Bios
"Soul Custody’s rock and soul music is given life by a group of musicians who bring a wealth of talent and experience that, when combined, delivers on every level."
Michael Eli - Vocal & Guitars
From the time Michael was a child he was drawn to music of all kinds. His father Tony was a singer and Michaels's mother a music lover. Growing up in Philadelphia Michael was the youngest of four children and his siblings all had very different musical tastes. Michael explored all of their records.
and there he found music from many varied Genre's. Around age six Michael's Grandfather gave him an old black Epiphone arch top. It didn’t hold it’s tuning very well but Michael took it everywhere his folks would allow. Michael's obsession with music had officially begun.
At age 10Michael joined his first band officially named ” Flying High “.
In the years to follow Michael traveled the country playing with some of the finest musicians in the world. They inspired him to continue to play and write music by their unwavering commitment to play from the heart and soul.
"God blessed me with this passion for music and I try to deliver that passion to my audience every time I perform"
Edward Wall - Vocal & Keys
Ed discovered his love for singing at an early age. He started performing in public while in the first grade , singing for school musicals. An old player piano in his living room got him started on keyboards.
Ed studied piano with Joe Vizzini of Stockton, NJ and Patricia Masterson. Ed took vocal lessons from Barbara Jameson of New Brunswick, NJ.
Early on he formed the bands The Noblemen and Nod with childhood friends, Jeff Kline and Al Synder and then later went on to various cover and original bands such as Sweet Freedom, Jazzbo, Melissa, and Small Fry. He also was the keyboard player in the Sharron Dallas band which featured the guitar sounds of local legend, Bobby Hartnagle.
In 1986 Ed helped form the the Delivery Boys band which would last almost 20 years and play thousands of gigs in the Northeast region.
" I continue to love singing and playing music live as a soloist as well as in several local bands and I hope i can play for You "
Steve Schupsky - Vocal & Drums
Steve has been playing in the metro music scene for over 30 years. Formally trained at the Drummers Collective in New York City, he continues to perform and record within a wide variety of musical styles which include rock, blues, funk, soul, jazz, southern rock and country. He is best known for his super solid grooves and creative style. He has performed in various groups over the years including Cheater Jones and opened for major acts such as Wilson Pickett, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Kenny Chesney, The Bellamy Brothers, Matt Guitar Murphy, Gate Mouth Brown, The Mavericks and Greg Allman. Steve has also performed with John Popper, The Chiffones, Darren Norwood and various artists such as Ryan Pelton from the Legends in Concert Show
Chris Cristino - Vocal & Bass
Chris Cristino is a self-taught musician and has been holding the Bass chair for over 30 years. With his passionately owned 1975 Fender Jazz Bass, he has had the pleasure of working with countless local musicians from all over the Delaware Valley. Some of his playing opportunities have taken place on weekend trips to Canada, New England, Maryland, West Virginia and Arizona supporting Legends in Concert tribute artists of assorted music genres. He is occasionally called upon for local recording projects, freelances whenever possible, enjoys playing for Charity events and supports local Tribute Bands.
John Bushnell - Vocal & Guitars
Born and raised in New Jersey, John Bushnell began his musical quest on guitar one month before turning nine. Inspired first by the Beatles, he eventually became immersed in the blues based players of the day. The techniques and sounds of Clapton, Jeff Beck, Mike Bloomfield, Albert King, Hendrix, Jimmy Page and guitar players too numerous to mention were all teachers to John’s ears and he aspired to absorb as much from them as possible.
In high school he played in numerous bands. After graduating, he became a member of the Castle Browne Band. In addition to working with the band, he landed a part time job at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre as a stage/guitar tech for the many acts like the Beach Boys, Dr. John, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Ravi Shankar, Bruce Springsteen, Meatloaf, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Miles Davis, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
After leaving the Castle Browne Band, John moved on to join the band, Bricks Mortar, with Charles Collins, house drummer for Sigma Sound Studios in Phila. and Michael Tschudin, producer and one time David Bowie keyboardist. The band was signed to Sutra Records and recorded an EP but eventually recorded their own album and released it on Zebra Records.
Around this time, John was approached by the Ibanez guitar company and found himself being featured in an ad campaign for one of their new models in Guitar Player,and other publications. This relationship grew and he became a demonstrator of their guitars and effects at the NAMM trade shows, and the Guitar and Music Expo held at Madison Square Garden. In the late 80’s, John formed a power trio known as Unguided Missile with Angel Resto on bass and Peter Browne on drums, who was later replaced by Mark Sacco. They played a blues and hard rock style of music throughout the tri-state area. It was at this same time that John was picked to host the “Virtuoso Guitar Series” at a top New York City club. John continued to write material and explore more guitar possibilities. Ibanez gave John one of the first 7 string guitars, which he used on his first solo album entitled “7th Sense”. The album received favorable reviews in the U.S. and Europe.
John next formed a group with Hal Selzer on bass. Adrian Dodz, as it was called, played relentlessly all over the tri-state area and recorded a CD of hard rocking material which got the band signed to Epic Records. Years later, the recordings from this band were picked up by Escape Records and released in Europe and Japan under the name “Silent Witness”.
Through all the years of writing, recording and playing in different bands, John has worked on many movie scores and recording sessions for other artists in virtually every style of contemporary music. At the present time John is in " Best of The Eagles" Tribute Band and Soul Custody.