The RevTones were formed in 2006 By Marcus Edell and Randy Schmidt.Our original upright Bassist Roxane Chicoine is featured on this self titled Debut Album..We released this CD in September 2008 to great reviews.
San Jose Mercury News-
BY PAUL FREEMAN
Fremont’s Marcus Edell digs hot rods,
so it’s only natural that he would burn
with rockabilly fever.
In 2006, when his wife suggested he
start a band, the veteran drummer jumped
at the idea. He placed an ad on Craigslist,
seeking serious rockabilly musicians. It
drew only one response. But it was an
excellent match — guitarist/vocalist/
songwriter Randy Schmidt, an Oakland
resident.
“We had a lot in common, musically,”
Edell said during an interview with The
Daily News. “He told me he had written
some songs, but never had the opportunity
to try them out. I said, ‘Lay them on
me.’ He played a couple and I thought,
‘Wow, this guy’s on to something!’”
They added an upright bassist, Alameda’s
Roxanne Chicoine, who played on
the band’s scintillating self-titled CD. She
left in May of 2008. Back to Craigslist.
The RevTones recruited Newark bassist
Rob Shaw. “I auditioned a few guys
who were absolute jokes. Rob called me,
excited, very willing and knowledgeable.
The only thing that bothered me was that
he had just turned 22. (Edell is 36; Schmidt
46.)
“I thought, ‘Young guys are flakey.’
But we auditioned him and he already
knew all the songs from our CD. He was
so enthused. Right away, I knew this guy
was going to work out perfect.”
Showmanship is a big plus for
rockabilly bands, and Shaw brings that
element. “Sometimes he’s got a Mohawk
or some crazy get-ups. He’s animated on
stage, physically. He jumps on and off his
bass, plays behind his back. Wild stuff. A
lot of the traditional rockabilly bands are
pretty tame, toned down, in comparison.”
“With Rob, we’ve moved up the
ladder a little bit, been able to change
our sound, go in different directions.
Rob comes from a background of punk,
psychobilly, a different style of upright
bass-playing than the traditional bluegrass,
country or rockabilly.”
Schmidt counts the Clash among his
influences and Edell’s drumming inspiration
came from such prog rock bands
as Genesis, Yes and Rush. But all three
RevTones are also into ’50s and ’60s
roots rock.
“We throw our own spin on it,” said
Edell. “We’re being called neo-rockabilly.
I don’t like the idea that, if you’re
playing rockabilly, you have to play a
certain way, look a certain way, have
vintage equipment. Who makes all these
rules? All that matters is that we express
the music the way we feel it.
“We’re not doing this as a living. So
we just do whatever we want to do. That
makes it much more interesting and fun
... and it seems to be working.”
Edell buys and sells classic cars.
Schmidt is an architect. Shaw manages
the Guitar Center in San Jose.
As the RevTones, they play about half
a dozen dates a month. They perform at
Pacifica’s Octopus Lounge on Saturday night,
and at Sunnyvale’s Quarter Note on June 12.
“Within the last year, I’ve noticed that
we’ve started to catch attention. We’ve
been reviewed in rockabilly magazines and
webzines. I’ll see people in the audience in
their 60s and people in their 20s. It’s a mixed
crowd, which is good.”
The crowds include rockabilly aficionados.
“It’s a subculture. Like punk rock, it’s
a rebellious thing. Some of these rockabilly
guys and girls get really into it. They dress
the part, drive old cars. It’s cool, but it can get
kind of spooky sometimes. Hey, it is the 21st
century, you know?” Edell said with a laugh.
“They’re trying to find their niche, to feel
like they belong. Everyone wants a sense of
belonging. The rockabilly scene offers that.”
Amid original tunes, the RevTones intersperse
unusual covers, from Cheap Trick to
Misfits. “People don’t expect that. They come
up after the show and say, ‘Wow, that song. It
blew me away!’ When I go to shows, I like
to be surprised.”
The band opened for Lee Rocker at San
Francisco’s Red Devil Lounge in January.
“We got a great response at that show. People
were there to see Lee Rocker, didn’t know
who the hell we were.
“Lee Rocker didn’t stick around. He was
in a bad mood that day, rude to us, rude to
the fans. But we sold a lot of CDs. and a lot
of people from that show are coming to our
other shows all over the area.”
The band, which has a new album in the
works, recently broke into the South Lake
Tahoe Area. They’d like to play more Southern
California dates and expand into the
Midwest and Southwest.
“People say it would be great to get
signed. Maybe, maybe not. I like the fact that
we don’t have to answer to anybody but ourselves.
But it would be cool to open for some
of the bigger acts, like Reverend Horton Heat.
“When I started the band, I never expected
it to go this far. So I’m already very happy.”
Review from Rockabilly HQ-
"The RevTones are a three piece Rockabilly band from the San Francisco bay area.
I ran into them at a benefit gig I was MCing in San Francisco.
I arrived at the 23 club with the biggest butterflies in my stomach, I think I’d ever had. Not only was I going to be behind the microphone at the legendary club that has played host to legends like Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins, but also playing for the first time for a U.S. rockabilly crowd.
The line-up was impressive. Not only where the RevTones on stage, but the night would culminate with the great Chop Tops.
The second band to perform, at around 5pm were the RevTones. I was extremley surprised that such an obviously accomplished band would be on so early. But it certainly made for a fantastic start to the procedings.
