MARK PENDER - TRUMPET

"I couldn't be more thrilled, these shows are electrifying," says Mark Pender about performing in the upcoming Badger Band Spring Concert. Appearing nightly on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Pender has been a willing participant in the music, magic and madness that seems a perfect fit for this year's Spring Concert.

After years of session work, concerts, tours and TV appearances with many great artists like Bruce Springsteen, (including last years Seeger Sessions recording and tour), David Bowie, Diana Ross, Jon Bon Jovi,Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, Robert Cray , Jay McShann, Joe Cocker, and scores of others, Mark has found a home in Late Night with Conan O'Brien with more than 14 years on the air ... and counting. He also has over 10 gold and platinum records to his name including "Some Like it Hot" (Power Station) Bruce Springsteen (1976-86 Live Anthology), The Rising, Tracks, Devils and Dust, and We Shall Overcome) Joe Cocker (One Night of Sin) and David Bowie (Tonight).

A Kansas City native, Mark has pursued the passions that he found there: jazz, blues, rock and funk. He also leads his own band and has a self-titled recording, "The Mark Pender Band," (markpenderband.com) and an upcoming disc soon to be released featuring the late great Kansas City Piano Man Jay McShann, titled, "I went back to Kansas City".

Mark performed with Mike and the band at the 2005 Spring Concert to an overwhelming response that has come to typify the shows put on at the Kohl Center. "I still tell everybody that this experience was one of the most exciting and memorable shows that I've done in my entire career," states Pender, the single name he's become known as at "Conan." "I'm sure this year we.ll even kick it up a notch."

Nat McIntosh - Tuba

Nat's home is Longmont, Colorado, but he studied music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with Professor John Stevens. As a student he helped form the Sotto Voce Quartet, a nationally acclaimed tuba/euphonium ensemble.

Until 2004, Nat was the musical director and sousaphonist with the YoungBlood Brass Band, an eight-piece ensemble in the tradition of New-Orleans-style brass bands. As leader of the group, Nat garnered critical acclaim for his innovative compositions, blending brass music with hip-hop, afro-cuban, brazilian, and jazz-funk styles. He was recently featured on NPR's "All Things Considered," performing one of his solo sousaphone features "The Warrior Comes Out to Play."

Nat currently resides in Los Angeles, where he and his brother, Ben McIntosh, run McIntosh Musical Services, a transcription, arranging, and copying business. As a freelance multi-instrumentalist, Nat plays classical tuba, salsa trombone and Balkan sousaphone.

Nat serves on the faculty of the Academy of Creative Education, a summer school for gifted junior high and high school musician and is a tubist with the Dallas Brass. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member instructing tuba and euphonium at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).