National Rock Stars Go Country
Sharing the bill quickly turned into sharing the microphone, the stage, and the spotlight. Songs began to pour out, bookings began to pour in, and Keel & Wayne were off and running.
(PRWEB) February 24, 2005
This here's the story about two wild hombres with a fierce love for music and life.
Combine real songs about hard livin', hard lovin', and hard partyin'; two larger-than-life voices belting out the truth in high-powered harmony, throw in a healthy helping of scars and smiles, tattoos & beer, and you've got a musical Molotov Cocktail guaranteed to raise some eyebrows and get an audience off their asses.
They met a long time ago, in a time forever etched in history as "The 80's", in a place known as Hollywood.
Both had taken similar paths on their separate journeys; both were the sons of Country musicians. Charlie Wayne's father, Charlie Gail, had picked with Freddie Hart, Waylon Jennings, and Barbara Mandrell, while Ronnie's old man, Roy Keel, had backed up legends Ernest Tubb & Marty Robbins. In a roundabout way, these good 'ol boys gone bad (Charlie & Ronnie, that is) ended up on the other side of the fence: singing Heavy Metal music in the Hollywood Hair Band Heyday.
Ron Keel's Metal career began, strangely enough, in Nashville, where he joined a band called Lust. "I was still just a teenager, and the rebellious attitude of that music had a strong appeal to me," Ronnie confesses. "Plus, at the time, I was the only guy in Nashville with long hair and earrings so they really wanted me to be in their band." Lust won a Battle Of The Bands competition and suddenly had a hit on local radio, and before too long Ron was fronting a new band called Steeler. They left Music City for the bright lights of Hollywood, recruited a then-unknown Swedish guitarist named Yngwie Malmsteen, and released one of the biggest selling independent albums of all time.
Well, Charlie Wayne didn't have to travel quite so far - he was born and raised in Inglewood, California. "I loved playing with my grandpa and my dad at Bluegrass hoe-downs, even if I was making up my own chords," says Charlie, whose first instruments were a harmonica and a Sears Silvertone guitar. Charlie honed his vocal skills in a Beach Boys-type act called Pacific Breakwater, until the bright lights of the Sunset Strip enticed him into bands with various members of Guns N Roses, Poison, and the like...
Meanwhile, Ron Keel found fame and misfortune with Steeler...That success landed RK a brief stint as the vocalist for Metal icons Black Sabbath, and led him to the heights of Arena Rock with his own band KEEL. KEEL released several high-charting albums for MCA & A&M Records, and toured the world with powerhouse headliners like Aerosmith, Van Halen, and Bon Jovi. Songs like "The Right To Rock", "Because The Night", and "Tears Of Fire" became hits on radio and MTV and are still featured regularly on VH1 and VH1 Classic.
Along about this time is when Young Ron and Young Charlie met and became friends...mutual friends, shared dreams and common ground created a bond that remains strong to this day. Whatever you do, don't get them started telling stories about 'back in the day'.
Charlie was fronting notable bands like Hawk, and had also worked with some of the same musicians as Ron. At one point, Charlie did a stint with the BulletBoys, a Warner Brothers act not known for their lyrical sensitivity (their biggest hit was "Smooth Up In Ya"). He has a gold record on his wall to show for those efforts.
In the 90's, they diverged geographically while returning to their Country roots - Ron returned to his boyhood home of Arizona and Charlie made the move to Nashville. As Ronnie Lee Keel, Ron became one of the top drawing Country acts in the southwest, releasing a critically acclaimed solo album - 'Western Country' - and opening shows for Jo Dee Messina, Chris LeDoux, Mark Wills, and many others. Charlie Wayne vigorously pursued a solo career in Nashville, releasing several CDs and singles including "Raised On Country", collaborating with some of the best songwriters in the business, and performing extensively with his backup band Crawdad Creek.
Once Ronnie moved back to Music City in 2001, it was only a matter of time before these two old friends reunited and started working together. Sharing the bill quickly turned into sharing the microphone, the stage, and the spotlight. Songs began to pour out, bookings began to pour in, and Keel & Wayne were off and running.
Ronnie & Charlie are on the edge of hitting the highway for their first tour together, a lean-and-mean acoustic adventure that kicks off in Dallas Texas on February 4th. Shows in Alabama, Topeka, Detroit, and Denver will follow, and more confirmations are being announced daily (visit the 'ON TOUR' page for details). The show will consist of material from throughout their careers and some new surprises, and will feature Charlie's son CJ on percussion and harmony vocals.
For more about Charlie Wayne, please log on to:
Http://www. soundclick. com/bands/8/charliewayne. htm (http://www. soundclick. com/bands/8/charliewayne. htm)
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