A few days after the show I contacted Marcus, of the RevTones about the possibility of interviewing them for my “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” radio show.
I fuond Marcus to be a great guy, who is probably living my dream; playing in a rockabilly band and dealing in classic American cars.
He sent me a copy of the RevTones’ CD to check out before our interview and to review here on the site so here goes….
Firstly, let’s talk about the line-up. The band I saw in January had a different Bass player than the one featured on the CD, Roxanne Chicoine having been replaced by the green-quiffed Rob Shaw. Marcus Edell doubles as the drummer and manager of the band and guitarist Randy Schmidt plucks the strings, sings and writes most the their material. In fact Randy wrote all tracks on this CD, except Bob Dylan’s “From a Buick 6.”
The CD opens with the lilting and I am desperately tying not to use a hackneyed and punny description for “Ghost Train” but I fear that “haunting” is actually the best word for it. Some great twang from the lead guitar as Randy stamps hard on the echo pedal to create the wonderfully evocative start to the CD.
Bob Dylan wrote From a Buick 6 in 1965 and the RevTones give it a hopped-up, 21st century, rockabilly feel and, as Randy Jackson would say “make it their own.” It’s always a tempation, when doing cover versions to attempt to copy the original, but Randy has managed to stamp his own unique singing style on this classic, while all the time being faithful to the original spirit of the song.
OverDrive is an instrumental track that showcases all three of the guys’ musical talents. A simple, but enjoyable guitar solo is the highlight of this track.
After the respite afforded by OverDrive track 4, “Mean & Evil” slams us back into some classic, driving Rockabilly. This is my favorite track on the CD and if I had been engineering the CD, I would have put it last to leave the audience wanting more, but then, I’d have put them higher up in the running order of the benefit gig we played together at too! Check the lyrics out. I guarentee you’ll be singnig along by the second chorus.
“Rockabilly Baby” is, in my humble opinion, the weakest track on the CD, but that may just be becasue it follows a powerhouse track like “Mean & Evil” (See, that’s why I’d have put that one last). The drum & guitar are adequate, but I think this track could have benefited from a more prominent bass and possibly speeded up a tad.
The next track is a complete departure from the rest of the CD as the band abandon their hither-to 100% rockabilly style in favor of a more main-stream rock beat. I must admit, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to hear this track. It showcases the depth of the guys’ repetoir and is another opportunity for Randy to play a couple of elaborate guitar solos. Very nicely done and strangle not out of place. It’s like a palate cleanser for the last half of the CD.
“Frying pan into the Fire” is back to a slick, down-beat Rockabilly track that has you tapping your feet from the first bar, right to the last, excellent drop. About half way through you’re treated to another Randy solo that is more than a little remeniscent of Brian Setzer’s “Stray Cat Strut” guitar solo. But what’s wrong with that?
“Lilac’s in Bloom” finally highlights some excellent slap-bass that I think could have been more prominent on previous tracks. Staccatto guitar and a trip-along drum line make this a really fun track.
The penultimate track “Polka Dot Dress” is my second favorite track on the CD. As with Mean & Evil is highlights Randy’s more playful side of his lyric writing. The tag line is very catchy and the “Rock Around The Clock” segway is wonderfully blended with the rest of this great track. I wanted it go go on for longer. Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s exactly what this track is.
The finish off the CD very strongly with the exciting and forceful “Red Tree Road” with it’s pouding beat and vicious guitar riff. A great track that brings the whole ensemble to a wonderful crescendo.
Overall, I enjoyed the CD immensely and even more, their live performance. "
Hicks with Sticks-
A 10-song track list was the first hint that something good might be lurking in the RevTones' debut CD. The band has been playing regularly over the past two years, sometimes doing three sets a night. They are primed and pumped with material, yet they held the CD to ten tracks, none of which are over four minutes and half are under three. Thed self-titled it The RevTones but Skimming the Cream would have worked just as well. Think or it as a greatest hits CD, except that it's only their first.
"Ghost Train" kicks the CD off with a haunting ditty about a mystery train that collects the souls of those who loiter on its tracks, but the mystery soon dissolves into a romp on the CD's one cover tune, Bob Dylan's "From a Buick 6," with the immortal chorus, "If I fall down dyin', y'know she's bound to put a blanket on my head," busts through the speakers. "Mean and Evil" combines humor and insight as a song about a real good for nothin', lyin', cheatin', credit limit bustin' woman. The only catch is that before the singer tosses the beeyatch out of his life, he'd like her to make him a grilled cheese sandwich, not so much to demean her but to make the point that his own self-absorption cost him dearly.
Of course this being a rockabilly band its attention would eventually stray toward that lady who's looking so fine that you can almost smell the perfume wafting from the rockabilly filly with the string of white pearls on a "Polka Dot Dress." And being a rockabilly band, trouble is never far away as the woman's jealous husband Crazy Pete and the police are out to get the hep cat living too close to the edge in "Frying Pan into the Fire."
"Red Tree Road," which closes the CD is a high octane murder ballad. Lead singer and guitarist Randy Schmidt seems to fly with a simple but deadly guitar lick over the backbeat of drummer Marcus "Hot Rod" Edell and stand-up bassist Roxanne Chicoine. There's no place to hide when you're in a trio and with a CD like this, there's no need to hide anything anyway
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