About Pinnacle

Purveyors of Progressive Rock in a power trio format hailing
from the Lehigh Valley area.

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Pinnacle’s roots go back to 1997 when Greg Jones met Karl Eisenhart. Karl recalls,” I was playing a gig with my acoustic duo in a coffee house. There was a loud, rowdy guy sitting right in front of me as the sun set in my eyes. When I could finally make out some details, I saw that the guy was wearing a Steve Morse Tee shirt. Instantly I was on my best musical behavior because here HAD to be someone who knew if I was faking it. Afterwards we struck up a conversation which lasted until the wee hours of the morning…standing in the street in a not-so-hot section of town.”
   Soon after that, Karl and Greg started playing together, going through a variety of other band members in the process. Eventually, they found JP Capiello who played bass and sang. The trio played maybe a dozen gigs over a year and a half period first under the name Dread Pirate Roberts (which proved to be too obscure and too easy for bar owners to screw up) and later as Landslide. JP’s life took him in a different direction (and to his own band, Recess) and the search was on again. Enter Bill Fox. Karl had known him for a while but just never made the connection that he might be the right guy for the job until sometime in early 2002.
   After the three players got together once, it was obvious that the combination was a good one. Everyone involved was pulling in the same direction and it just WORKED. They set to work learning a bunch of Progressive and Classic Rock covers by bands such as Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull and The Police to both get some local gigs and just gain some experience playing together. This also allowed them to fully explore just how many different things were musically possible in a three-piece band.
While it was never fully discussed, the band's musical goal seems to be to write reasonably accessible songs that are still firmly rooted in the best progressive rock traditions. The three members have influences which are wildly different in most cases, but with certain obvious overlaps.
   Greg Jones favors the experimental and dissonant textures and sharp, angular rhythmic ideas of bands like King Crimson and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the darker side of Spock's Beard. He also possesses, however, a keen ear for harmony, and melody and an ability to hear how seemingly incongruous parts can be made to fit together.
   Bill Fox comes to the band from a widely varied background. He has a well developed pop-sense which comes from being a rabid Beatles fan, but also spends a great deal of time working in the area of Electronic and Ambient music with his other band Xeroid Entity. Aside from the bass, he plays guitar and saxophone and has a tremendous understanding of music theory. Bill is currently working with 5 other bands, all in completely different musical areas.
   Karl Eisenhart brings a more guitar-oriented influence to the band. His writing and playing are heavily influenced by Rush and the Steve Morse Band, but also by his love for a well-crafted pop song. Seal, Joe Jackson and Til' Tuesday are personal favorites, along with groups like Marillion and Jethro Tull, who typify the more melodic and song-oriented end of the Progressive Rock genre. He currently plays in an acoustic duo and a country band, and made a living for a while playing in a variety/party band.
   Together, the three create a musical blend that, regardless of whether there is ever any money or world-wide fame to be had, is the sum of what they love about music. This can be heard on A Man's Reach and on their next release, due sometime in mid-2004.