Album Notes

The Players
Rich Ayala
Founding member and leader, Songwriter, Electric and acoustic guitar, Slide guitars, Bass guitars, Backing vocals
A Santa Clara California native, Rich began playing guitar at the age of 11. After being taught the intro to Stairway to heaven by His brother Al and given a Zeppelin complete songbook, he worked his way to a self taught routine which would later be expanded when His cousin Jesse showed him the pentatonic blues scale. One thing led to another and it was soon obvious that the guitar was more than a passing interest and would become a regular part of his day.

The music of the late 60's, 70's and early 80's were the main influence on Rich's playing. In the early 80's Rich went to a Santana concert where a fiery guitarist named Al Di Meola opened the show. He combined Jazz and electric rock style guitar to create beautiful music with the intensity of Rock. This also opened up a new world of influence on Rich's playing.

Heavy woodshedding as it's called (practicing in the solitude of an actual shed) is where Rich developed his playing style which is somewhere between rock and blues with an occasional hint of jazz. The classic example of a kid standing in front of a turntable spinning the records backwards (not to look for demonic messages or to scratch out a rap tune) but to learn the really cool licks he was hearing from his favorite players and attempting to make his guitar sound as close as possible in tone as well. This is why you can hear everything from classic style blues and rock as well as slide guitar and down home acoustic grit in the current Rev City Band.

"Looking back, all I can say is that I picked up the guitar and just never put it down. It's become part of who I am and it's just what I do. I've never felt comfortable in competitive situations because I personally don't approach music that way. In recent years I've focused more on songwriting than just developing chops. I make music because it's the best way for me to capture my thoughts or relate to people and situations. Plus it's just fun. I get a kick when I hear someone just playing music and I really enjoy encouraging them if I can. There have been plenty of times I walked into a music store and heard someone playing something I wish I could play and I'd just kinda laughed at how cool it was. Sometimes people don't know how to receive that kind of complement, but mostly they're just glad to hear a kind word. There's a healthy type of competitiveness that comes from spurring a fellow musician on which can actually help you to work harder than you would otherwise. If you hear someone do something you've never tried it can cause you to change musical habits or just open up new areas of creativity. That's what I consider a healthy look at being competitive. The standard rule is that there's always someone with greater skill than you, so if you remember that, it will keep you humble enough to be effective in just about any situation. Besides, if I ever entered a competition I'd lose because half way through a song I'd pick up a slide and just go off on a tangent. I don't think the judges would be too impressed." Take a look at the workshop section to hear more details about the band's equipment and approach to locating "the Tone Zone".

In the very late eighties at the height of the big hair rocker era Rich accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and also married his girlfriend Cecilia. They have two children, Richard and Rebekah. "Life's lessons give me plenty of material to write about and balancing family and music is easy. That's as long as I remember family first, then music. Actually that's God, family, and then music, then fishing. That's more like it." They currently live in Northern California with their dog Sandy and are doing very cool.

Charlie Brady
Lead Vocals, Harmonica, Mayhem
What we know about Charlie so far is that he was looking for a gig many years and carried a harp around in his wild youth waiting for an opportunity to jam. Charlie would get together with his brother and jam (his brother plays too) and just learn what he could. You can hear his personality through his hyper style of harmonica playing and you can tell by the number of harmonicas he's been through that he doesn't go real easy on them. Going from a vocal line to blowing a harmonica line takes a lot of energy, but we have yet to see him faint at a gig.

You might not guess, but Charlie is a huge Beatle fan who has recently picked up the bass as well. His uncanny ability to harmonize a vocal line at the drop of a hat is a result of hearing the Beatles do it first, and then naturally looking for opportunities to do the same. Charlie also, listened to the heavier bands of the day, Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers and the like and brings that same style to Rev City Blues.

Charlie is the most unusual guy in the band and brings life and laughter to all the gigs. One testimony to the fact the he's different is that when he first came to faith in God he could be seen carrying a large cross down Fremont Blvd. Even carrying the cross through the Mall. This didn't go over too well with security though. This brought lots of opportunity to share his faith and some weird looks too.

Riding his Harley is a big part of what Charlie does and shares this interest with his wife Robin. They both ride and are involved with the local Christian motorcycle clubs where other people from similar backgrounds can get together and encourage each other.

Bill Francis
Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Born in San Francisco then later moving to San Jose, Bill is a musicians musician and by most accounts, the second weirdest guy in the band. Not by far though. Growing up his favorite bands were Santana, Allman Brothers, Kansas and Yes. Classic rock and blues were his main appetite though he would later study classical and jazz in high school and then later in college. He spent over 3 years being trained in Hayward State University and then San Jose State. This has given Bill a high level of musical skill, but never leaving the ability to just jam, he covers the best of both worlds.

Bill came to faith in Christ in 1972 while at a high school camp hosted by Young Life. A participant and supporter of Christian 12 step recovery programs Bill has a real passion to see people mature into healthy individuals. "The thing I love about the blues is that it puts things out in the open where God can heal you."

Aside from Rev City, Bill is the head of the music ministry at Spring Valley Bible Church.

James Nobriga
Drums
Another studious player, James received his music major at San Jose State and is currently involved in a few different musical projects aside from Rev City. With the support of family, James has developed a disciplined approach to the drums as well as a host of other percussive instruments. He also plays piano and guitar. And he's good too. Basically, he can play just about anything from a formal recital, a musical play or the way cool gig with Rev City.

Always involved in the church in some way, his faith is the center of what he's doing. A monster player and just a real nice guy, James is from San Jose where he currently lives with his wife Katie. We're just glad he took the gig.