Brett Wellman & The Stone Cold Blues Band

When Brett Wellman, owner of Music Lessons Express, received a call asking for a band to play at an upcoming charity event, he didn’t hesitate to enlist his own ensemble, Brett Wellman and The Stone Cold Blues Band, for the job. There was only one problem: The Stone Cold Blues Band didn’t exist yet.
Wellman spent the rest of that afternoon calling friends and recruiting members for the band. The next night, the Stone Cold Blues Band held their first rehearsal, and a few months later they played the event. That was 2011. Two albums and many gigs later, the band is still rocking.
Wellman said forming the band was the realization of a dream he’d had since he first picked up a guitar at age 18. In addition to the guitar, Wellman is versed in a variety of other instruments including the ukulele, mandolin, harmonica and violin, which he started playing at age 5.
“I’m 40, so it feels strange to say this, but I’ve been playing violin for 35 years and I’ve been playing guitar for 22 years,” he said.
Wellman’s life has always involved music, and bringing music into others’ lives. Originally from Maitland, Florida, he started working at a radio station in Orlando out of high school. He continued to work in radio after moving to Tallahassee nearly 20 years ago, hosting a morning show on WWOF 103.1 for a short period of time.
“I loved radio,” he said. “The whole broadcasting thing was so fascinating to me, and so much more fun than what TV could have been, because it was all theater of the mind. You couldn’t see into the studio, it was only what the DJ told you was going on. That’s why I loved doing a morning show.”
When Wellman and his wife at the time, who also worked in radio, began looking into buying a house, they decided to flip a coin to determine who would continue their radio job, and who would look for a more stable job. Unfortunately, Wellman lost the coin toss, and began a stint of corporate office jobs. When he was laid off in 2011, he started working at Music Lessons Express as an instructor and office manager. A few months later, the current owner gave him the option to buy the business. Wellman agreed, and assumed ownership in January of 2012.

Though the instructors at Music Lessons Express utilize a variety of teaching styles, Wellman says he prefers the Suzuki method, which emphasizes a foundation of playing by ear before learning to read music. He cites the influence of his elementary school music teacher and her reliance on the method.
Wellman believes the Suzuki method facilitates a kind of less-formal, comfortable musical education that’s in line with his expectations for his students. He realizes that not every student will go on to be a professional musicians, but still believes in the powerful impact of music education, and is proud of his role in that process.
“A student’s life will forever be a little bit different, for the better, because they had music lessons,” he said. “And that’s a really cool thing. I mean, how many jobs can you have where you know you had that kind of an impact?”
Wellman said it’s important for his students to have goals for themselves as musicians rather than focusing on more traditional expectations of success. To facilitate this behavior, Music Lessons Express holds two recitals each year. Though it is not required, students are encouraged to perform.
“The recitals are for fun,” he said. “We don’t want you to get up there and have stage fright and freak out. We want you to go out there and just enjoy it and relax. I tell everyone, if you’ve practiced, then you’ve done everything you can do.”
Wellman believes in setting goals in his own musical life, too. For the Stone Cold Blues Band, though none of the members are planning to quit their day jobs, they would like to see the band’s opportunities grow, in the form of opening for touring artists in town, or going on a small tour of their own. In addition to this, they all have their own “bucket list” of venues they’d like to play. For Wellman, his bucket list venue is The Alley, a blues bar in historic district of Sanford, Florida. The bar, formerly known as Harry’s Bar, was originally owned by Wellman’s maternal grandfather.
“I’d love to stand on the stage there, in this place my grandfather used to own almost a hundred years ago,” he said.
In the meantime, both Wellman and the Stone Cold Blues Band will continue to play local venues. On August 6th, Wellman is playing a solo show at Momo’s Pizza on Market Street. One of his students will join Wellman for the show. It will be the student’s first time performing in front of an audience, and the next achievement in his journey of goal-setting as a student.
“I’m a true believer that if you keep focus, you’ll find a way to achieve your goals,” he said. “That’s one thing I’ve learned owning my own business, because there have been so many people who have told me it’s not possible to do whatever it is I want to do. But you know what? Watch me.” - Courteney Jones

"We had a superb 3 days at the BBC. Brett Wellman & The Stone Cold Blues were impressive. They played to a near sell-out crowd on a Thursday night! Good mix of blues--contemporary and traditional- with an excellent acoustic second set. Got to find a good weather night for a bonfire set from these guys." - Gary Anton, Bradfordville Blues Club Owner - Gary Anton

"Local blues act, Brett Wellman and the Stone Cold Blues Band, will play at Backwoods Bistro this Friday, September 14, bringing the rawest, most organic version of the genre to town." - Ricky Kent, FSView - Ricky Kent

"You guys ROCKED tonight!! Awesome sounding band!" - Gary Hudson, Folkstone Guitars - Gary Hudson

"Brett Wellman & The Stone Cold Blues Band - a tight little unit hitting it hard tonight here in Tally!"~ Charle Boyer, Jazz & Blues of Florida - Charlie Boyer

“Heart of Gold”, an original tune from their debut album “All I Had Was Gone” in the top ten on the Blues City Radio playlist for 8 weeks in a row and 9 out of the last 10 weeks - August 2013". . . these guys have an excellent blues roots show . . ." ~ Gary Anton, Bradfordville Blues Club, Tallahassee - Gary Anton

"Brett Wellman and The Stone Cold Blues Band's “All I Had Was Gone” is a fresh take on traditional blues. Sterling guitar work, gritty harmonica, powerful vocals and great songs combine to make much more than the sum of the parts. This recording should be in heavy rotation with all blues fans. Highly recommend!" Del Suggs, Saltwater Music - Del Suggs

"Brett Wellman and The Stone Cold Blues Band is putting out one of the best Blues CD's I have heard in years." – Rick Ott, From the Heart Recording Studio - Rick Ott