NEWS RELEASE
FIRST ONTARIO PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
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Lee Rocker rose to fame singing, playing, standing on, spinning and rocking his giant upright bass as a founding member of Stray Cats. Join us in Partridge Hall as Rocker kicks out the good times in downtown St. Catharines this Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Alongside Brian Setzer and Slim Jim Phantom, the Grammy-nominated band sold more than 10 million albums and garnered 23 gold and platinum records worldwide. Founded in 1979, Stray Cats spearheaded the rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s Sun Studio with modern punk musical elements.
Stray Cats put rockabilly music back on the record charts in the early-'80s, scoring several big hits on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks to a striking visual 1950s style brought “up to date” with exaggerated pompadours and colourful tattoos, as well as genuine musical chops that evoked the best players of rockabilly's original heyday. The music had a rhythm that was rock solid yet loose; it was elegant yet hard, jazzy yet completely rocking. Their music and style were like nothing happening in pop culture at that time.
In 2011, Rocker joined the cast of the Broadway hit musical, Million Dollar Quartet. The play is inspired by the iconic Sun Records recording session that featured Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash, back in 1956. Rocker played the role of Carl Perkins' brother and bass player Jay Perkins. "The story is especially close to my heart," says Rocker, who was a close friend and musical collaborator of Carl Perkins up until his passing.
Dog House Shuffle, the latest single released by Rocker in October, pays tribute to the instrument that started it all for him - the upright bass. “I was thinking about my career with 40 years of Stray Cats and all of that and thinking about the upright bass, which is what started this thing. It takes me back to the opening line of the song -- which is 'Took me 'round the world and I changed my name/found a little fortune, found a little fame/Doin' the dog house shuffle' -- which is right out of my story,” says Rocker via Rolling Stone.
The song is also a tribute to the players that inspired the sound of Rocker and Stray Cats for years. Elvis Presley's Bill Black, Willie Dixon, Fred Maddox, the Tennessee Three's Marshall Grant, Carl Perkins' brother Clayton and Al Rex of Bill Haley & His Comets -- are all featured in the video for Dog House Shuffle, either as a cartoon or part of in-studio footage.
“These songs are tattoo'd on my soul. Rockabilly music grabbed this kid from New York, and shook me, spun me round and rattled my brains. I was never the same again,” muses Rocker.
Get your tickets to see Lee Rocker and his crack new band this Wednesday in Partridge Hall. Click on firstontariopac.ca for tickets or visit the box office in person at 250 St. Paul Street or call the box office: 905-688-0722.
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