It is Gaston and Purcell's presentation of the art of manualism that has had the biggest effect on their audiences. The art, which involves producing music by squeezing one's hands together, is extremely rare. Their CD entitled, "Mr. Handman--Amazing Feats on Musical Hands" is a tour de force for manualist possibilities. The sound obtained by Mr.Gaston is the result of over 42 years of practice. His repertoire is quite extensive with some of his more notable songs being "Five Foot Two", "Can-Can", "The Star Spangled Banner", and "Dueling Digits".
It consists of the following instrumentation: Ken Purcell (vocals, guitar, piano, and assorted percussion) and Bruce Gaston (musical hands and violin). Some songs on the CD are: “All Shook Up”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “Chicken Dance”, “Tequila”, “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “Irish Eyes”, “Can Can”, and “The Longest Time”. Guest artists on their CD are: Elizabeth Gaston- piano, Brian X. Cunningham-washtub bass, chicken clucks, Laura Murphy-vocal, Jimi Wright-comic voices, and F. Thomas Lichner-drums.
