Bad Influence Band

Staying at the apex of the mid-Atlantic region’s competitive blues and roots music scene for a career that spans three decades isn’t easy. But that’s what the Bad Influence Band has done.. even while extending their reputation across the country thanks to wildly entertaining, high-energy performances, extensive airplay and three well-received albums.

Whether performing at a festival, on a stage at Kennedy Center or on Memphis’ hallowed Beale Street, the four-piece group featuring guitarist Michael Tash, harmonica ace and singer Roger Edsall, bassist-vocalist Bob Mallardi and drummer Joe Wells are unabashed crowd pleasers thanks to their expert ensemble playing, strong melodies, addictive grooves, sly original songwriting and sheer intensity.

“The most important thing is that everybody has fun, the audience and us,” explains bandleader Tash. “Whether we’re playing an original song or a classic, we’re going to put our hearts and souls into it in a way that people can hear, see and practically touch.”

2018 marked 30 years since Bad Influence® was formed. The original band made up of Michael Tash, Rick Haveland, Tom Swanton, and Fred Hillyard started out playing the blues in November of 1988. The lineup changed over the first couple of years leading to the 25+ year line-up of Tash, Edsall, Mallardi and drummer David Thaler, which was cemented in 1993. Wells joined the band in 2021 filling the drum throne vacated by David Thaler.