Don Drehoff and Stan Gabriszeski met in college (to ask "when" is like asking a woman her age ... simply not polite to do :-) and quickly formed a friendship, based on their affinity for music listening, writing and performing. They first performed together as "The Smack" -- and even opened for Peter Frampton -- but disbanded soon after graduation. Their first effort , "Surrender Dorothy" -- is the fulfillment of a promise made years ago -- and is their first record.

Coincidentally, they grew up 10 minutes from one another (in Brooklyn Park, MD and Glen Burnie, MD, (respectively), so the influences on their music is surprisingly similar. Don has been writing songs for years, creating music that portrays "the stuff of life" -- love, loss, faith, doubt, success, shortcoming, and all the rest. Stan's strong vocals add a deep richness and sense of urgency that complete the sound.

Together, they formed "The Empire Towers" (named after their hometown eight story "skyscraper" in a neighborhood of strip malls and one story ranchers) in order to execute upon and deliver their work. Supporting The Empire Towers are Jeff Morris (guitars), Inis Infante (bass) and Kenny Grimes (drums) -- three of the finest veteran musicians in Dallas, TX .


Back in Washington, DC , Don was fortunate to enlist Michael Sauri (producer/guitars... from Cinema 8 and Fighting Gravity), Marc Nelson (on bass... from The Nikki Barr Band and The Craftsmen) and Nate Brown ( on drums ... from Everything and Cracker) -- artists with their own significant resumes and successes -- to complete the second album and record the third end-to-end. All in all, the various players that participate, invest and contribute -- are "the fraternity" that is The Empire Towers.