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Santa Cruz, California
Classic Rock · Blues · Americana

Santa Cruz, California
American Underdog was founded in Santa Cruz, California by singer-songwriter Tommy Dunlop and multi-instrumentalist Tony Fleig. The band is made up of veteran players who have decades of musical experience performing in and around northern and central California including Thomas Hartnett on lead guitar and vocals, Don Jacobs on drums and Kimberly Parrish on vocals and percussion.
Genres include: Original material, Classic Rock, Blues, Folk Rock and Americana with an emphasis on toe tappin' danceable melodies. We love to get the audience up and dancing!
Over the years American Underdog has played shows at many of the clubs and restaurants in the Santa Cruz and Monterey-Bay area including Stockwell Cellars, Kissed by an Angel, Henflings, Whale City Tavern, Brookdale Lodge, Music at Skypark, Community TV, Santa Cruz Beer Garden, Laughing Monk Brewing and numerous outdoor festivals, celebrity parties and corporate events.
“We love to get the audience up and dancing!”
Meet the Band
Classic Rock, Blues, Folk Rock and Americana with an emphasis on toe tappin' danceable melodies. Original material plus the songs you know and love.
Catch Us Live
Catch American Underdog live in the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay area.
On Stage & Off
Watch the Band
Bookings & Inquiries
Singer-Songwriter, Guitars & Vocals
California singer-songwriter and frontman for American Underdog whose songs draw from a lifetime of work, travel, and everyday experience. Past roles: truck driver, helicopter pilot, novelist, actor, husband, father & musician. In the 1970s-80s worked with Norton Buffalo, Bobby McFerrin and Brian Auger. In the 2000s Tommy toured with Arthur Godfrey. Music style rooted in folk, country, and Americana tradition.
Bass, Guitar & Vocals
Professional performer since 1972 in Northern California and The Netherlands. Previous bands: Two Foot Daddy, The Cherry Brothers, Foxfire, The Bottom Dollar Band, Snakefarm Confidential, Johnny Reyes and the Blues Crew, The Last Minute Band, Cabin Fever, Whiskey Moon, The Bandits, Broken Shades. Also performs solo.
Drums
Over thirty years of drumming experience. Portland, Oregon background: R&B, Blues, Country Western, Soul bands. Notable bands: Blues Ranch (three-time Vancouver Battle of the Bands winner), The Slicers, The Inclusions, Disorderly Conduct, Spring Fever, Mahayana, The Thundering Love Hammers. In Santa Cruz: Cleveland Cowboys, Bump, Sound Squad.
Lead Guitar & Vocals
Tom Hartnett is a guitarist shaped by the spirit of the San Francisco Bay Area in the '60s and '70s, when music was rebellion, language, and life. His style is expressive, fearless, and just a little unruly. He plays with intention but leaves room for surprise.
Harmonica, Vocals
Grant Walters is a harmonica player, vocalist, and producer of live music concerts. Raised in a family of harmonica players, Grant was classically trained on trumpet before being inspired by his cousins Ryan Walters (diatonic) and Ross Walters (chromatic) to pick up the harmonica. A strong backup vocalist, Grant is known for playing horn lines. His professional credits include Claddagh, the Barrelhouse Players, Tony Tichenor, Matt Brewer, Rich Felix, Stu Blank, the Atkinson Brothers of Canada, Shana Morrison, Pelham Houchin, and gospel artist Todd “Tone” Gilbert. Grant helped form the Chico Blues Society in the mid-1980s with his harmonica mentor Ralph Shine, and went on to produce and promote Chico's Battle of the Harps. For more than 32 years, Grant been the driving force of the Pacific Coast Dream Machines and countless fundraising concerts on the San Mateo County Coastside. As a producer and “impresario,” he has brought together audiences and musicians ranging from Bill Kirchen, Rusty Zinn, and Andy Santana to countless other talented performers—and has also been invited onstage to play alongside them.
Members have performed with
Decades of combined experience across Northern and Central California's live music scene.
Available for clubs, restaurants, private events, and corporate functions in the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay area.
Contact for Booking