The new band.

Well well well. Despite the lurid "Year Of The Snake" 2018 proved to be (as well the lurching spill-over into the current calendar) at least 2019 is off to a great start band-wise. The new line-up has been rehearsing for our upcoming shows and I am delighted to say that it is shaping up very well. There is a new energy in the unit and the two new members are doing an amazing job. The lads have been doing their home-work and the thorny odd meter stuff the band is known for, is being played with aplomb. It is all very exciting.

It makes sense then to use this opportunity to introduce the new members of the band. I will go alphabetically starting with....

Andrew Burns-bass, vocals, keyboards. 

Andrew is part of the new incarnation of the band, but actually has been the Rebel Wheel bassist since 2012. He brings a calm air of quiet virtuosity into the band. Although his main instrument in the band is electric and upright bass, he is a multi-instrumentalist who is equally adept at keyboards, vocals, guitar, banjo and mandolin. David and he met at an early PepTide's rehearsal back in 2010 and have kept a strong working relationship ever since. A full-time musician, Andrew plays with a whack of artists (The Rebel Wheel, The PepTides, The Powergoats, Al Tambay, Ty Hall, DeeDee Butters) as well as releases his own music. He also runs a studio and music school (Living Music Studios).

Alex Wickham-drums, vocals, keyboards.

Alex and David met towards the end of David's five year residency with The PepTides. Together with Andrew they played to a crowd of 14,000 at Ottawa's Westfest (among a few dozen other festivals and gigs) and formed a solid working relationship. David drafted Alex for his folk-rock act The Rapids and then for the precursor to the latest iteration of The Rebel Wheel, The Bag of Snakes. Alex enjoys complex odd-metered material so gave his hearty assent when asked to be a fellow Wheel. He has chops galore and a strong work ethic and all in all is a joy to work with (as artists like The PepTides, Junkyard Symphony, Bradley Scott, Caveman Techno, Chantal Hackette etc. will attest).

Both players have at a high level of craft and professionalism and are making The Rebel Wheel V8 a really unique and overwhelmingly fun project to be involved with. Our first gig will be in four weeks time (as The Rebel Wheel, we have close to a hundred gigs playing together in other units) and we are very excited about it.

Here is a brief excerpt of our latest rehearsal recorded on my i-phone:

 Rehearsal Excerpt