Their story begins in the fall of 1992 when Virginia Tech student John Haramis asked childhood friend and drummer Dan Gutwein to move south to Blacksburg to start a new band. After replying to an ad placed around campus, Andrew Woltman along with bass player and long time friend Ron Teodoro completed the original lineup of Watershed.
Over a year-and-a-half of steady playing on the local scene (and a few new credit cards) led Watershed to release their 11 song debut album "Westby Mansion Revisited" in May of 1994. This success garnered them an ever expanding touring radius and steadily increasing album sales in the southeast.
Following the release of "Westby...", the band went through a series of lineup and name changes. In November 1994, bassist Ron Teodoro left the band to be replaced by Ben Liptak. Not long after Ben joined they began calling themselves Watershed Down and by September 1995, the name Midway first appeared. Drummer Dan Gutwein departed in mid-summer 1996 leaving a void that was finally filled by Terry Willis.
In January of 1996, the band decided to take some time off to refocus their efforts. With a large backlog of material to draw upon, Midway headed back into the studio in late fall to work with producer Harry Evans (Poole-SpinArt Records) to record a new five song EP.
Midway is currently playing regional dates to promote their new album, "Poole Hall Sessions" which is receiving airplay on stations throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. The band plans to head back into the studio in late-1998 to begin work on a full length follow up album tentatively titled "Wow".
Member Bios
ANDREW WOLTMAN
Andy's musical influences include: The Beatles, Crowded House, Matthew Sweet, The Smiths, Midnight Oil, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Debbie Gibson.
Andy's current guitar of choice is a Gibson Les Paul. He plays through a Fender Twin Reverb Reissue amp using an Ibanez Tube Screamer and a RAT distortion pedal. His guitar collection also includes a Fender Telecaster, a Fender Stratocaster, a Fender Jazzmaster, and an Epiphone Shearton.
He is a Sagittarius born November 28th who likes bubble baths, long walks in the park, and women who aren't afraid to cry.
JOHN HARAMIS
When not working at the university, John can be found running sound at several local venues, coverining network administrator duties at the Center for Wireless Telecommunications or working as an electrician.
The bands he has been listening to recently include Joe Jackson, Jump Little Children, Emmet Swimming, Innocent Nixon, The Grandsons, Sheryl Crow, Beck, DPW, Teenage Fanclub, Liz Phair, Apples In Stereo, and Mayflies USA. Other favorites include The Beatles, The Connells (check out Art Jipson's fan site as well), Matthew Sweet, and The Four Seasons.
John plays a 1990 Fender American Standard Telecaster through a Fender Pro 185 Amp via Tubeworks Real Tube and Danelectro Daddy-O distortion pedals. He musical instrument collection also includes a 1967 Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennesean, a Cellini accordion, a Yamaha CP-20 Electronic Piano, a Crumar STS Stratus analog yynth, a Cromwell Harmonium, a bouzouki (it's an 8-string greek instrument), a trombone (on loan from Jim "Pole" Schaefer), and a Takimine G-330S 6-string acoustic. He uses D'Addario XL115W strings on all his electric guitars (still no endorsement deal?).
He is a Pisces born February 23rd who eagerly watches This Old House and Hometime at any chance he gets and can tackle just about any project...no matter how long it takes to finish! He also looks after a house full of cats with his significant other Lisa.
John has a personal website here
BEN LIPTAK
The bands Ben has been listening to recently include Wilco, God Street Wine, Ben Folds Five, From Good Homes, and Morphine. Other influences include Big Head Todd, Blues Traveler, The Freddy Jones Band, King's X, Widespread Panic, Matthew Sweet, and Rush.
Ben plays a Sukop 5-string as well as a late eighties Fender Jazz Bass modified with a Musickraft fretless neck. He runs both instruments through a Peavey TKO 75 combo amp.
He is a Libra born October 19 who, when not working on or washing his car, can be found watching The Simpsons, out on a run, listening to old vinyl, or getting to know the intricacies of fretless bass. Not one to over indulge, Ben enjoys a good beer every now and then while reading motor sport magazines. He has also worked with the Indy Car Team (Formula SAE) at Virginia Tech and eventually plans to get the '71 Honda CB350 motorcycle sitting in the band garage running (much to the dismay of his parents!).
Ben has a personal website here
TERRY WILLIS
Terry attended the School of Music at East Carolina University for three semesters before coming to Virginia Tech in the fall of 1996. He is currently a junior studying Psychology and Sociology planning to graduate in the spring of 1999.
Some of Terry's musical influences include Phish, Henry Threadgill, Tower of Power, Dennis Chambers,
Toto, Janis Joplin, Tin Men, and Frank Zappa, to name a few.
Terry plays a four piece TAMA drum kit with Zildjian cymbals all around using Vic Firth SD1 Combo sticks.
He is an Aquarius born February 11 who, outside of the band, can be found reading a good book, shooting pool, watching NBA, taking a hike through the woods, studying for classes.
...is 27 years old and has been playing guitar for nine years. He grew up in Fort Washington, Maryland and began his musical career playing drums in various high school cover bands. He started writing and singing soon after, all the while growing more adept on guitar. He arrived in Blacksburg, VA in 1990 where he attended Virginia Tech until 1995 as a Forestry major. His degree is still pending (soon mom, I swear!). Primarily a self-taught guitar player, he did take lessons for a year from Richard Jesse, Blacksburg's very own guitar virtuoso.
...is 28 years old and has been playing in bands for more than twelve years. He grew up in rural northwestern New Jersey where he played in a band called Public Outcry with former Midway drummer Dan Gutwein. He has earned a B.S. (1994) and M.S. (1997) in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and is currently pursuing a National Science Foundation sponsered Ph.D. investigating freeze-thaw durability of composite materials.
...is 23 years old and has been playing bass for eight years. Early on, he took lessons from Dallas Smith, bass player for the Marine Jazz Band. Ben grew up in Burke, Virginia and played in several bands before coming to Blacksburg in 1994 to attend Virginia Tech. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in Materials Science Engineering and plans to graduate in the spring of 1999.
...is 25 years old and has been playing drums for ten years. He grew up in Chantilly, Virginia where he played in various rock and roll bands as well as in high school marching, symphonic, and jazz bands. Over the course of his musical career, he has taken lessons from Menzie Pittman, Marshal Malley, Harold Jones, and Mark Ford.
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