Chief Executive Officer
Van Taylor has entertained all over the world at various resorts and embassies for over 30 years. He is a songwriter; owner of Van Taylor Production, a music publishing company; and TM International, an internet music distribution company. Van is an artist developer, concert promoter and events coordinator. He is the bandleader of the internationally known R&B/Jazz band Taylor Made Jazz. Over the course of 30 years, Van has helped to educate hundreds of musicians and thousands of children with musical workshops. He has also provided shows for over a hundred thousand members of our U.S. military and embassies, their families, and our allies, by lifting their spirits and morale with musical performances.
Van had led some of the longest tours for the Department of Defense on record for Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE). Van has produced artists such as Shawn McQuiller and Lance Diamond, along with successful TV shows such as City Rhythm. Many of his music students have opened their own businesses with their own bands, creating hundreds of jobs. While using music to effect positive change in his local and global communities, Van also actively supports organizations with sustainable end goals, such as The Hunger Project. His album, “Agape: The Hunger Project,” is a compilation of his original music and is being sold to benefit The Hunger Project. Noted for his charitable work,
Van Taylor’s band Taylor Made Jazz celebrated its 21st anniversary in 2008 by donating proceeds to National Inner City Youth Opportunities and Students Against Violence Education. Van is actively working with the Traveling Guitar Foundation and BulLion Entertainment to provide support through the arts and by securing corporate giving.In 2009 and 2010, Van Taylor organized and produced “Concert from the Heart.” This was the first cross-genre concert that brought together classical, jazz, and rhythm and blues musicians to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York and the Buffalo City Mission. Featured was the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Taylor Made Jazz Concert Band, the legendary singer Lance Diamond, the Old School B-Boys with the Mark Mazur Little Big Band, and the George Scott Big Band which featured vocalist Melissa Kate. Van has served on three boards: Buffalo Media Resource Group for film and digital development (Squeaky Wheels), the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, and the Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo, NY, the oldest jazz club in the United States. Van works with Young Audiences of Western New York and Young Audiences Rochester, providing music education concerts and workshops for children in grades three through high school. Van has served as a conference speaker on the business of music, marketing, and international touring to many music educational seminars and conferences over the years. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Van served as regional conference coordinator for the Minnesota Black Music Expo and the International Association of African American Music. He also served in Toronto as a panelist and coordinator for the Western New York Music Conference. During the 1970’s, Van served as music director for several Motown and Philly International Touring Bands. During the late 1980’s, Van produced the hit TV show “City Rhythm,” which aired on Fox Superstation and took the top spot in the Neilson ratings. Education: Certificates with Seneca Vocational High – Electronics, Electricity, and Numerical Control Science; Erie Opportunity Center - Computer Science; Buffalo State University – Psychology; Erie Community College - Electrical Science; Erie Occupational Center - Personal Care Aide Certified, Traumatic Brian Injury. Van’s references can be found in the Marquis Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World; also in Men of Achievement in Cambridge, England, and the Buffalo News.
Chief Operating Officer
Ron Walker is a native of Buffalo, New York with extensive music and business management expertise. With over 29 years of IT consulting, organizational change management and business process improvement experience to supplement his musical background, Ron is well prepared to lead the recently formed Three 2 Go Music Alliance well into the future. Ron has acquired valuable business, project management and process improvement experience while providing change management services to fortune 500 companies while working for GM, EDS and HP. His career began working as an Advanced Systems Engineer for the Harrison Radiator division of General Motors. Former roles include; Advanced Systems Engineer, Operations Supervisor, Process Improvement Team Leader, Technical Resource Supervisor, Project Manager, Regional Change Coach, Strategic Business Planning Consultant. Ron honed his musical skills playing guitar in WNY night clubs. He is the owner of Three 2 Go Music Publishing and RW Music Video Production. His music credits include production and publication of LP’s & CDs for multiple artists on his Three 2 Go Music record label. His most successful projects to date being “The Exoutic Touch”full length LP considered to be a rare soul collectable and “Spring Time Love” released as a single and charting at # 2 regionally. Ron founded and performed as lead guitarist for The Exoutics, recently inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame class of 2011. An excellent guitarist, writer and producer Ron takes full advantage of the continued merger of music and technology. He currently performs with jazz artist E-Life 7 applying his internet.
Ron honed his musical skills playing guitar in WNY night clubs. He is the owner of Three 2 Go Music Publishing and RW Music Video Production. His music credits include production and publication of LP’s & CDs for multiple artists on his Three 2 Go Music record label. His most successful projects to date being “The Exoutic Touch” full length LP considered to be a rare soul collectable and “Spring Time Love” released as a single and charting at # 2 regionally. Ron founded and performed as lead guitarist for The Exoutics, recently inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame class of 2011. An excellent guitarist, writer and producer Ron takes full advantage of the continued merger of music and technology. He currently performs with jazz artist E-Life 7 applying his international experience. Ron is an active supporter and sponsor of WNY community based music events including: The Queen City Jazz Festival and The Queen City Funk Festival. In addition to supporting community related music events he has utilized his musical ability to support charitable organizations such as The Western New York Food Bank, Sickle Cell Disease Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As a co-partner of Three 2 Go Music Alliance, and COO of Van Taylor Production, Ron is leveraging his extensive music and business expertise to create opportunities for others in the WNY and the global music community. Ron currently resides in Williamsville, New York and is a graduate of State University College at Buffalo with a B.S. degree in Information Systems Management.
