Terry has played the Omaha, Lincoln scene since he was kid. If you were around the area in the late 80s you should remember his rock/pop trio, The Finsters. Their quality playing and vocals were the envy of many other bands of the time. He continued to play in several other notable bands through the years including The BeatNiks, Version 3 and Soul Dawg. Terry is Finest Hour's fulltime gunslinger but can be heard playing with a wide variety of other breakout bands and combos.
Nikki Boulay Vocals
Nikki is an Omaha native and the youngest of a large family. Her brother, Greg, was one of the founding members of Finest Hour. She was a radio personality for many years on stations like The Edge, The City and most recently on Star 104.5 as well as few stations in Denver. After years of singing into her hairbrush she joined a band in college. She has been in many local bands and sang on the song, “Shine All The Time” with Blue Moon Ghetto - which became sort of an Omaha anthem.
Nikki left radio to spend more time with her husband and two boys and to pursue her own business. Nikki’s voice does serious over-time. In addition to singing with Finest Hour - she has a voice over business and occasionally hosts on TV and at events. You can hear Nikki on many radio and TV commercials as well as phone messaging and corporate videos for companies like Paypal, Whirlpool, NFM and Blue Cross - to name a few.
“Finest Hour has been around in some formation for so many years. My brother was a founding member when I was a kid and I thought he was a rockstar. The band line-up has changed many times over the years - but Finest Hour is a family. We deliver and have a blast doing it.”
Tom Sena Keys, Vocals, & Band Stylist
Tom's first musical inspiration was his late father, Raymond Sena. Over the years, Tom has played and sang in numerous bands including Effection, The Hip Waders, Guerilla Theater, The BeatNiks and Crime Sena. Thomas also performs in a "dueling pianos" act with piano partner, Brian Eckleberry as well as with other variations and breakout bands. Tom won two Theater Arts Guild awards for performing on stage in musical theater here in Omaha. He has also performed on radio and TV but more often he has not. Thomas is currently enjoying some mild success in the roll of father and husband to 4 pretty cool kids and a lovely wife.
Tom is rumored to have a day job as Manager/Stylist for Garbo's Salon and Spas in Omaha.
Todd Smith
Drums/Percussion
Veteran drummer Todd Smith's career has not only spanned across almost every musical sphere, it has spanned across the United States and the Pacific for more than four decades. As an in demand musician, Todd has been able to propel creative musical endeavors by being rock-solid, in-the-pocket, swing-his-ass-off dependable.
How Todd acquired those skills was by studying with legendary New York drummers Victor Lewis and Steve Berrios, as well as several other teachers and mentors. And not only has Todd been studying drums and percussion since the age of nine, at age five he began on the piano. Todd has also shared this knowledge through teaching, most notably at Premier Music Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Todd's gigging career began in 1977 with a chance opportunity to fill-in for a night with legendary guitar and fiddle slinger Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. And since then Todd has worked with a who's who of the music industry.....Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Tiny Tim, Rodney Dangerfield, Kenny Loggins, Hal Linden, Shirley Jones, Dennis Morgan, Barry Williams, Buddy Miles, Mike Finnigan, Ronnie Foster, Skip Martin, Sarah Thiele, Daniel De Los Reyes, Dave Stryker, Karrin Allyson, Russell Malone, Joe Esposito, Bruce Conte, Scott Cassu, Lena Prima, Mike Varney, Andre Lewis, Sammy Figueroa, the 2012 Crackin' Reunion Concerts with Arno Lucas/Lester Abrams/Leslie Smith/Rick Chudacoff and featuring Robbie Dupree, The Drifters/Coasters/Platters at The Sahara-Las Vegas, Menopause The Musical at The Las Vegas Hilton, Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay-Las Vegas, The Mighty Jailbreakers, Fahrenheit-Las Vegas, and many more!
