Monica | Kurt | Hutch | Greg | Jay | Edward | Steve


Monica Graham (vocals)
Vocalist Monica Graham has been having a love affair with music since her earliest days singing with her family in church, where a premium was placed on getting the melodies and harmonies right. The world is only now meeting Monica in a pop band environment. After hearing her in action, you will wonder why it took so long.

Citing influences as diverse as Patti Austin, Maysa, Ella Fitzgerald, and gospel luminary Tramaine Hawkins, Monica is eager to channel her gifts and energies into singing that makes the music live and breathe. Her love of music will grab you from the first note. Monica views Hip Pocket's broad-ranging repertoire as "not only a challenge I've been looking for, but one that gives me great satisfaction in seeking out the heart of every song."



Kurt Hammond (guitar)
By now everyone knows that The Beatles played on Ed Sullivan in 1964, and inspired an entire generation to pick up the guitar. Kurt was into the Moptops like the rest of the world, but what was with the nutsy screaming, and “Paul’s the cute one”? What really knocked him out was a WNET special called Bach and Roll with pianist Glen Gould trading sets with The Blues Project with Danny Kalb on lead guitar. This was down and dirty, but cosmic and soaring all at once…. wicked. Kurt’s been trying to recapture that vibe ever since. He majored in guitar at Johns Hopkins, only to find out, four years later, there was no guitar major. Oops. Then there were the lost years of being a lowly Deadhead (Jerry Lives).

The ensuing 34 years found Kurt chasing the sound around to hard rock, pop, blues, R&B, country, jazz, and classical guitar, and man….it’s everywhere! Kurt’s seeming lack of ability to settle down into one niche, does reveal him to be a scatter-brained fool, but also Jack of all Trades, and Master of Fun!! He now tries to impart the obsession to his guitar students at his home in Pikesville and kicks out the jams with HIP POCKET.

Kurt’s tip to guitar players and lovers of guitar music: If you haven’t done so already, check out the following: Robben Ford, Junior Brown, Frank Vignola, Tommy Emanuel, and David Russell.


Tom "Hutch" Hutchinson (vocals)
What can soothe a rampant King Kong in one breath, yet ricochet off the stratosphere in the next? Only the Velvet Firecracker voice of Tom Hutchinson, known by those who love him, or don’t know any better, as HUTCH.

Like all the players who find themselves in HIP POCKET, a list of Hutch’s influences reads like the menu at the Double T Diner….it’s all over the place! Todd Rundgren, Cass Elliot, Dean Martin, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Aerosmith, The Tubes, Skid Row…..like the best Gumbo, it’s a savory stew!

Handily tripping from the sublime to the profane, Hutch is as at home in a choir as he is in the musical theater, or rocking your neighborhood pub.

In his eighteen years of delighting ears, Hutch has amassed lots of stories about his vocal adventures (only a few fueled by tequila.) There was the impromptu serenading of the crowd at a Toronto piano bar with a torchy “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, replete with rose in the teeth, and the [touching] acapella “Winter Wonderland” on the flight from Cincinnati to Philly……where will the stealth singer strike next? If you’re in luck, you’ll be there!


Greg Fenlon (drums)
“Man, I’m dying to play some Funk!” cried Greg, and shortly thereafter, HIP POCKET was born. While the band certainly plays a lot more than the basic Funk repertoire, it’s a testament to Greg’s Respect for the Groove that he is a master of that drum-driven style.

Greg has in fact played every imaginable style of American music in his thirty-three years as a professional tub-basher, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Country, R&B. Greg paid his dues on the road with a Vegas-style show band, playing among other dates, a month-long booking on Hilton Head for the Southern Governors’ Conference. He’s also been spotted playing for bikers and brides, and you can be sure everyone gets the same Royal Rhythm Treatment!

Greg cites as major influences household names like Mick Fleetwood and John Bonham, and the music of Jimi Hendrix and Santana. He also urges everyone to check the liner notes for the unsung heroes that drive the hits: Steve Gadd, David Garibaldi, Harvey Mason, Liberty DeVito, Omar Hakim, and Jeff Porcaro, to name just a few wonderful drummers.

Greg also possesses an awesome set of pipes, he’s a big part of HIP POCKET’S sweet vocal assault. Add that to his authoritative presence behind the drum kit and you’ll hear why he says: “Every tune has a groove, and when you play to that groove, that’s when the tune is really happening!”


Jay Cincotta (keyboards)
Jay studied piano at Towson State University and brings a diverse palette of musical loves to the Hip Pocket party. When Jay lights into the keys, you’ll hear the jazz influences of Keith Jarrett and Joe Zawinul, mingled with the likes of fusion maestro George Duke, boogie-woogie queen Marcia Ball, and the inscrutable Donald Fagen. When he digs in with Kurt’s guitar bashing and Greg and Edward’s righteous thump, the band totally rocks the pocket!




Edward Graham (bass)
Bassist Edward Graham has spent more than 20 years attempting to unlock the secrets of better bass playing, and expects finally to crack the code at the band's next performance. Emboldened by seeing unsuspecting audiences get up and dance, he figures something must be going right, so why not keep trying?

First inspired to play bass by a shocking inability to understand guitar, he was drawn deeper into the instrument by the music of Motown and the Beatles that prominently featured the distinctive bass stylings of James Jamerson and Paul McCartney, respectively. He has played in bands of every stripe and volume level, and hopes there is at least a little of what first turned him on about the bass in every song he plays, regardless of genre.

Edward's principal ambition as a bass player is to make people want to dance, "because if people are dancing, y'know they are listening too."




Steve Griffin (sax)
Steve has been one of the most in-demand players in Baltimore, and when you realize that he burns on sax, clarinet, keys and vocals, you see why. Steve has rocked the pocket in Baltimore’s best bands, playing soul, 60s and 70s rock, big band music, summer theater, and more intimate lounge acts. He brings together the influences of the Beatles, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, David Sanborn, Manhattan Transfer, Tower of Power, Eagles, etc, etc, and spits ‘em out through the horn in a way that is both killer and lyrical.

Speaking of Tower of Power, Steve recalls how he and his bandmates were gigging on a Monday night (yes, Baltimore was full of 7-nights a week live music clubs back in the day) and looking forward to attending the TOP show that Wednesday, when a scruffy looking bunch walked into the club. Yes, it was three members of TOP who proceeded to sit in with the band that night and the next, and had Steve and his buddies backstage at the show on Wednesday. Steve can hang with the best!