Rebel Company are a Middlesbrough based rock band that formed in Oct 2007.
The band performs an array of classic rock and blues tracks including vintage Free & Bad Company, Jimmy Hendrix, Neil Young, Cream, muddy waters and more.
Free at Last were formed in 1982 under the name Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam featured three of the current members, Jak (guitar/vocals), Shane (guitar) and Mick (drums) until Dave joined on bass in 1994.
Uncle Sam's set contained a few original songs plus covers by such classic acts as ZZ Top, Pat Travers and of course Free. All the guys in the band have always had a great passion for the music of Free, so in 1996 when deciding to create a tribute there was only one choice who it would be.
The Classic Rock Experience is a largescale arena production combining 6 truckloads of intelligent lighting with a monumental laser light show and pyrotechnics display. Licensed vintage video as well as newly produced video and animations shown on 7 screens around the arena, will accompany live performances by approximately 30 musicians and vocalists, showcasing the music, bands and icons of the 60's and 70's Classic Rock era.
When Queen performed at their 2004 induction into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, they asked former Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers to take on the unenviable task of filling in for the late Freddie Mercury. “It was amazing how seamlessly our different styles fit together,” Rodgers says of that appearance. “We came offstage really buzzed about it and said, ‘Let’s do some more.’ ” Within a few months, the hybrid group, dubbed Queen + Paul Rodgers, was performing a set composed mainly of Queen hits (with a handful of Free and Bad Company tunes sprinkled in) to packed arenas across the world. Rehashing the past, however, wasn’t the ultimate goal. “I don’t want us to feel just like old guys playing the hits,” Queen drummer Roger Taylor says. “Hopefully [this new album] will be a creative rebirth for us.”
Last year, Rodgers, Taylor and Queen guitarist Brian May gathered at Taylor’s estate outside London to begin recording Queen’s first album since 1995’s Made in Heaven. (Queen bassist John Deacon — who hasn’t performed with his bandmates since 1997 — opted to not come out of retirement for the project.) As the newcomer, Rodgers has had to bridge the gap between his blues-rock background and Queen’s lush, grand sound. “We’re learning a great deal from each other,” May says. “When we started talking about harmonies, Paul went, ‘Oh, really?’ ‘Cause that hasn’t been his thing. It’s a new world for him.”
The first single will likely be “C-lebrity,” which sounds like a mash-up of the brawny “All Right Now” and the harmony-soaked “Somebody to Love.” Other tracks include “We Believe,” an “epic in Queen’s traditional style,” according to May, and “Call Me,” which he says sounds like it would fit right in on Queen’s 1974 classic, Sheer Heart Attack.
The new album, The Cosmos Rocks, is the first the band has recorded without Mercury, who passed away in 1991. “I feel like he’s still very much part of the band,” May says. “We reference him every day. He always really enjoyed Paul’s work. He used to have a go at me in the studio when I tried to have him sing bluesy stuff. He’d say, ‘Brian, you’re trying to make me fucking sound like Paul Rodgers, and I can’t do it!’”
[Photo: Jill Furmanovsky]
Andy Greene
Bad Company Tribute Band
'STRAIGHT SHOOTER'
IS THE ULTIMATE BAD COMPANY TRIBUTE
The members of this band understand the importance of the sound, the feel, and the soul of Bad Company & love playing the songs which reflects in their performance time & time again. Fronted by Billy Spanton, lead singer, lead guitarist & piano, his soulful singing and smokin' guitar playing continues to amaze audiences. Nick Alfieri on rhythm guitar & back-up vocals rounds out the rhythm section while the groove is laid down by Rizz on bass. The band is driven by the thunderous drumming of Lima, whose “in the pocket style keeps the band in pace & on track at all times.
These 4 guys have been playing for over 9 years covering the NY, NJ & PA area & all points in between. Members of the band have been in the music business for over 20 years & have played at clubs such as “The Stone Pony”, The Birch Hill Night Club”, “The Shark Bar”, “Tradewinds” just to name a few & have opened for National Acts such as “.38 Special, “TheMarshall Tucker Band”, “Artimus Pyle’s Saturday NightSpecial Band”, “Brother Cane”, “Pat Travers”, the list goes on.
Covering all the hits & many rarities, pleasing the average & certainly the die-hard Bad Co. fans, this band is not to be missed. They literally re-create the experience &most importantly the sound of one of the best rock bands of all time!
Paul Rodgers, Fender Center Announce Music-Mentoring Program “Rodgers Rock Pack™” to benefit Kids Rock Free® education program
Good company: Rodgers hits the stage with Kids Rock Free® band the Igniters at the Fender Center, February 2008. Photo courtesy the Fender Center
Legendary Britrock vocalist Paul Rodgers and the Fender Center are joining forces to establish the “Rodgers Rock Pack™,” the first mentoring program for the Corona, Calif., facility’s Kids Rock Free® music education program. For the new program, scheduled to start in April 2008, Rodgers has enlisted a stellar ensemble of celebrity volunteers from whom Fender Center students will receive firsthand music instruction and mentoring.
Rodgers, best known for his hit-making ’70s-era stints with Free and Bad Company, ’80s work with the Firm and his current role as vocalist for Queen + Paul Rodgers, collaborated on the concept with his wife, Cynthia. The volunteer “Rodgers Rock Pack™” of mentor/instructors he has recruited includes Queen guitarist Brian May, Collective Soul drummer Ryan Hoyle, singer Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave fame), Trans-Siberian Orchestra keyboardist Jane Mangini and bassist Tony Franklin (the Firm, David Gilmour, Whitesnake). Some of them will appear in person to lead workshops at the non-profit Fender Center, which provides free and low-cost music education for children.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that children have an affordable place to study all types of music from rock to classical,” Rodgers said. “Without music in my life, as a kid, I may have taken a wrong turn. My heartfelt thanks go out to Brian, Sam, Ryan, Tony and Jane for graciously volunteering their time and musicianship. I know that the students are going to be inspired and inspiring.”
Rodgers, celebrated for his bluesy high-tenor singing voice, has supported the Fender Center Kids Rock Free® program since 2004, and raised more than $40,000 for it at a Feb. 9, 2008, Fender Center reception unveiling an exhibit honoring his 40th anniversary as a recording artist.
