The Blues Gangsters were founded by three notorious leaders of the Che Underground.The initial instigator in the project was frontman David Rinck (of the original San Diego band The Wallflowers) who is currently living in Nairobi, Kenya where he works as a UN Economist. He doubles his duties in Africa as a musician with his intensely poplular "psycho-blues bar-band", The Beathogs. Apparently, The Beathogs are all the rage in Kenya and many parts of Africa, even "Maddajazzcar"!
Alas, Rinck had a thirst to quench in the new millennium-the sensation of playing loud, original rock n roll with his So-Cal confederates! So, in early 2008, his fingers did the walking through the Che Undeground website(www.cheunderground.com/blog). There he found the wildly popular and reverently respected songwriter and guitarist David Ellison, most noted for his lead guitar roles with The Wild Desires, The Rockin Dogs, and The Town Criers in old San Diego. Finally, Dave Rinck found his long lost friend Miss Kristi Maddocks, now living in the Bay Area, and asked her to come aboard. Kristi had been active in the SD scene as a "girl about town", event promoter (Go Go Impossible), and finally lead singer of San Diego's own rocking post-psychedelia all-girl group, Everybody Violet. She had been singing and writing in mostly jazz and cabaret acts in the 20 years since they all departed their SD roots (in Cabaret Du Nord, Burlap & Pearl, and at Cafe Du Nord from 1992 through 2000). Kristi was also recovering from a near fatal congenital brain defect that resulted in a massive bleed, stroke, and partial paralysis in 2005. By the time she and Rinck discussed The Blues Gangsters collaboration in early 2008, Kristi was healthy enough to travel & sing, and was more than ready to make another fresh go at rock 'n' roll and living life to the fullest!
Once Rinck, Ellison and Maddocks began their songwriting partnership and had swapped demos for a number of months, they were ready to add the final members to complete the band. They had to look no further than their compadres within the Che Underground to find the perfect fit. It was with great ease that Dave Rinck found his former drummer for The Wallflowers, Matt Johnson (also of The Gravedigger Five). The final piece to the puzzle came in the form of music aficionado David Fleminger (The Answers, The Mirrors, Lemons Are Yellow) on bass and keyboards. In January 2009 the quintet recorded their first CD, "The Perils of Life" at SDRL Recording Studios in San Diego, California for the Indie label Furious BabyFace Records. The eight original songs recorded for "The Perils of Life" are a balanced blend of psychedelic twinged, Blues-driven Americana and Rock with soulful grooves & lyrics. The Blues Gangsters hope to have their debut CD "The Perils of Life" released on CDBaby.com by the end of June 2009.
Also appearing on "The Perils of Life" are two special guests. Dylan Rogers contributes an original Blues Rap on "Ride With Me/Sometimes I Forget I'm White", and cellist Heather Vorwerck performs hauntingly on "We Are Washed Clean".
The Blues Gangsters
For more information on The Blues Gangsters' debut CD "The Perils of Life", to arrange interviews with David Rinck, Kristi Maddocks or other band members; or any other Blues Gangsters inquiry:
Please contact: Kristi Maddocks 510.759.3776 10am-6pm /PST
e-mail: misskristi99@yahoo.com
HOT LINKS:
www.bluesgangsters.com
www.cheunderground.com/blog
www.everybodyviolet.com
www.myspace.com/KristiMaddocks
www.myspace.com/Davidrinck
www.beathogs.com
Influences
The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, The Velvet Underground & Nico, X, The Doors, X-Ray Specs,The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, David Bowie, The Byrds, 13th Floor Elevators, The Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday. Nina Simone, Norah Jones, Miles Davis, Chocolate Watchband, The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Sinatra, The Mamas & The Papas, Cass Elliot, The Beach Boys, The Ventures, Television, Blondie, The Pretenders,
The 3 O'Clock, Dream Syndicate, Rainy Day, Opal, Kendra Smith, The Breeders, Mazzy Star, Everything But The Girl, Tindersticks, Radiohead, Beck, REM, Racountuers, Funkadelic, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Sly & The Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Red Hot Chili Peppers....Debussy, Early Swing, Chet Atkins, DJANGO, Slim and Slam, Rain and Fog, Scott Walker, The Shaggs, Nick Drake, Raymond Scott, Syd, Ludwig....
