by Kelsey Butler
Local cover band Ex’s and Oh’s is best described as a family that rocks. “These guys are like my brothers,” explains lead vocalist Christina Mangham. “We’re like family.”
Ric Turner, backup vocals and guitar; Christina Mangham, vocals; Maxx FX Vanover, lead guitar; Andy Decker, bass; and Jamin Hoover, drums make up the five-piece band. Turner describes his bandmates as a five-pointed star saying, “Everybody in this band is so good and so comfortable with what they do, and it just compliments everybody else. It’s just a perfect little five piece. I would not ask for anybody else to play with.”
Mangham sang with the female country duo Sweet Southern Comfort before finding her way to Ex’s and Oh’s. “I was so used to playing acoustic,” she explains. But after getting the chance to rock out on stage she says, “I was 110% in my element and it was just amazing. So when I got asked to do this from all the guys I was really like humbled that they would want me to be their female frontman.”
Turner remembers when Mangham first sang with the band saying he felt like they were complete, “Now we can do anything; there’s no song we can’t cover.”
Another recent addition to the band is lead guitarist, DJ, and effects genius Maxx FX Vanover. “Adding him to the band changed everything,” Turner explains. “With a lead guitar player our songs are more full, and he’s also the master of effects which is why I call him Maxx FX. He’s a genius on the PA, and he does really great backup singing.”
Ex’s and Oh’s cover hits mainly from the 80s and 90s. “We do everything from Billy Idol to Vanilla Ice to Joan Jett and you name it. We’re working on ‘Love Shack’ right now.”
With each classic cover, you can expect Ex’s and Oh’s to “put a little more rock and roll to it; a little more edge,” as Mangham describes it.
When Ex’s and Oh’s play a gig they bring the whole party, “We bring a stage, we bring a light show, we bring a full PA: the whole package, and it’s what we love doing.”
