Bio

"The WiseGuys" have arrived here today by way of lots of work, practices, rehearsals, coaching, late nights, big venue shows, small-venue shows, outdoor summerfest's, marketing, and advertising, and I think that we all can say that it has been well worth the outcome! 

When I look back we were just a group of friends and musicians that would get together on most Friday nights and play cards, listen to music and enjoy some of their favorite beverages, that came together to form a band.  Back then we would jam some music for awhile, while some of the other guys played cards in the poker room. We then started adding more and more music, sound equipment, lighting, etc.. and before we knew it we had a full blown rehearsal studio set up. It was especially nice that friends & family would now come by to hangout and see us play.  One of the guys then asked if we wanted to get serious and playout. Well, as they say in Texas Hold 'em we were "all-in!" We picked up our first gig when Staci and George Amend asked us if we wanted to open for a Foo Fighters/Nirvana tribute band called "Smells Like Dave Grohl" at their Backyard Summer Bash. Needless to say we were all over it.  So we got serious and began rehearsing a lot. But now we had to come up with a name for the band.  We went back and forth, and in the end on a last minute decision we decided on "The WiseGuys."  and this was due to the fact that we had been talking about some of the wiseguys movies like “Goodfellas", A Bronx Tale”, etc., and that name was kind of fresh in our heads at the time.  
Over the years we've had some band turn over, like the addition of some younger and really talented musicians join the band and I guess that counts for some good band cred, in addition to becoming somewhat younger in average age of the band members.  

Over the years we've gone on to headline shows at Hard Rock Cafe,  The Cubby Bear in Chicago, as well as playing some outdoor Summerfest's, and other music venues like The Brauerhouse in Lombard IL, Liquid in Madison WI, Penny Road Pub in Barrington, IL, RocHaus in West Dundee, IL and the historic Arcada Theatre in St Charles IL, just to name a few! There are too many to list but we have continued to play awesome music venues along the way.   

We, "The WiseGuys,"  strive to be known as a versatile rock band.  We pride ourselves in playing rock music by covering bands from 70's, 80's, 90's, and even newer 2000's. We can play  long 3 hour sets or short 1 hour sets.  Our versatility allows us to adjust our “Set List” to the anticipated audience as to younger or older, harder rock music, softer rock music, or even as to the type of show, whether it is an outdoor summer-fest or an inside larger venue.  

In the end it's about entertaining and engaging the crowd!  We like to say "If the audience can dance, move, or sing to it, we like to play it". 

 Quote: "If we play our cards right we'll keep rockin!" 

Written by Lenny Puig