Bio
Stephanie Bakula aka "Polly"
Lead Vocals
Stephanie Bakula got an early start in her singing career when she started performing onstage in front of a live audience at the age of five with her father's bands. Even as an infant, she showed a unique and natural ability to sing and memorize melodies. At the age of fifteen, she had her first paying gig with a local jazz trio at the Westborough Country Club in St. Louis. From there, she went on to sing with other successful local bands! In 2000, at nineteen years old she formed her own band, Uptown. With her band, she played many local venues and clubs and eventually earned an opportunity to play on the cruise ship Sensation for a season. In 2005, she won the title of St. Louis American Idol. Other notable achievements included opening for Taylor Dayne, Theo Peoples of the Temptations, Mötley Crüe, and Skid Row.
Stephanie has a beautiful and natural quality to her voice that allows her to sing all styles of music with ease. She comes from a long line of musicians and vocalists on both sides of her family so when you hear her say, "I got the music in me!" (KIKI DEE) she means it from the bottom of her rock and roll heart!
T.J. Bakula
Drums, Vocals
T.J. was just a young kid during the 90's. At age 11, he was gifted his first drum set from his great Uncle Gene and began banging away. Too rebellious and unfocused to take lessons, he played in multiple punk rock bands by just learning how to play parts by ear. It was not until his high school days that he took in some formal direction from his band director, and local drum legend, Jerry Arana. There he learned how to focus his playing and became a member of his high school jazz band.
But after high school T.J. was ready to rock again and spent his 20's playing in multiple local cover bands. At the age of 27, one particular cover band he played with auditioned a singer by the name of Stephanie who quickly joined the band. Well... T.J. and Stephanie had a conversation about tomatoes after their first band practice and hit it off pretty quickly. One year later, they were married. The rest is history...
Ask T.J. who his favorite drummer is and he might prefer to list off his favorite singer instead. Afterall, he married a singer. Secretly, he wants to be a front man but for now it's behind the drum set for him... and maybe the occasional karaoke stage.
Mike Noonon
Lead Guitar, Vocals
A St. Louis native, I was a member of the local band Breach of Peace for 16 years until the pandemic hit, and then 2 of the 5 guys moved away. Currently, I play guitar in a most excellent Billy Joel tribute band called Sometimes a Fantasy, and I am very excited to now be in Polly and the Pocket.
My day job (which I’ve been told many times I shouldn’t quit) is freelance Architectural Drafter. I live in Imperial, MO with my girlfriend, our 3 teenagers, and a neurotic beagle. I’m a die hard car guy and I enjoy pretending I know how to play golf.
Interesting fact: Of the 6 bands I’ve been a member of in my professional career, 3 of them have included at least one police officer.
Dave Schrader
Bass
Bio to come soon!
Josh Dunn
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
I may still be new to the professional music scene, but I am well experienced in musical performance. Forming a musical foundation on piano and choir, I started playing guitar on my 12th birthday and immediately fell in love. I have since further developed my skills through years of playing in church worship bands, various solo performances, and a little over a year of playing Renaissance Festivals as a pirate. My music taste has always been rather eclectic, rooted in classic rock and alternative genres. For me, Polly and the Pockets is the opportunity to not only re-experience the 90's from a fresh perspective, but to hone my musical talents, and experience what the world of professional music has to offer.
"Hey now, you're a rockstar! Get the show on! Get Paid!" - All Star (Smash Mouth)
Phil Minardi
Keyboard / Synth
Keyboardist, songwriter, producer, performer from St. Louis, Phil has made music his life’s work.
Phil launched his music career while living in Los Angles, performing all over Southern California. His original music band, Conductor, received rave reviews from their EP distributed by Capitol Records.
Returning to St. Louis, after playing with several original music projects, Phil assembled the band, Sacred Sects – a powerful female fronted band that became the Marty Balin (Jefferson Starship/Airplane) backup band and toured the States. During this time, he helped re-record some of Marty’s greatest hits . . . songs like “Miracles,” “Atlanta Lady” and “Volunteers of America.
As a songwriter / producer, Phil has Spinning Fire, a “talent development” approach to writing and recording with local singers and singer songwriters.
You can find Phil playing with some of the area’s best cover bands. . .his love for music keeps him going