River City Rebels

The Short Version Of A Long Story...
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The River City Rebels were formed in 1997 in the small New England town of Burlington, VT with original members guitarist Dan "Bopper" O'Day, drummer Erik Schmidt and bassist Chris Jukosky, The band would endure a number of lineup changes before settling down with Ward Aimi (vocals), Brandon Rainier (trombone), Gabe Rich (guitar), and Dan McCool (trumpet). This line-up mixed street punk and ska undertones with a politically inspired lyrical content, Victory Records released the band's debut full-length, "Racism, Religion, and War." in 2000. "Playin' to Live, Livin' to Play" appeared the following summer, when the band's lineup was cut down to six with O'Day picking up vocal duties. Their third full-length, "No Good No Time No Pride," followed in October 2002. With New York Dolls' guitarist, Sylvain Sylvain, as producer, the Rebels took on a more vintage N.Y.C. rock sound on their biggest album "Hate To Be Loved."

Parting ways with Victory following the album's release, River City Rebels released "Keepsake of Love" via Springman Records in 2007.

The Rebels would later go on to release two albums with Mod House, "Done With Love" and "Love/Loveless" in 2010. They then hooked up with Screaming Crow Records for the 2014 "Headed To Hell" 7".

After a 5 year hiatus, the Rebels came back with a new line-up and started playing shows again. And then the pandemic hit forcing the band to take another break.

When it was time to get the band back together again, several of the members had moved on leaving the only surviving original member, Dan O' Day to start again with a fresh new line-up. Bopper recruited fellow New England punk rockers Marc Coutu on guitar, Kody Samborn on bass, Izzy DeSimone on guitar and Adam Allard on drums leaving him to focus primarily on vocals.

The band hit the road and started playing shows again. In 2023 they released the "Hate To Be Loved Demos," (a four song EP 7") on Barely Alive Records and their first new music since 2014, the digital single "Humble Me."

Now in 2024, the Rebels have reunited with Screaming Crow Records to release "Pop Culture Baby." A four song EP 7" of all new songs to be released on February 16, 2024.

River City Rebels Discography...

Racism, Religion and War (2000 - Victory)
Playin' To Live, Livin' To Play (2001 - Victory)
No Good No Time No Pride (2002 - Victory)
Hate To Be Loved (2004 - Victory)
Keepsake of Luck (2007 - Springman)
Done With Love (2010 - Mod House)
Love/Loveless (2010 - Mod House)
Headed To Hell 7" (2014 - Screaming Crow )
HTBL Demos (2023 - Barely Alive)
Pop Culture Baby (2024 - Screaming Crow)

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The current line up consists of Dan O'Day and Brandon Rainer, who the backbone of the band, not only being the longest standing members but Dan being the main songwriter and lead vocalist and Brandon playing keyboards, harmonica, trombone, singing backing vocals and writing the occasional song as well.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, T.Rex, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, and The Rolling Stones, The River City Rebels seize "The true essence of rock and roll music," and shake the shit out of the non-believers!