Bios

Brooke Ringger has been a professional singer, dancer and actress for 25 years. She started her professional career in Jackson Hole WY, Salt Lake City UT and then New York City. She landed where she was born in California. She is a west coast girl for sure. She had starring roles in many Musicals like Evita, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Oklahoma, Sound of Music and the list goes on. She joined a cover band in 2000 where she met her drummer husband, Rob Ringger. They have a music studio together (Ringger Studios), they play in multiple bands and have 5 crazy kids. It's a wonderful and incredibly busy life.

Martin has been performing and teaching for more than 40years! He has a Bachelor in Music from CSU Sacramento and a Master in Music from University of Southern California. The variety of stage work he has enjoyed includessingingin a gospel group as back up to Earth, Wind, and Fire, singing with the Los Angeles Jazz Choir backing up Rosemary Clooneyandsinging with theLos Angeles Chamber Singers.

Martin has 3 albums available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. “My Irish Eyes”, “Martin Bealwith a Touch of Brass”and “Smile”. Songs from “Smile”hit number one on several Jazz stations around the world.Heis working on his fourthalbum ofBroadway Tunesdueto be released Spring of 2023.

Singer and keyboardist Aaron Gayden brings the groove, playing not only with HipNosisbut his own, self-named every occasion band. This multi-instrumentalist has composed music for an amusement park, TV and film and worked with Grammy winning songwriter-producer Kuk Harrell (Beyonce, Usher, Mary J. Blige). Touring with Latin Music Hall of Fame artist, Juan Gabriel, Gayden has performed across the US and in Mexico, Japan and the Bahamas. A very diverse performer, Gayden is comfortable playing R&B, jazz and gospel, folk, country rock, dance and far beyond. His versatile voice may even be partof some of your favorite Roland Keyboard sounds.

Bill Vallaire brings the heat and fire on guitar and vocals as a 40-year veteran of San Francisco Bay area bands, including touring with blues singer Sista Monica and Blues at Eleven. Originally from Monterey, he studied under the late jazz composer-arranger Don Schamber and guitarist Craig Callas. Centered in Cameron Park, Vallaire has a recording studio at the ready, using his wealth of experience to produce danceable grooves and soulful sounds for upcoming artists in the Sacramento area.

Want to get funky? Call on bass player Peter Mancini, an eclectic musician and high school band director for Mesa Verde High Schoolin Citrus Heights, who also plays in the Sac City Little Big Band. Mancini got the music bug early, playing bass for a punk garage band in middle school, but it was meeting Jaco Pastorius when he was in high school that sealed his fate. Even though Mancinihas a graduate degree in chemistry, he learned his true formula was funk. In addition to his share of gigging in the Sacramento area, he also inspires his students in jazz band, concert band, chorus and other ensembles. One thing you can be certain about Mancini, he’s got the funk.

Rob Ringger wields the sticks, keeping a propulsive beat on the drums that pulls dancers out of their seats. A multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer and music teacher, Ringger operates Ringgerstudios with his wife Brooke, a vocalist. A sly sense of humor keeps his five kids, and the HipNosis band, all in perspective.

You could say Paul Simmons does it all. Playing trumpet, flugelhorn and singing backup for Hipnosis, Simmons also writes some of the band’s brass arrangements. Straddling genre --from classical to jazz, rock, soul and funk --and performing in a myriad of ensembles, Simmons is on just about every stage in the region. And California isn’t his only venue, Simmons has played with bands in the Philadelphia area, Las Vegas and Manhattan, putting his master’s degree in music to work. When Simmons isn’t crafting tasty horn fills, or playing with a symphony, you might find him on the long-distance running path.

Trombonist Dana Douglas is a veteran of thousands of live concerts throughout all 50 states and several other countries. Her 20-year career as a professional L.A. musician boasts stints with artists such as Chicago, The Temptations, Barry Manilow, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Rita Moreno, The Four Tops, Harry James, the San Francisco Opera, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Al Hirt, Mel Torme, and others. Supplementing her concert work, Dana can also be heard on over 200 albums, motion pictures, TV shows and jingles. Having given up the big city for a country life in the Sierra foothills, Dana's rich musical experience now anchors the HipNosis horn section.

Music has always been a part of Mark's life. He played saxophone through elementary and high school, then studied as a classical saxophonist. It wasn't until his later years of college that jazz, R & B, pop and blues began to take hold. Since then, he has played in countries ranging from Ireland to Cuba to China and many others in between. Mark has recorded, produced and arranged for orchestra and studio projects, but is happiest inside a small combo on the backside of a deep groove.

As the vision of multi-instrumentalist Bob Hansen, HipNosisis the culmination of 45 years of music, realizing his dream of pulling together the best artists and using his artistic vision to guide and provide arrangements for the band. He’s appeared in Late for Dinner, Aftershock, The Pickups, After Hours and the Deb Smith Band on sax and backing vocals.