Sounds Like
Psychedelic and Country twinged Blues-driven, rockn'soul!
Jefferson Airplane meets X, Johnny Thunders at the Rodeo, The New York Dolls on a road trip, Deborah Harry grooving with the Rolling Stones, and Kendra Smith on a date with Carlos Santana.
A collaborative group by nature, The Blues Gangsters was founded by David James Rinck III on guitar & vocals (The Wallflowers, The Beathogs), David Ellison on lead guitar (The Wild Desires, The Rockin' Dogs, The Town Criers), and vocalist and lyricist Kristi Maddocks (Everybody Violet, The Eris Sisters, Burlap & Pearl, Cafe Du Nord). The Blues Gangsters fully formed when they were joined by Matt Johnson on drums (The Grave Digger V, The Wallflowers), and David Fleminger on bass and keyboards (The Mirrors, The Answers, Lemons Are Yellow, Everybody Violet). The Blues Gangsters recorded their first CD "The Perils of Life", a rich blend of Blues-driven and psychedelic tinged indie-rock, for Furious Babyface Records, in January 2009. "The Perils of Life" was released in July, 2009 and is available for purchase on CdBaby.com/bluesgangsters, on Amazon.com, and thru our website, www.bluesgangsters.com.
The Blues Gangsters are pedigree of The Che Underground
(http.//www.che underground.com). All of The Blues Gangsters were active in the Che Underground movement in one form or another---either as musicians, artists, poets, and/or personalities. While some of them kept in touch, others went their seperate ways after they became young adult in the mid to late 1980's. What we all had in common, and still do, is our love of music.
Love of music is exactly what brought us together in Spring of 2008 with the goal of creating fresh, new, relevant music that is true to the roots from which we have come. Nine months later, by January 2nd, 2009, the collaborative was rehearsing and recording our first album, "The Perils of Life" at S.D.R.L Recording Labs in San Diego, California---the Southern California County where the music all began some 25 years before, when The Blues Gangsters were young, wild, and free.
We go by the moniker "Everybody is a Blues Gangster". Life is hard...Everyone has burdens which they work hard to overcome. The Blues Gangsters are a collective of old friends who happen to be passionate artists and musicians. We hope to make more music in the future, to express our soulful struggles and to help lessen life's budens and enjoy the journey along the way--or "enjoy the ride", as we like to call it.
The Blues Gangsters unexpectedly hit pay-dirt, when a hitch in the mixing process led David Fleminger (our bassist and keyboard player) to play triple-duty as mix-master, Producer, and Mastering Editor of "The Perils of Life". We are all extremely grateful to his selfless dedication to the project, and believe his work (finished at Metronoma Studios in San Francisco, California in April 2009) is supreme!
The Blues Gangsters hope that listeners take a liking to our blend of blues driven rock, with tones of country, funk, soul and psychedelia. Please enjoy this music that was nearly 30 years in the making!
The Blues Gangsters are set to perform a series of shows in Southern and Northern California in winter 2010. We hope to record Album 2 in Summer 2010, and--with the possible relocation of David Rinck from Africa to CA, begin to tour more agressively later in the year.
Celebrate the “Soul Tub!”! Thanks for the add, thanks for listening & thanks for the music! You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter now. -The California Honeydrops
Hello from Finland! I am humbled an honored to announce my new cd featuring Alejandro Escovedo, Mark Lanegan, Steve Berlin (los lobos), Chris and Carla from the Walkabouts, Peter Case, Scott McCaughey (YFF, REM)and Jim Roth (built to spill). CD has liner notes by Biographer Charles R. Cross (BackStreets-Springsteen...Heavier than Heaven-Cobain...Roomful of Mirrors-Hendrix...etc. Also I have finally put "Passing Thru" on my site as well for you to hear...this is the one with Eddie Vedder, Victoria Williams, and Carla Torgerson trading verses with me...it has not been availablé for a long time, and I also have it on i-tunes, etunes, amazon and rhapsody.
Online Now!
