Page 8 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE AUGUST 2014

Johnny Solinger
“What shaped me as an artist
began from where I was
raised Texas loves its music:
whether it´s country southern
rock or hard core I embraced
them all equally” And nothing has changed
Johnny formed his first band “The Spikes” in
Junior High School with a Set list which included
everything from Bowie to Van Halen Special
to Queen and even Willie Nelson In college at
the University of North Texas he joined “The
Party Dolls” a punk band that catered to Frater
nities Sororities and local clubs But it was
Solinger his Dallas based band which provided
him with valuable live and recording experience
The year changed the course of Johnny´s
life with the joining of Skid Row: “Music is my
passion and I feel blessed to be part of such a cre
ative environment and have such a bond with
this group of guys”
Rachel Bolan
Rachel realized that he
wanted to be a performer at a
very young age when he went
to see Liberace with his par
ents and Grandmother “I was
only years old but was taken aback by the en
ergy that filled the venue” Rachel said It was
after that moment he began listening to all the
records that his brother and sisters owned “I
listen to everything from Norah Jones to the
Dead Kennedys” His first band was called Magic
after the Anthony Hopkins movie of the same
name Their set was made up of mostly Kiss and
AC/DC songs with some ZZ Top and Rod Stewart
for a change of pace His first gig was in at
Manasquan high school in Manasquan NJ In
Rachel met Snake and the rest is history
Outside of Skid Row Rachel produces other
bands and writes songs for other artists sports
teams and with Snake writes music for ESPN
RGG August 2014 - p.8
NUNEATON