Senior Vice President, Education Director, Tour Manager
Melissa Kate is the owner of Melissa Kate Productions, a music and theater production & publishing company. She works as a voice actress and singer in the Buffalo/Niagara region of New York State. Her “sultry cabaret jazz and blues” band, the Melissa Kate Project, has traveled throughout the state, with recent performances at NYC’s Birdland. She is a featured vocalist with Taylor Made Jazz, and the 18-piece George Scott Big Band. Recently, she performed with both bands and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for the Concert from the Heart, a fundraiser for the Food Bank of Western New York. For eight years she has been the featured vocalist of the international award-winning jazz/R&B band Taylor Made Jazz, traveling overseas in support of our Armed Forces on tours through the Middle East, Mediterranean, Pacific and European territories. Melissa holds a BFA in Musical Theater from SUNY Fredonia. Her theatrical resume includes acting work in theater and film in New York City and Buffalo NY, and has co-produced several plays through the non-profit company Cobblestone Productions, Inc, which she co-founded in 1999. She served on the executive team of the international organization Artfully AWARE, and continues her service to the community through charitable efforts with her band. She was trained as a teaching artist through the Western New York branch of the Lincoln Center Institute Arts-In-Education, and has worked as a teaching artist with Young Audiences of Western New York and Young Audiences Rochester for over six years. Additionally, she has taught arts-based workshops with Arts and Sports in New York City, Lancaster Opera House, Villa Maria summer programs, Gatehill Day Camp, and Community Action Organization. Melissa uses theater, creative writing, poetry and song to help students develop creative and critical thinking skills. She worked for nine years as a special education substitute teacher at Gateway-Longview, and is currently the director of resource development for Young
Audiences of Western New York. She has co-produced two albums, Blind Faith and Kissed by Kate, and produced the DVD Live at Allen Hall: Kissed by Kate. She was featured in the R&B single “Friends First,” in a duet with the city of Buffalo’s legendary entertainer, Lance Diamond. Her future includes publication of a book on working as a teaching artist, production of several more music albums, and developing opportunities for performance and arts-based education on a global scale. Her support of our Armed Forces and the children and families of our military inspires her commitment to the future of Van Taylor Production. She is a key player in the future of the Three 2 Go Music Alliance, with an eye towards expanding the reach of her own music performance, and developing future artists for the advancement of our global community
Senior Vice President, Communications Conference Logistics
Michael L. Pennick is a native of Buffalo, New York with extensive music and business Systems Analyst expertise. With over 25 years of IT systems consulting, information systems management and business systems support experience to supplement his musical background, Michael is prepared to assist the recently formed Three 2 Go Music Alliance in their future endeavors. Michael has background in information systems technology as a certified email systems analyst, with overall information systems experience while providing email systems services to fortune 500 companies. He has worked for Moog Inc, HSBC, Tek Systems, EDS and IBM. His began his career working as an ISO 9000 certified quality assurance specialist for military parts, supplier Sierra Research. During this time he then became fascinated with the progression of computer systems in business. Michael then attended ECC North campus to study computer science and technology. This led him to a career as a senior systems analyst specializing in email systems.
Michael began his musical career and skills playing bass guitar in WNY night clubs. He is a member of Three 2 Go Music production team. His music credits include writing, production and vocals of LPs & CDs for multiple artists on the Three 2 Go Music record label. The most successful project to date was his involvement with “The Exoutic Touch,” a full length LP considered to be a rare soul collectable, and the song “Spring Time Love,” which was released as a single and charted at # 2 regionally. Michael performed as bassist and background vocalist for The Exoutics, who were recently inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, class of 2011. He was awarded top R&B bass guitarist by the Buffalo Music Awards for two years in a row.
As a writer and producer, Michael takes full advantage of the relationship between music and technology. He attended the MIDEM music conference in Cannes, France, International Association for Music and Medicine (IAMM) conference, and South by Southwest (SXSW), a music conference focused on new technology. He is currently lead bassist on “Miked Up,” a CD project with jazz band E-Life 7. The album applies his funk, jazz and R&B experiences to create a unique blend of jazz bass with an R&B feel on the project. Michael is an active supporter of Western New York community-based music events including: The Queen City Jazz Festival and The Queen City Funk Festival. In addition to supporting community related music events he has utilized his musical ability to support charitable organizations such as Sickle Cell Disease Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As one of the founders of Three 2 Go Music Alliance, Michael is prepared to extend his extensive music and business expertise to create opportunities for others in the Western New York and global music community. Michael currently resides in Buffalo, New York, and is a graduate of Erie Community College at Buffalo with an Associate’s degree in Information Systems Technology.
Vice President, Tour Manager, Technical Logistics Overseas
Tim Webb, “T Webb” Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, T Webb is a local musician gaining worldwide recognition for his talents as a musician, producer, music director and endorsee with Soultone Cymbals. With many years of experience he has had opportunities to travel around the world playing music while bringing joy to others. Whether playing Gospel music, which is his first love and his first start in the music scene, to Country, R&B, Pop, and many other styles, his musicianship is an experience nobody has ever forgotten. He is impressive not only as a performer, but as a person too. T Webb is a product of the Catholic School System from elementary to high school. In his pre-teen years he took drum lessons from Greg Edwin of Edwin’s Music Store. He graduated from Villa Maria College with a degree in Music Business. He is a recent graduate from ITT Tech in Getzville, NY with a degree in Computer and Electronic Technology. Now, he is working for the public school system as a computer technician. T Webb has a smile everywhere he goes. He could be on the drums in Egypt, France, Switzerland and Canada, with the same smile off stage on a normal day. The character he has is very refreshing to people who know him, as well as strangers. He is someone who can help anyone get along with any situation. He follows a simple, but meaningful philosophy: “Life has a way of playing itself out. We must take the good, the bad, and the ugly. So sit back and observe to know. In short, I look at life and say, ‘O.K. – observe to know.’”