Theaters-CASINOS-CRUISES and SPECIAL EVENTS

If high energy was bottled this man would be the source. With his saxophone, pennywhistles, percussion devices and other odd comedic devices, Mitch Smith is the fun loving frontman of SWAG. 

40 years plus in the music business has not slowed him down at all. The entertainer knows how to read a crowd and deliver exactly what they want.

  Having toured the USA with a high energy rock band in the 80s, Mitch also loved his other high adrenaline activity of motorcycle racing. After winning national championships he carried on that love by building incredible motorcycles while still rocking audiences at night with his stage antics. 

  SWAG is proud to have Mitch Smith on board. His stellar saxophone work and vocals are always crowd pleasers. He walks into the crowd and plays for the audience close up. He always has fun with the crowd. When Mitch hits the stage he plays off not only the crowd but the other band members as well. Along with Renee Clair as the front singers, Mitch and Renee bring serious energy to the show.   

Renee Clair was born in the midwest and spent her early years traveling the United States with her parents and siblings. Her family came from Ireland to the United States and were very musical themselves, on both sides of her family. Her grandparents played in Bands around the Chicago Area and had their own Radio Show in the 40s. Music is in her DNA. She lives it and breathes it. 

At 13 she was in the studio with the writer of the song 16 candles who was giving her advice about being in the music business. She never forgot him or the advice. 

   Her musical influences are all over the board, she loves Pink, Patsy Cline, Bruno Mars, James Brown, Madonna and many others in just about every genre. 

  She continues the family tradition and sings several types of music including Country, Pop and Dance Music. Renee has been singing most of her life and has won contests in California and Nevada. Besides singing she is also a very gifted painter. She has done several series of paintings and continues to stretch the boundaries with her amazing art. 

Onstage she is all energy and loves to laugh,  alongside fellow singer and frontman, Mitch Smith, she brings everything she has to each performance.  

She and her husband Micheal Bear Clair own SWAG AUDIO and help singers and songwriters get their material recorded. 

Award winning engineer, Nashville session player, Touring musician and filmmaker Micheal Bear Clair brings more than 40 years of rock solid experience to the session every time he takes on a project. A multi instrumentalist he plays guitar, keys, bass, steel guitar, Mandolin and Banjo. Also is a vocalist for Swag.

 He began audio engineering at National Tape Corporation in Nashville in 1984, serving as a mastering engineer on Projects as far ranging as the Yoopers to mastering the very first Binaural beats Tapes, Projects by Nancy Griffith, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Members of the Grand Ol Opry including Charlie Walker, Billy Walker, Ray Price, Porter Waggoner and many other Opry Stars.  

 He was lucky enough to have great mentors in his career, One in particular taught him about everything from Publishing, recording, writing to playing Guitar,  Chet Atkins was highly influential in Bears life and was a mentor till his death. His other Mentors included Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band who he remains very close to, also Blues artist Keb Mo and James Cotton,  whom he learned much from as well.  

 All these great writers and players taught him to raise the bar when it came to recording and writing songs. Another great friend and mentor was Hal Ketchum. Hal was one of the greatest writers and friends in Bears life. They traveled together and spent a lot of time talking about crafting songs and producing records. Hal sadly passed away 2 years ago.  

    This level of training and gleaning of knowledge was not wasted on Bear. He soaked it all in and put it to use. In 1991 Bear moved to Idaho and soon met Steve Miller, who gave him much needed work and the best advice and teaching he would ever receive. Steve took the time to teach Bear about the actual BUSINESS of music. From how deals are done, to actual tour planning and publishing business. 

    Bear refers to this as the SMAM method which stands for Steve Miller Approved Method. Steve is one of the most successful songwriters of all time for a good reason. He took it all very serious and runs his business very well.  

 During that same time in Sun Valley Idaho where Bear lived, he met Movie actor Bruce Willis who hired Bear to be his In House Audio Engineer for his clubs and his Band the Accelerators. This went on for 3 years until Bear took a job as guitarist for Alligator Records Artist CJ Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band. Bear did several world tours with CJ and learned much on this 2 year adventure with the veteran zydeco artist.  

