Capital View plays crowd favorites from rock classics to today's pop and country hits. Accommodating the right mix for your event, the band can adapt from a full band set-up that will get the crowd on the dance floor to duo performances for intimate venues with a mellow vibe or anything in between.
Kelsey Kaplan is a singer/songwriter from Tolland, Connecticut. Kelsey holds a bachelor's degree from the Berklee College of Music and is a practicing Music Therapist and Special Education Interventionist. Whether playing at a local tavern, singing the National Anthem at a packed stadium, or singing the lyrics in her original songs -- Kelsey finds emotional strength through music and lives by her mantra "where words fail, music speaks." Her favorite mixed drink is Tito’s and Tito’s and she considers a bottle of Tito’s to be her “Spirit Animal” because, like her, the bottle is filled with literally just Tito’s on the inside.
Kelsey is joined by Patrick Thomas (guitar, back-up vocals), Kevin Maki (bass), Ben Braz (keyboards, lead harmonica) and Hugh Jeffries (drums); all talented musicians from the Greater Hartford area.
Much of Patrick’s musical background has revolved around harder rock and jazz. This different musical background gives an extra twist on the lighter pop tunes and country hits that makeup the troupe's repertoire. In his time off stage, Patrick spends as much time as he can in the sky, working as a commercial pilot and flight instructor. His preferred beverage is...actually the only thing he drinks is black coffee and he thinks the President that most reminds him of Kevin is Theodore Roosevelt but doesn’t think Teddy has as great of a beard as Kevin.
Ben brings elements of the baroque and classical periods into the group. Listen closely and you will hear the genius of Bach and Mozert in his playing during the band’s renditions of Katy Perry or Taylor Swift. When he is not “Tickling the Ivories,” Ben spends his time working as a Media Technician for higher education institutions in the New England area. Ben’s favorite type of wine is Vinho Verde loves spending time on the family farm cultivating apple orchards. He has been compared to the bounty Hunter Din Djarin or more commonly known as The Mandalorian, the only difference is instead of traveling across the galaxy wielding Blasters and Disintegration Rifles, Ben wrangles bad guys with tasty tunes and hot licks off of his keytar.
Hugh is the band’s resident mathematician. No one else can count to 4 as well, or as loud, as he does. Drummer jokes aside, Hugh is a seriously talented musician and is the bedrock for which the sound of the band builds from. Hugh spends his time away from the kit as a Technical Sales Specialist working with end users and dealers to optimize market penetration and customer satisfaction. His soda of choice is Fanta and he loves long evening drives in his golf cart. Hugh most likens himself to the leading Avenger Tony Stark, not only because he’s a mechanical genius, but because he spends his life surrounded by metal and makes loud noises.
If Hugh were the bedrock, Kevin would be the wood glue that bonds the different musical elements of the band together. Kevin’s musical motto is “No Days Off.” Time off the stage is spent spreading the joy of music with younglings and works as a music teacher in the Hartford area. On the weekends he takes his adorable pup “Banjo” on adventures among the coniferous forests of New England. His Favorite drink is Evan Williams and his life’s ambition is to own Glamdring, the sword forged by the elves of Gondolin in the First Age, lost during the War of Wrath, but found 6,000 years later and wielded by Gandalf during the War of the One Ring.