Kevin Bennear was born in Elk Garden, a small coal mining town in West Virginia. Bennear’s musical inspiration was his father, who while serving in an artillery unit in the United States Army, volunteered his spare time and musical talents to entertain the troops.

As a young man, Kevin’s first solos were sung at the local Baptist church. Raised in an economically depressed region, the scholarship he received at a small local college enabled him to study music. From there he moved to West Virginia University where he attended under a full voice scholarship and after graduating W.V.U. with honors, Bennear then performed with several theatres, including the Chrisitan based theatre, Sight and Sound as well as Theatre West Virginia.

He was then offered an assistantship at the University of Tennessee where he performed with the Knoxville Opera Company.  After receiving his master’s degree from U.T., he assumed the position of Baritone vocal Soloist with the “President’s Own” United States Marine Band. In this capacity, Bennear has sung for four U.S Presidents at both public and intimate events. He is a regular performer at White House State dinners and performs for dignitaries and heads of state from all around the world. He has performed the National anthem for a worldwide audience while singing on the balcony of the White House with the President on several occasions. He has performed for the State Funerals of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter. He has appeared as a soloist along with Toby Keith and Larry Gatlin on a PBS national production of “In Performance at the White House”. He has sung for two Super Bowls, several nationally televised NASCAR events, Major League Baseball Games and in addition sang for the opening of Audi Field for the inaugural game of DC United.

Kevin had the honor of performing the National Anthem on September 11th, 2002, one year after the attack on America as President Bush unfurled the flag over the restored Pentagon. Kevin describes this as his most memorable moment in performing.

His numerous awards included Concerto Competition Winner while at the University of Tennessee, Full Voice Award, Peabody Conservatory of Music, and The Young Alumni Award by his alma mater West Virginia University. He has also had the honor of performing for events such as the rededication of the Lincoln Memorial and the Abraham Lincoln Awards. Bennear continues to perform at Presidential events such as the most recent inauguration where he sang for the first dance of the President and First Lady.

Master Sergeant Russell Wilson of College Park, MD, began piano lessons at the age of 7, and by age 12, he began playing hymns for his church each Sunday. He earned a Bachelor's degree in classical piano performance and a Master’s degree in jazz, both from the University of Maryland in College Park. 

In 2002, while a junior in college, he joined the President's Own US Marine Band, where he plays all kinds of music styles on the piano, harpsichord, keyboard, and accordion, in public concerts and private events at the White House and all around Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. He has performed with the Marine Band piano concerti by Mozart, Prokofiev, and Grieg. He is the winner of the 2013 and 2025 World Championship Old Time Piano Playing Contest.

Russell is a freelance musician, playing all kinds of gigs, including swing bands, wedding bands, polka bands, orchestras, and his church worship team.  He is married to Elizabeth, who teaches their four children, Barnabas, Naomi, Mary, and Lydia, at their home in College Park, MD.

Kat Dillon has been a professional violinist, singer, and stage performer for over 25 years in a broad variety of musical arenas. From the early age of 3, she began singing and mimicking sounds and pitches that she heard. At the age of 9, she started her first band with her childhood best friend called The DayKatz. At 13, they recorded their first original song and sold it to producers, to later have it recorded by Britney Spears on her hit album, Britney, in 2001. She trained both vocally and as a stage performer under the direction of David Hodges, famous for his work with Taylor Swift, Evanescence, Lady A, Britney Spears, and countless others.

She began learning the violin in 6th grade and later studied classical violin with the renowned violinist Mischa Lefkowitz. She also studied extensively under Gayel Pitchford and Debby Hand, gaining skills and expertise on violin, viola, and cello in multiple genres, particularly Celtic and Bluegrass. Her first professional work was as a violinist in Tehachapi, CA Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16. Through high school, she performed simultaneously as a member of both Bakersfield College Symphony Orchestra and Antelope College Symphony Orchestra. 

During her college career, she performed classical violin as a member of Washington State University Orchestra (go Cougars!) and later with West Chester University Orchestra in Pennsylvania. 

After college, she turned to power-rock style music and joined the Trans-Siberian Orchestra-inspired group Wizards of Winter as lead violinist. She toured with the band for 3 seasons from Maine to Maryland, playing the entire Trans-Siberian Orchestra catalogue as well as a variety of original material.

She transitioned her style in 2012 to Irish fiddle and joined the Trad-Celtic group Burning Bridget Cleary. Kat toured with the band across the entire north-eastern seaboard, performing both traditional Celtic, as well as bluegrass style fiddle. As both a violinist and vocalist, she is credited for her performance on the band’s popular studio album, ‘Pressed for Time.’ 

In 2013, Kat fronted her own namesake band, Kat and the Mad Dogz. The wildly popular Pennsylvania-based rock/country cover group performed over 100 shows per year and specialized in hits spanning the 1970s to 2000s. During this time, Kat perfected her signature “back bend” move, defying gravity while performing the fiddle solo to ‘Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ 

By 2016, Kat discovered her love of neon and became the lead singer of M80, one of the top 80s rock bands in Pennsylvania. With M80, Kat sang and played electric violin in venues ranging from Musikfest to Atlantic City.

Two years later, Kat was selected as lead singer of The Reflex, the Washington D.C. area’s top 80s cover band. The band has been voted DC’s best cover band by Washington City Paper and was the headlining act at the MGM Grand in National Harbor for New Year’s Eve in 2019. There, Kat performed a duet of the hit 80s song ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ side by side with the song’s original artist, Tiffany.

Her collaboration centers on her unique rock-violin style and vocals, performing a range of energetic popular hits at venues such as Sloppy Joe’s in Key West and the top venues in Tampa, Sarasota, and Orlando. 

In the winter of 2020, Kat joined forces with The Devil's Brigade, formerly The American Rogues, a Celtic Rock group based out of Maryland and Canada. They have recently performed for multiple Highland Games, including Central Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Fair Hills (Maryland), Ohio, and many others across the United States. They have also recently played at the Crieff Highland Games and Cowal Highland Games in Scotland, two of the oldest Games in the world. The band's claim to fame, however, is their love and support for the military and they have played at countless military bases around the world, most recently Al Udeid in Qatar. Kat plays the violin, viola, and sings quite a few tunes as well! 

In 2023, Kat, along with some of the top musicians in the DMV scene, joined forces to remake the band Kat Atomic. Playing a wide range of country, pop, and even 80s rock music. Kat Atomic is a fun, professional side project that plays all over the Virginia area.