Michael Pujado Percussion, Vocals, and Dance Moves
Originally from Chile, Michael came to the USA in 1989 as an exchange student. Although his formal training was on the piano, Michael realized soon after he arrived in the US that he liked playing percussion. In addition to playing for numerous bands in the Omaha area, Michael has performed with Richard Marx, Arturo Sandoval, Quincy Jones, Patty Austin, and toured the east coast with a Jam band call Jiggle. He has also performed several times at Red Rock with the band Slightly Stoopid. He teaches and performs in an annual youth music clinic in Summit County Colorado with Tony and Joey Gulizia. Lastly, he is a member of the Nebraska Arts Council and participates in music residencies around the area
Matt Wallace Sax, Flute & BroadBand Horns Director
Saxophonist Matt Wallace traveled to 70 countries, made 10 records and appeared on television and radio programs from 1987-2002 with Jazz Hall of Fame trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. A graduate from Westside High School in Omaha, Wallace was a 16-year-old Deacon at Countryside Church, published by 19, and on the Board of Regents at 21 as the Student Body President of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. 2015 marks his 40th year in the music business as he did his first professional gig at the age of 13 with The Resurrected Swing. Mr. Wallace has performed with Delbert McClinton, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, 10,000 Maniacs, Greg Allman, Paul Shaffer, Joe Piscopo, Los 5 and for The King of Thailand, His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulyadej.
"In my opinion, Finest Hour has worked hard to become the preeminent Wedding/Private Party Band in the Region. Why else would one get the honor of the last performance at Rosenblatt Stadium, the first performance at Baxter Arena, and playing the Gubernatorial Ball for our current Governor? The answer not only lies in how great the band sounds, but also it's professionalism and dedication to excellence."
Matt also likes pizza!
Stan Harper Saxophone
Stan has played saxophone and taught music in the Omaha metro for over 25 years. He received his Bachelors degree in music education in 1996 from UNO. Currently he teaches from his private studio as well as vocal music for the Omaha Public Schools.
As a musician, in addition to Finest Hour, Stan is currently a member of Bluehouse with the Rent to Own Horns, and the Omaha Big Band. He and his wife Rene’, a vocalist, have a small acoustic group-Harper and Stan also leads The Little Harper Big Band. He has shared the stage with Connor Oberst of Bright Eyes, Steve Allen, Lou Rawls, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Jim Widner Big Band, the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, Luigi Waites, Bob Mintzer, Dave Pietro, Chip McNeal, Kim Richmond, Dave Scott, Tom Kubis, Scott Whitfield, Claudio Roditi, Wayne Bergeron, Steve Raybine and others. Also keeping a busy freelance schedule, he has recently played for shows, Beehive, Nunsense, Fame, and “grew up” touring with the Broadway show “Anything Goes”.
Most importantly!! Stan is a proud papa to two amazing, beautiful girls, and a one hip little grandson
Joel Edwards Trumpet
Born in Des Moines, Iowa and moved to Omaha, Joel received a BA in music education in 1977 and received a MS in Audiology in 1984 and Doctoral Degree Au.D. from ATSU in Phoenix Arizona 2010. Joel is currently an audiologist for Boys Town National Research Hospital West Hospital and serves as a coordinator. Joel taught hearing science and was an adjunct professor a UNO Department of Communicative Disorders and taught 10 years.
Joel’s trumpet teachers include Jim Hill, recording jingle artist for the Minneapolis and Omaha areas in the early 70”s, Gene Badgett (Trumpet Omaha Symphony in 1973-77), Dennis Schneider (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) 1980-83, John Henes, Chicago Metropolitan Opera trumpet section (Alexander technique for trumpet) 1995.
Joel Edwards performs with various groups in the area that include the Solid Brass Quartet, Omaha Brassworks, Omaha Trumpet Ensemble, Lincoln Trumpet Ensemble, Omaha Big Band, local Omaha blues band, Blue House, Resurrected Swing Big Band, and Gooch’s Las Vegas Jazz band that performs in Omaha regularly.
Joel has also performed with Ray Charles, Temptations, Four Tops, The Mighty Sam McClain, Johnny Mathis, Omaha Symphony Pops Orchestra and has played trumpet on many Broadway shows coming through the Omaha Metro that include Grease, Cinderella, Annie, Sound of Music, Damn Yankees, Crazy For You, Dream Girls (Dianna Ross Story), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Fiddler on the Roof, Spamalot to mention a few. Also listed to his credit is the longest running locally-produced professional show called Bee Hive, music review of the 50’s and 60’s rock era.