   During this same time he did FOH engineering for acts such as Dread Zeppelin, Jerry Joseph and the Jack Mormons, Tom Jones, Aretha Franklin, Buddy Guy, BB King, Bo Diddley, The Paladins, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, Norton Buffalo, Roy Rogers, Cherry Poppin Daddies, Bananarama, Natalie Cole, Keb Mo, Carol King, Robert Cray, Brian Setzer, Stephen Stills, Sam Lay, Jr Wells, Tinsley Ellis, Inflatable Soule, Peter Cetera and countless others. 

   He also became lifelong friends with Surf King DICK DALE. Learned a lot from Dick as well. Playing Bass for Dick was an amazing time. The Stories are endless.

  He also recorded CDs for Artist like Lyle Sinclair, a legend in Idaho and a former touring mate of the Frizzell family. Lyle and Bear remained best friends until Lyles passing in December of 2021. 

  In the Early 2000s Bear was approached by a documentary filmmaker to score her movie called THE COST OF FREEDOM. It won best score in a documentary film in 2005 at Seattle film fest and Los Angeles film festival and was a highly regarded film at Sundance and Canne. Along with that film Bear has produced loads of Commercials for major companies across the US. He has been twice nominated for Grammy Awards for his work with Artists on Warner Brothers and Alligator records.           

     He was the host of the Sideman Show in Nashville TN which featured session players and touring musicians who would come to Bear and Renee's house, enjoy BBQ and be interviewed for his show. His last session in Nashville was with his pal David Frizzell. Bear played Acoustic guitar on all the tracks of the Frizzell and friends CD.   After years of touring and moving around Bear came home to Iowa in 2013. He and his wife Renee run the studio and play in the band named after it. SWAG. 

In 2018 He was inducted into the Midwest Music Hall of Fame. 

Jeff Taylor has been playing music professionally for more than forty years. He first developed an interest in music on the family’s farm near Toddville, Iowa. The Taylor family then moved to Cedar Rapids and after graduating from high school, he played in bands from the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area.  

  In 1977 Jeff moved to Boston, Massachusetts to study music at Berklee College of Music, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Composition. Around 1980 Jeff joined the band of future Grammy award winner Patty Larkin. 

   Shortly after that Jeff got a call from Eddie Shaw (of Howlin’ Wolf’s band) who needed an organ player for his northeast tour. While with Eddie Shaw, he did a recording with the Wolf Gang that included the late-great David Maxwell on piano, and Jeff on the Hammond organ.  

  It was around this time that Jeff recorded with Iowa Blues Hall of Fame artist Dennis McMurrin on his album LA that included the Tower of Power Horns and Derek Dyer. In 1983 Jeff joined Capricorn Recording’s James Montgomery Blues Band touring up and down East Coast and Caribbean and was included in their recording sessions.

    Later, in 1986 and 1987 Jeff toured with Matt “Guitar” Murphy of the famous Blues Brothers Band, performing shows from Calgary to Key West on the road for six to ten weeks at a time.  In 1987 Jeff started the Taylor Made Band with Buck Taylor, Bird Taylor and other members of James Montgomery’s band. Taylor Made’s dance sound lead by Buck Taylor’s (Multi-time winner, “Best R&B Singer” in Ireland) energetic show performed for audiences from Maryland to Maine and received multiple awards as Boston’s Beat Magazine’s R&B Band of the Year. When Buck moved to Ireland, the band continued with Bird leading as the Taylor Brothers Band until 2012.  

   Although Jeff lives in Boston, he frequently returns to the Cedar Rapids area where he has performed at the North Liberty Blues and BBQ Festival, the Irish District Music and Arts Festival and the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival. Jeff Taylor and the All-Stars, made up of some of the area’s finest musicians and Iowa Blues Hall of Fame inductees, continue to play the area as schedules allow.

Swag is proud to have Jeff Taylor as our keyboard player and vocalist.