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"Good-bye and Thank you!!!" - SFK (2001 - 2009)

  Listen to iRadio LA now! Please request a Strictly For Kicks song while you're there!!

Reviews

Mark Maverick - Station Manager, iRadio LA

Strictly For Kicks is a must see band. It's always great to get out and see fantastic bands.  You guys stood out above the rest not only because you play great music but you had fun and smiled.  That is the key right there.  You were smiling all the time:)  As a quasi promoter that is one of the things I look for.  If you are having fun and happy the crowd is having fun as well. Dirk kicked butt on the guitar as well.  One of the best shows I have seen in a while.

Trevor Blair - Talent Buyer, B.B. King's Blues Club in Hollywood

Your band is great. You certainly exceeded my expectations. The club was sold out!!!

Mick Martin - Host of The Blues Party on Capital Public Radio in Sacramento

I was amazed by Strictly for Kicks. Not only do they play with an assurance and subtlety rarely seen in up-and-coming bands, but they have a sense of history -- the knowledge of where the music they play comes from -- that flavors their performance without taking away from the originality and honesty of their approach. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an 'unknown' band so much. I doubt they'll be a 'best-kept secret' for long.

Kim Duvall - Director, Sacramento Blues Society

These guys are awesome - they rocked us as the opening band at [the] Fair Oaks [Blues and More Festival]!! 

History

Rock and Roll, infused with the Blues, flavored by Country. Big, soulful down-south vocals. Emotional guitarwork from searing to sultry. Rock solid rhythm.

A headliner for B.B. King's in Hollywood and a band chosen for a rare live show at Sacramento's Hard Rock Cafe, SFK's other notable highlights have been their repeat appearances at the Northern California Blues Festival - formerly known as the Fair Oaks Blue in the Park - which annually attracts a crowd of over 2,000 people. There they shared the stage with Chris Cain, Joe Louis Walker, Daniel Castro, Zakiya Hooker, The Ford Blues Band, Shana Morrison, and a host of other great bands. And SFK has made this festival their second home, as SFK is the *only* band to be invited back to the Northern California Blues Festival three years running - and SFK has already been invited back for a fourth appearance in 2008!

SFKs first CD, Love, Sex, and Romance, is now available on their own label, Random Rhythm Records. Since the CDs release on CDBaby.com in January of 2006, the response for the CD has been tremendous. Within the first week of release, radio stations in the United States, France, Canada, and Belgium requested the CD for airplay.

STRICTLY FOR KICKS: Love, Sex, and Romance A blend of rock and blues to move your body and soul

The Band

Harry "Chopsticks" Baumgardner Harry is veteran drummer who has played with the likes of Rolling Stones all-time great guitarist ..40 Eddy Hazel from the "P. Funkadelics, Terry Goral from "Heir Apparent", Fats Johnson from the "New Christy Minstrels" fame, Cash McCall from the "Drifters", and Mearle Bregante and Larry Sims from the "Loggins & Messina Band". He has had some great moments in his musical career, but his enthusiasm has never been higher than now with his new band mates in Strictly For Kicks. Along the road, Harry has met and been influence by drummer greats Ron Bushy, Michael Deroiser, Denny Carmassi, Ceasar Zuiderwijk, Chester Thompson, and Mr. Billy Cobham. Although Harry Baumgardner is not yet a household name for drummers, he has graced the cover of "Westword" in Denver with band "Wanker", and "The Auburn Journal and the Colfax Record in California.

Jason Haxton A guitar addict since he got his first electric guitar at age 16, Jason has played both lead and rhythm guitar in club bands through his late teens and twenties. When the band Strictly For Kicks formed, Jason found a new love, the bass guitar. Playing finger, pick, and slap styles, Jason loves to strap on his wireless system and join the crowd in tearing up the dance floor. Watching Jason's body language and huge smiles as he revels in the delight of the performance is undeniably infectious. On the back end, Jason grinds away the nights mixing and mastering Strictly For Kicks' best new tunes for their next CD.

Clark Bishop Born and raised in the south, his first performance was at the age of four when he sang Away in a Manger for the Christmas program. Clark was instantly hooked. He began singing solos in church and eventually branched out to sing the other types of music he loved. Influenced by Gospel, Soul, and Rock n Roll, Clark blends them all together to create a style that is rich, warm, powerful, moving, and true to his soul. A confident and fun front man, Clark has the time of his life in every energetic performance and takes everyone along for the ride.

Dirk Van Stralen Inspired to take up guitar by his mothers love of music and talent for the clarinet, Dirk first found a guitar in his hands at age ten. He teethed his technique on classical guitar, and then became a passionate follower of rock guitar pioneer Eddie Van Halen. Dirk was so devoted to his studies of guitar that his high school girlfriends referred to his guitar as his wife. Since those early days, he has played lead guitar in a number of Northern California bands. During Dirk's time with Strictly For Kicks, his love for his instrument and the music has blossomed as he has become a devout student of the techniques and musical feels of Kenny Wayne Shepherd and legendary guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton. Through his varied influences, Dirk has created a compelling and emotional style all his own.