Al and the Transamericans is a side project band formed by guitarist Al Schnier of moe. Hailing from the Northeast, the band is best described as a roots rock, alt country, Americana group. All of the musicians are members of other bands (moe., Strangefolk, Okemah, the Gordon Stone Trio). History The band was started as a side project by Schnier in January 1999. They played four shows in the Northeast with their first show being at the Pontiac Grill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first incarnation of the band featured Schnier on guitar and vocals; Kirk Juhas of freebeer & chicken on keyboards, banjo, harmonica, and vocals; Jim Loughlin of Yolk on bass and vocals; Ted Marotta of Ominous Sea pods on drums and vocals; and Rolf Witt of the Merry Danksters and Sonic Garden on mandolin, fiddle, and guitar. They would not perform again until March 2000, when they played three shows in the Northeast. The lineup remained the same except Vinnie Amico of moe. replaced Marotta on drums. A few months later, in June 2000, the band played three more shows making their way across Upstate New York (Buffalo, Utica, Albany). The last show, in Albany, included a guest appearance by Marotta on drums. Their final show of 2000 was played at the first annual moe.down festival in Turin, NY. The festival is hosted by Schnier's band moe. over Labor Day weekend. Marotta once again made a guest appearance during this performance. Over a year later they would make their next appearance playing a moe. aftershow. The show, at the Lion's Den in New York City on Thanksgiving weekend, featured the same lineup minus Rolf Witt. In 2002 they played BerkFest, moe.down, and two other shows in the Northeast. The band's most active year was in 2003 when they played over twenty shows throughout the year. During this time the band was augmented; Al, Kirk (now of Okemah), and Vinnie remained, while Gordon Stone took over for Witt on banjo and pedal steel, and Erik Glockler from Strangefolk took over bass duties from Loughlin. Schnier's wife, Diane, also provided vocals from time to time. After moe.down IV, the band performed a series of dates in the Northeast in both the beginning of September and December. The tour was in support of their newly released album Analog, which was released on September 9, 2003. In late March 2004 the band