if he is making fun of it). Greg found himself playing on stage with The Georgetown Orbits exactly one month after answering an ad on craigslist.

David Obright Drums, Backup Vocals

David Obright was born in Georgetown, WA on the left side of the railroad tracks. He learned to play the drums after stealing some plastic buckets from the local supermarket, and made some good cash on various street corners throughout high school. After getting tired of banging on stolen plastic buckets he decided he wanted to be a famous jamaican ska musician, so he packed his dirty clothes and moved to jamaica where he lived on the streets of downtown kingston for two and half years. There he learned the soul of ska and reggae and its intricacies, and soon returned to Georgetown to start up his own project. He contacted his previous network of homeless crude individuals and began forming the Georgetown Orbits. This was just the beginning! (FYI David no longer plays plastic buckets...he returned them to their original owner just last week).

Tobias Kremple Bass

Toby grew up in the bay area. He started taking electric guitar lessons when he was 14, and moved to Seattle at age 17 to explore his own academic interests. It was here that he began to foster his healthy obsession with traditional Ska music. He took an interest in booking and promoting local music, and eventually wrote his undergraduate ethnomusicology thesis on contemporary American Ska. As a bassist, Toby takes his primary inspiration from the Jamaican Ska greats. He is self-taught on electric and upright bass, and tends to favor lines that are simple but steady. His musical interests are diverse, ranging from Motown, Jazz, and Soul to Death Metal, Hip Hop, and Electronic. Since arriving in Seattle in 2001, a number of projects have come and gone: two Punk bands, two Ska bands, a Grunge band, and one Balinese Gamelan ensemble. Something clicked when he met David Obright at a show a few years back, and their mutual interests eventually led to the formation of the Orbits. Together, Toby and David also play in an acoustic Ska trio called Goliath and the Daves, and are involved in a Ska and Dub recording project with musical acquaintances in Vancouver, BC.

Tim Kerans Tenor Saxophone

Tim was born and grew up in Eugene, Oregon, playing saxophone and flute from sixth grade through two years of college, playing in up to four different ensembles at the same time. From 1989 through 1994, he played in various bands in the Eugene area including Naked Lunchbox, Nutcluster, and the Metropolitan Saxophone Quartet. Moving to Washington D.C. in 1994, Tim put the horn down to concentrate on making a living for quite a few years before the itch to play music needed to be scratched. During that time, Tim never lost his love for the groove, listening to an ever-expanding array of music of all styles. Funk, avant-garde jazz, blues, bluegrass, hip-hop, electronic, afro-beat, reggae, ska, and that infinite genre known as "jambands" were all attractive to Tim's ear. Some of Tim's favorite artists are Fela Kuti, Pharoah Sanders, Carlos Malcolm, Jackie Mittoo, Skerik, Medeski, Martin & Wood, David S. Ware, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. When the time came to play again, Tim started working on his tone and his technique for a few months, answered a few different craigslist ads, and after a couple of failed attempts to find a band, found himself trying out for the Georgetown Orbits.

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The Georgetown Orbits
Seattle, Washington, USA, Planet Earth. Sick.
Email us at: TheOrbits@Gmail.com