Putting a Unique Twist on Classic Rock

When I ask Rob Pizapio, bassist and one of the founding members of classic rock tribute group The Phoenix Band, what sets them apart from other cover bands, he says, “…it’s the fact that the guys that are in the band are all professional musicians and they’ve been playing for many years, so I’ve surrounded myself with really talented people.”  The Phoenix Band certainly has a knack for playing classic rock standards in the spirit of the original band.  They morph sounds from song to song, covering artists like Tom Petty, The Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Eagles, just to name a few.  

The band has an interesting approach to playing their music.  If they want to learn a new song, they’ll communicate via email and ask Cliff Ladosz, their lead vocalist, if he thinks he can do it.  “If he says he can probably do it then we all learn the song as homework and the only time we get together to do that song is when we play it live.”  Which goes to show how talented these musicians really are – they sound great and they’ve never had a band rehearsal.  

Although The Phoenix Band does straight covers, there is an improvisational element to their music as well.  Pizapio says, “We do it to the letter and then we add our own thing to it to make us different from everybody else.”  Often when they’re finishing a song, they’re not really sure how they’re going to end it, and the song can morph into another song or turn into an extended jam – whatever feels right in the moment.

Originally, the band formed around 2004 with Cliff, Rob and John Bowden (lead guitars and vocals) as the original members.  About a year later came Ted Malin (keyboards and vocals), later joined by Bobby Palino on the drums.  The original idea behind playing classic rock covers came as a way of filling a gap, which existed at the time.  Since no classic radio stations existed on area airwaves at that point, “there was really no way for anyone to listen to classic rock radio unless they had Sirius radio or whatever.  We were playing more to our age group and a little bit older because we were doing 50’s through 70’s… and then we decided to add the 80’s on”.

Pizapio, a Belleville resident, credits the popular video game Guitar Hero and the radio for ushering in a new generation of classic rock listeners to their shows.  

“A really wonderful thing happened – out of the blue classic rock radio came back and classic rock music became very popular with the kids because its in Guitar Hero, it’s in Rock Band, it’s in television commercials.”  Suddenly The Phoenix Band was playing to a whole new demographic as college kids started attending their shows, singing along to the songs.

I asked Rob whether The Phoenix Band has plans to do any original songs in the future.  He says they do have originals, but that’s not the idea of the band.  He explains, “We’re actually in it for the people in all reality, because we don’t play music for ourselves…Our analogy would be we’re a live jukebox.  Put your money in that machine, and we’ll give you what you’re looking for.”

The Phoenix Band plays in Belleville at JK’s Boathouse, 558 Washington Ave., tomorrow, March 25 and again April 8.  More details can be found at http://www.phoenixband.org/