BellRays The Gov.

The BellRays

Origin

Riverside, California, U.S.

Genres

Garage rock, soul

Years active

1990–present

Labels

You and Media (US)

Heart of Gold (ES)

Vicious Circle (FR)

Shock (AU)

Alternative Tentacles (US)

Website

www.thebellrays.com

Members

Lisa Kekaula

Bob Vennum

Stefan Litrownik

Justin Andres

The Bellrays (also capitalized as The BellRays) are an American group that combines garage rock music with soul singing styles. The band consists of Lisa Kekaula (vocals), Bob Vennum (guitar), Justin Andres (bass) and Stefan Litrownik (drums). The group, founded in the early 1990s in Riverside, California, prides itself on its independence. They have been with several independent labels, including Upper Cut, Poptones, Alternative Tentacles, Bittersweet, Shock, Cheap Lullaby, Vicious Circle, Anodyne. On the group's MySpace page, they describe themselves as follows:

"High Octane Rock and Roll! Biography schmiography! Who cares about where they came from or what they did before or how many records they put out. Stats are not what music or this band is about. If you have an open mind and want something challenging in your life then this is where you want to stop and listen. Just take it in and make up your own mind. You want somebody to tell you what it is go to Kelly Clarkson's website instead. You tell us what we're about and then tell your friends whether you like it or not."

"Zero PM" was featured in the video game Driv3r and "Revolution Get Down" in a commercial for the Nissan Xterra. "Revolution Get Down" was also used as a fade-to-commercial song during the 2006 NCAA Tournament in the George Mason-Florida semifinal on CBS Sports.

Blues is the teacher. Punk is the preacher. It’s all about emotion and energy, experience and raw talent, spirit and intellect. Exciting things happen when these things collide. Bob and Lisa made the BellRays happen in 1991 but they weren’t really thinking about any of this then. They wanted to play music and they wanted it to feel good. They wanted people to WANT to get up, to NEED to get up and check out what was going on. Form an opinion. React. So they took everything they knew about; the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, the Who, the Ramones, Billie Holiday, Lou Rawls, Hank Williams, the DB’s, Jimmy Reed, Led Zeppelin, to name a very few and pressed it into service. It was never about coming up with a ‘sound’, or fitting in with a scene. It was about the energy that made all that music so irresistible. It was the history BEFORE Led Zeppelin that led them to that point. The Beatles thought they were playing R&B. It just came out like ‘Rubber Soul’. The Ramones were trying to be Del Shannon or Neil Sedaka and out came ‘Rocket to Russia’. With the BellRays there was no conscious effort to ‘combine’ rock and soul because they didn’t see them as divided in the first place. Blues was teaching. Punk was preaching. The BellRays were always listening.

The BellRays began in, and still hail from, Riverside, Ca., just east of Los Angeles. We started in 1991 and have been going ever since.

 

Albums

•The BellRays (1990)

•In the Light of the Sun (1993)

•A Vital Gesture Christmas (1996)

•Let It Blast (1998)

•Punk Rock and Soul (1999)

•Grand Fury (2000)

•Meet the BellRays (2002)

•Raw Collection (2003)

•The Red, White and Black (2004)

•Raw Collection, Vol. 2 (2005)

•Have A Little Faith (2006)

•Hard Sweet and Sticky (2008)

•Merry Xmas, Love the BellRays (2008)

•Black Lightning (2010)

 

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