Vinnie Uanno
Vinnie Uanno, was born January 30, 1992, in San Francisco, California. In 2005 Uanno relocated to the Seattle-area with his family. Soon-after, he purchased his first guitar at the age of thirteen, after being deeply-inspired to play guitar by The Rumba Kings' co-founder George Stevens. "When I went to Los Angeles, I saw George and his band play, and then when I came back home I told my mother and father I want a guitar," says Uanno in a September 2018 interview in the podcast hosted by comedian Dubai Denis, A Conversation and a Scotch. He continues, "That was it! Ever since then I've watched videos of them, I always just paid attention to everything they did. That's actually what got me to keep going."
Uanno's Grandfather, Ted Stevens, also played guitar and sang at family gatherings, and was also an inspiration to Uanno during his early years.
In 2009, Uanno and guitarist, Teddy Adams, started playing guitar together after meeting via their families in Los Angeles, California. Soon after, they started a band called, The Gipsy Entertainers, performing at various small clubs and house parties. You can see a video of one of their earliest rehearsals here. They also recorded several songs together in Adam's home studio.
In 2012, after George Stevens relocated to Seattle from Los Angeles, he met up with Adams and Uanno to casually play some music with them. After realizing how good they were sounding together, Stevens booked some shows in an Edmonds, Washington lounge called, "The Loft," and the band began performing on weekend under the name, The Gipsy Boys.
Uanno is credited with having co-written the instrumental song titled, "Angelina", which is featured on the band's debut double-album, titled, The Instrumental and Vocal Sessions, Vol. I