Gran Torino

Knoxville, TN funk-rock combo Gran Torino assembled singer/guitarist Chris Ford, guitarist Steve Decker, bassist Todd Overstreet, trumpeters Scott Pederson and Pee-Jay Alexander, trombonist Dexter Murphy, saxophonist Jason Thompson and drummers Whit Pfohl and David Heyer. Making their debut in the fall of 1995, Gran Torino issued their debut album Live at the Chameleon Club the following year; in 1997, local concertgoers voted the band Knoxville's best homegrown act, additionally snapping up some 12,000 copies of the LP Gran Torino One.

Gran Torino Two followed in 1999, and just months later the group issued Live at the Chameleon Club. The band issued their most ambitious effort yet when The One and Only appeared in September 2002.