Mr. Don Ruzek on electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and backing vocals. Don’s father was a symphonic musician. Don started playing guitar at age 6 and played clubs and events throughout high school in a rock trio. In the 80's, Don was a full time player with the band “Ten Ten” on guitar and keyboards, recording albums for Chrysalis Records and touring North America and Europe. He took a hiatus until 2015 when he started playing and writing music again and eventually released an instrumental Progressive Rock album called X Paths on Luminol Records in 2021. Outside of TSO, Don keeps busy with various other music projects. You can find out more information about those on his website, Ruzek. When not playing music, Don and his wife are art lovers frequenting the DIA, and also work with wildlife rehabilitation in their community.
The Sympathy Orchestra was founded in 2009 by Scott Rochon. The band has been playing live in the metro Detroit music scene (and sometimes beyond) since 2010. Eduardo Perez returned in November of 2021. Don Ruzek returned in April of 2022. Thank you to all of the TSO fans, friends and family for their ongoing support.
Eduardo (Bedoo) Perez - Bass And Lead Vocals
Don Ruzek - Guitars and Backing Vocals
Scott Rochon - Drums, Percussion And Samples
Mr. Eduardo Perez on lead vocals and bass and Keyboards. In addition to his wonderful bass playing and vocals, Eduardo brings a wealth of performing experience to the stage. Outside of TSO, you can also find Eduardo in the classic rock band The Motor Zs and when he returns to his native Brazil, in the Apple Band , which he was a founding member and has performed with them for many, many years.
Mr. Scott Rochon on drums, percussion and samples. Scott started playing the drums at age 15. After playing and performing with various original and cover bands from the mid 1980’s onward, Scott founded The Sympathy Orchestra in 2009. When he is not busy with TSO, Scott composes original instrumental music, focusing mainly on long form, conceptual pieces. In addition to his own music, Scott also composes original music for McGraw Multimedia.
November 28, 2024 - Happy Thanksgiving from all of us in the TSO family to all of you and yours.
September 17, 2024 - We are back after a few months off for the summer. We are currently booking shows and working on new music. We hope to see you all very soon,
June 8, 2024 - We were back again in Ohio. This time to play a private party. The party was wonderful, with excellent food and great people. It was a joy to play for everyone. We have been invited back for another party on August 31st.
June 2, 2024 - What can we say about Old West End Festival - Toledo and the people of The Old West End that we haven't said many times before. We absolutely love coming to your neighborhood and performing for all of you. Thank you for always making us feel welcomed and appreciated. Special Thanks to Scott and Melissa Ramsey for booking us once again and for their additional help with other things. Thank you to Nick for the sound. Thank you to TSO Alum, Greg Komarzec for helping Scott get his gear into the gazebo. He is always grateful for the help. Most of all, thank you to all of the wonderful people who came out to listen, dance and cheer for us. You are the best audience that we play for every year. We love you all and hope to see all of you again next year.
April 20, 2024 - Thank you to everyone who came out on such short notice to see us and make some noise at the Token Lounge last night. You are all awesome!
April 16, 2024 - Last minute gig schedued for this Friday at the Token Lounge in Westland. More details on our Concert Dates Page
March 11, 2024 - We are confirmed for our appearance at the Old West End Festival in Toledo on Saturday, June 1st at 6pm. More details to follow on our Concert Dates Page.
February 18, 2024 - At the risk of sounding like a broken record...What an absolutely amazing audience at the NEW WAY BAR last night. Thank you to all of our old and new fans that came out to the show last night. Your energy was felt by all of us on stage! Thank you to Jamie for having us back at his place. Thank you to Matt for getting our sound dialed in once again. Special thanks to Katie behind the bar for filling a couple of special request orders of Fried Bologna Sandwiches, They were most appreciated. Special thanks to Mr. David Dillingham of Michigan Event Credentials for laminates (we gave all of them out. They were a huge hit!) and for making a special appearance with his lovely wife. Photos and videos from the show to follow soon. We are looking forward to playing for all of you again next time.
January 9, 2024 - Gig scheduled at the New Way Bar in Ferndale for Saturday February 17th at 9pm. More details can be found on our Concert Dates Page.
January 1, 2024 - Happy New Year from all of us in the TSO. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in 2024.
December 7, 2023 - Happy Holidays from all of us in the TSO family to all of you and yours.
November 23, 2023 - Happy Thanksgiving from all of us in the TSO family to all of you and yours.
October 29, 2023 - Another excellent gig is in the books! This time, it was a Halloween party at Bedoo's Bar. Lots of great costumes and everybody came to party. Everyone was dancing and singing along.
September 24, 2023 - Wow! What a night! The crowd at the New Way Bar last night was electric! We had so much fun playing for all of you. Thank you to all of our friends, family and fans that came out to support the us and the return of live music at the New Way. You were all amazing. Thank you to Jamie and Matt for having us back at their place! Let's do it again soon!
September 19, 2023 - A reminder that we are just days away from our return to the New Way Bar in Ferndale on Saturday, September 23rd at 9pm. There is no cover charge. It's going to be a fun night. We will see you there.
August 6, 2023 - Gig scheduled in Ferndale at the New Way Bar for Saturday. September 23rd. More details can be found on our Concert Dates Page.
July 23, 2023 - Thank you to everyone that came out to see us at the Linden River Roast. You were an excellent crowd. Thankfully, the heavy rain held off until after the end of our set. Thank you to Brad Jacob for inviting us to be part of this wonderful event. We had a great time and we hope to see you again next year.
July 10, 2023 - It sounds like a broken record, but it was another fantastic rehearsal! The new songs are coming along nicely. And as usual, we "stumbled" into a few new songs to add to the list while jamming.
June 19, 2023 - Another amazing rehearsal is in the books. We planned on working on two new songs and ended up with three new songs completed. Two are already placed in the set list and will be making their debut at the Linden River Roast on July 22nd in Linden, Michigan. We won't tell which two songs we will be debuting, since we like to surprise you all. We can tell you that the three songs worked on were songs by The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Queen.
June 4, 2023 - WOW! What an amazing audience at the OWE Festival last night! That was the largest OWE Festival crowd that we have seen in our times there. There were even people in the trees! Thank you to all of the people who danced, sang along and swayed in their seats. There was also a person in the audience playing a Djembe along with a few of the songs Not to mention the wonderful applause after every song. Your support means the world to us. It was our pleasure to play for all of you. Thank you to Scott and Melissa Ramsey for booking us once again and for their help with the equipment etc. Thank you to Nick for the sound. The weather ended up being perfect as well. A truly magical evening. Let's do it again next year!
May 22, 2023 - Our last rehearsal before the OWE Festival on June 3rd. We have lots of new and exciting material to play for everyone.
Apr. 19, 2023 - New gig scheduled for July 22nd as part of River Roast in Linden, Michigan. More details can be found on our Concert Dates page.
Mar. 13, 2023 - Tonight's rehearsal was spectacular! The existing songs are sounding great and we picked a bunch of new songs that we will be playing for you all in the not too distant future.
Feb. 25, 2023 - We are excited to announce the power trio version of The Sympathy Orchestra. In addition to festival shows, we are also planning a return to the clubs, with some of our shows having themed set lists. The song selection will be the same that you have come to expect from us. We have added many new and exciting songs and of course, a few surprises. Stay tuned...We will be announcing the first scheduled shows very soon. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2023.
Jan. 1, 2023 - Happy New Year from all of us to all of you. We are looking forward to seeing you in 2023. Stay tuned for upcoming show announcements.