One Up

Two months after the birth of One Up the band stunned listeners with a breakthrough debut performance at the North Texas New Music Festival. The bands unique sonic recipe combined elements of Hip Hop and R&B that broke down musical barriers to create a genre-bending union of sound that earned them the titles of “breakthrough” and “buzz-worthy.” Performing again a month later at a sold-out Dallas show, One Up caught the ear of Grammy-nominated producer Carlos Broady (India.Arie, LL Cool J, Notorious B.I.G.). Broady quickly signed on to work as a producer for One Up and brought his platinum prowess to their first full length album. Shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album in October of 2004 One Up was selected by Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) to entertain troops stationed in Southeast Asia throughout that December.



One Up started out as a quintet featuring young but seasoned players from two popular Dallas bands. Neil Swanson (guitars) and Justin “Double J” Jones (keyboards, turntables) first forged their musical brotherhood in high school. As founding members of TEK 3, a unification of guitar driven rock and electronica, Swanson and Jones shared the stage with national acts and Dallas favorites alike. In 2002, the duo abandoned the rap-rock repertoire of TEK 3 to expand and revive their original sonic design. In June of 2003, they were joined by former Hellafied Funk Crew members Ryan Pyffer (vocals) and Brent Hensley (drums). Journeyman bassist River Tunnell was the final recruit added to complete the lineup. During the recording of the band’s debut album vocalists Samantha Tannehill and Audra Pollard were featured in the tracks ‘Jump On It’ and ‘Money’. Pollard and Tannehill occasionally performed live with the band on their tracks. They quickly became a staple of the live show and One Up became a seven member act.



One Up went back in the studio and recorded their much anticipated second album that was released in late 2008. This album includes a cover of the Ginuwine's 1996 single ‘Pony’. The video for ‘Pony’ is a documentary styled video that chronicles the band in the studio, at events, as well as live footage of their concert with Three 6 Mafia in Jackson, Tennessee.