About Us

Our beginning- Fall 2003

What started out as 4 guys getting together to play rock music “in the basement” evolved into a successful 20-year music adventure for the Shoreline based rock band “Out Of The Basement”.

After several weeks of jamming, we were excited to take the next step of playing for some of our close friends to see if we had what it took to play out at public venue’s. After performing our “12 songs” it was unanimous that we were ready to play out and now we needed to name the band. Our friends wrote some down and put them in a hat where Louise Kemler’s “Out of the Basement” became the clear winner.

Our first gig came as suddenly as did the sudden death of Ritchie Hotes our bass player. Richie was a prominent Dr. at New Britain Gen Hospital. In honor of Ritchie, we were asked to play at the event commemorating his passing where his son Todd Hotes quickly learned the bass parts never having played the bass in his life. It was a small miracle.

Our history-

Coming off a very emotional public debut gave us the idea of donating any of our proceeds to a local charity, so we selected the Ct Children’s Medical Ctr. and were fortunate to donated close to $10,000 over the first 2 years as a working band. “Out Of the Basement” has played many local bar and restaurant venues in CT over the years and has had the thrill of playing on some big stages such as Toad’s Place, The Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun, and The Paramount Theatre in Huntington, LI, opening for the nationally known Billy Joel tribute band Big Shot.

Today

Out Of The Basement currently plays a lighter schedule but loves exploring new opportunities. We enjoy a predominately summer schedule at Water’s Edge in Westbrook Ct where we play outside on the Sunset terrace overlooking LI Sound. These gigs have become a tradition encompassing generations of families from not only Stannard Beach where the band originated but all over Connecticut who love “Band Night”. The atmosphere on a Friday or Saturday summer night at Water’s Edge is only explained by being there and seeing the love shared between friends, family, and of course classic rock.