Ray Adkins’s music career started years ago in his teens performing James Taylor’s music and other artists at local venues in North Carolina . In 1976 he moved to Pennsylvania and resided at Kripalu Yoga Ashram in Sumneytown Pa. It’s there he spent his time songwriting,recording and performing regularly. In 1985 Ray started a band with Will Hodgson called The Mighty Manatees. They still play out to this day and he sits in with them occasionally. for over 25 years Ray has been performing at New Thought churches through out the United states. He currently resides as the musical director at the Greater Philadelphia Center For Spiritual Living in Valley Forge Pa. From 2014 to 2023 Ray was the musical director at New Church Live in Bryn Athen Pa. He still performs there as a special guest from time to time.
Ray came full circle years later and started the group One Man Dog - a James Taylor tribute show in 2019, performing primarily in the Philadelphia area. The timing seemed relevant to bringing down the temperature in our culture with his soothing songs.
Jim Hines spent most of his career in Chicago, where he came up through the club scene, eventually becoming a first call studio musician there. In 1999, he was offered the gig with Brian Wilson. Jim toured and recorded with Brian for 10 years, winning a Grammy Award for the album “Smile”. He’s had lots of fun “big shot” experiences which he’ll gladly talk about with very little coaxing. He moved to New Hope in 2013, and lives with his wife and daughter.
Brian K. Herder has been making music since childhood, picking up guitar at age six and teaching
himself a range of instruments including pedal steel, fiddle, mandolin, and dobro. Influenced by George
Harrison, Duane Allman, James Burton, and Cornell Dupree, he later trained with Barry Kornfeld of
New York’s Guitar Study Center. Brian has performed in bluegrass and country bands throughout his
life and freelances with artists across genres. A founding member of One Man Dog, he’s celebrated for
his instinctive playing, quick adaptability, and ability to bring songs to life on any stage.
Frank Strauss has played, toured, arranged and recorded with a number of artists, most notably Tom Jones and Melissa Manchester.
Frank has also performed with Peabo Bryson, Chaka Khan, Joan Osbourne, and the Boston Pops, among others.
Television appearances include 'The Tonight Show', 'The Jimmy Kimmel Show', Late Night with Conan O' Brian', 'Ellen', 'Good Morning America', 'Live w/ Regis and Kelly', and others.
Frank also has composed, arranged and recorded music for many children's televison shows on Disney, Netflix, and Apple TV.
Over the years Chico Huff has had the pleasure of playing music with James Taylor, Carly Simon, Solas, Cathy Ryan, Karan Casey, Jeff Golub, Richard Elliot, John Swana, Liz Carrol, John Doyle, John Belushi, Charlie Musslewhite, Jef Lee Johnson (check him out, folks), Dave Posmontier, Kit Walker and a long list of other national and international stars.
Emily Drinker is an independent, award-winning singer-songwriter from Philadelphia. Emily has been featured by NPR Music, Philadelphia's WXPN, and played at many regional festivals including Firefly, Musikfest, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. In the last few years, Emily has opened for Pat Benatar, Rufus Wainwright, JD Souther (Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, James Taylor), Switchfoot, Joey Dosik (Vulfpeck) and Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon’s Graceland). In addition to a busy performance schedule in Philly and its surrounding areas, Emily enjoys working as a session vocalist doing sync work for national TV shows, performing in half a dozen local bands, and hosting a festival in her backyard with her band/housemates. (CINNAMiN Fest!)
Valentina Raffaelli is an Italian-born multi-talented creative.
She moved to Philadelphia to pursue a career in music and is now a performer, music director, voice teacher and singer-songwriter. When she is not performing or arranging backup vocals with One Man Dog, Valentina performs her original music with Valentina Sounds, for which recently won her the award of Best Female Solo Artist.
Her favorite JT song is "Handyman"
Marguerite Herder is a lifelong music lover who sings backup vocals in One Man Dog alongside her dad on guitar and pedal steel. She is a hairstylist by trade. In her down time, she enjoys cooking, camping, and hanging out with her boyfriend Brian and their dog Marvin.
