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The band was formed in October of 2009 on a Friday night when Stuart was invited to sit in at a jam in a south Orlando bar by some pals he works with. Out of that experience came a weekly jam with the group of friends that eventually became a bit more structured and morphed into a band.

The name "The StraightJackets" came almost by accident. We were hired to play a Christmas party in what would be our first true gig and still had no name on the day of the show. We had informally been called 631 (the name of the union that the guys all belonged to when the band started) but, that kinda didn't feel like the right thing to call us. Stuart was buying strings in a guitar shop that day and someone in the store was talking about the band, "Los Straightjackets," (a bunch of surf rockers that wear masks, but, that's not the point of this story...) and he liked the name. As the band was loading in for that first show, Stuart said, "Unless someone has a better name, we're gonna be called 'The StraightJackets.'" (How he said it with a red font is unclear to this day.) Anyway, nobody had a better name and The StraightJackets were born!

Standing front & center on vocals & guitar for The StraightJackets is Stuart. He's a founding member of The StraightJackets (you already know that from reading the paragraph above, though...).

Stuart has played in bunches and bunches of bands over the years, mostly in South Florida, from whence he hails. (Whence? Yup. It's a word, look it up...) But, since moving to Orlando in the late 80's, he had played mostly acoustic-type stuff with other groups (notably as lead guitar in SusieCool & The Coolottes) as well as doing a solo music & comedy thing. His business card proclaimed "Guitar & Dumb Jokes" and nobody ever accused him of lying about either one!

He has been featured solo & with his backing band (The MicroTones) around Central Florida and at festivals in the southeastern U.S. ofA. He was a finalist in the South Florida Folk Festival's Songwriting Competition in 2001, placing 2nd out of over 2500 entries with his entries: "A Song For Lou" and "I Really Like You."

He plays electric & acoustic guitars as well as mandolin and banjo. In a pinch he can play electric bass and if you're really (REALLY) desperate, he can play drums. But, his favorite thing to do (on a stage...) is sing as part of a 3 or 4 part harmony.

His favorite group is The Beatles.
(Of course...)

Mike is the lead guitar player for The StraightJackets. He also sings lead & harmony vocals--multi-talented our boy is. (Hmmm, that sounds rather Yoda-ish, doesn't it?)

Mike started playing guitar when he was 12 years old and learned blues rock guitar style by playing several clubs in the New York area in the early eighties. He spent time in different cover bands before joining his childhood buddies to form the original music band Flexx.

After a long hiatus he got the urge to play live music again and he's rocking it with The StraightJackets. He enjoys playing all kinds of music and really digs the local Orlando live music scene.

Mike lives in Oveido and has been known to hop on his Harley and ride through Bedford-Sty alone!
Logan Belle is a fixture in the Orlando music scene. An award winning songwriter, Logan also performns with his lovely wife, Yvonne as a duo. He has joined TSJ on bass and we are glad to have his fingers AND voice!

He's a playa!!!

Perry hails from the City of Brotherly Love and from early on he was surrounded by the rich and complex Rock & Soul musical heritage that is Philadelphia. When he should have been studying Talmud in Synagogue he logged thousands of hours hanging on the street corners of West Philly always listening to the musical heartbeat of the City. Early musical encounters in Philly's Belmont Plateau in Fairmont Park jamming with the older & cooler guys from all around town. He would play harmonica and congas when given the chance. These early jams cultivated his love of fellow music lovers and players. Whether a high energy Rock Jam or a Soulful ballad, when he's called on to add the beat, count on him locking down a solid driving groove.

He's been playing drums and singing in bands of all sorts since my Bar Mitzvah (yes, he somehow managed that). From local bars, resort hotel lounges, Las Vegas reviews, society parties and a thousand weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, the talented groups Perry has performed with are too many and some too obscure to mention. He has performed with some of Philly's best and beyond.

Perry continues to lend his groove to the Orlando music scene with TSJ. He resides in Orlando Metro with his lovely wife of 35 years and their dog Max.
Larry is TSJ's bass player Emeritus, we call him, "Greenie." Greenie hails from Rockaway Beach, NY, (yep, as in The Ramones song) and he picked up his first bass at 14 and has been laying down the groove ever since.

His childhood band, “The Puds,” placed in the top 10 in a WNBC originals contest with their punk anthem, “She’s So Ugly.” He spent a few years with “The Element” before moving to Saratoga Springs, NY, where he slipped into the thriving music scene of that tourist town.

In Saratoga in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, you could find him on any given Saturday night with a variety of ensembles, including Free Radicals, Funk Blue, CoolGoove and SlowBurn. He did a quick tour of the Adirondacks with “The E-Town Express” before heading south to Orlando and The StraightJackets.

He's on hiatus now, dealing with some health issues...but Greenie will ALWAYS be a StraightJacket!