Jeff Blando. Photo: Andreas Lawen, Fotandi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vince_Neil_-_Wacken_Open_Air_2018-1520.jpg
Jeff Bland, known professionally as Jeff Blando, is an American guitarist, singer, and musician from Flint, Michigan. He joined Slaughter in 1998 after working as the band's front-of-house sound technician and has also performed with Vince Neil, Saigon Kick, Left For Dead, Kody Lee, Crash, and Blandini.
Background
Jeff Bland was born on December 6, 1964, in Flint, Michigan, to Elbert and Fern Bland. Flint was a major automobile-manufacturing center in the twentieth century and part of the industrial and working-class environment of southeastern Michigan.
He adopted the professional name Jeff Blando. His early musical work included performances with Michigan-based cover band Kody Lee and the rock group Left For Dead before later associations with Saigon Kick, Slaughter, and Vince Neil.
Career
Bland began performing with the Michigan-based cover band Kody Lee and later played guitar with Left For Dead. Left For Dead released the independent album Beatings From Orlando in 1995. In 2000, he joined a short Saigon Kick reunion tour as guitarist after Jason Bieler was replaced, connecting him with a band that had emerged from the early-1990s hard-rock scene.
Bland's major long-term association began with Slaughter. After original guitarist Tim Kelly died in a 1998 automobile accident, Bland joined the band as Kelly's replacement; before becoming its guitarist, he had worked with Slaughter as a front-of-house sound technician. He played on the band's 1999 album Back to Reality and became part of the lineup that continued to perform Slaughter's hard-rock repertoire.
Bland also became a guitarist and musical director for Vince Neil's solo band. He performed alongside bassist Dana Strum and drummer Zoltan Chaney, and contributed guitar, backing vocals, and engineering to Neil's 2010 album Tattoos & Tequila. The record combined original songs with covers and placed Bland in both the performance and production sides of the project.
His other documented projects include Crash, a cover band associated with motorcycle rallies in Daytona Beach, and Blandini, a three-piece group in which he performs guitar and lead vocals with Zoltan Chaney and Pedro Sison. In 2024, he performed with Slaughter during the band's first Australian appearances at Glamfest, while the band's later lineup continued to identify him as lead guitarist and backing vocalist.
Achievements
Joined Slaughter as guitarist after the 1998 death of original guitarist Tim Kelly and contributed to the band's 1999 album Back to Reality.
Performed guitar, backing vocals, and engineering on Vince Neil's 2010 album Tattoos & Tequila.
Performed with Slaughter during the band's first Australian appearances at Glamfest in 2024.
(Slaughter album on which Bland performed guitar after joi...)
1999
Beatings From Orlando
(An independent recording by Left For Dead, the band in wh...)
1995
live album
Live From Daytona
(Live recording associated with CRASH, Bland's cover-band ...)
2001
Interests
Motorcycles and motorcycle culture.
Music & Bands
Hard rock, glam metal, and heavy metal performance.
Connections
Jeff Bland is the son of Elbert Bland and Fern Bland. His professional associations include Mark Slaughter, Dana Strum, and Zoltan Chaney in Slaughter and Vince Neil's touring and recording band.
Father:
Elbert Bland
Mother:
Fern Bland
References
Slaughter biography
Band history describing Bland's connection with Slaughter, including his earlier work as a sound technician and his recruitment after Tim Kelly's death.
Jeff Blando
Biographical and discographical reference covering Bland's work with KODY LEE, Left For Dead, Saigon Kick, Slaughter, CRASH, BLANDINI, and Vince Neil.
