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.

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. 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.

Bill Francis
Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Born in San Francisco then later moving to San Jose, Bill is a musicians musician. 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.

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.