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THE
BANDCAMPERS BAND
BIOGRAPHY
Simply
stated, 'The Bandcampers are a traveling Rock & Roll Party!
With cover band veterans Jake Trincheria, Vic Cardone, Brian Shepherd,
Marc Bitzer, and Lance Miller, these boys know
how to bring the house down with a musical explosion of hits covering
classic, retro 80's, dance, and modern hard rock! The secret behind
their success is the wide range of musical diversity they bring
to the table, along with years of playing experience! The 'Campers
rock with the best of them, but do it with style and grace! Over
the past year, the band has sustained great success by working with
respected agency stalwart Frank Kielb of FKE Entertainment. 'The
Bandcampers are no strangers to the cover band scene, having rocked
many stages in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland
while also performing at corporate functions and sporting events
such as the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, Brandywine Picnic Park,
Philadelphia Phantoms Hockey, and Villanova University NCAA Basketball
games at The Wachovia Center. Always leaving the crowd wanting more,
'The Bandcampers will deliver a stellar evening of entertainment
for all to enjoy! Rock On!
~ THE BANDCAMPERS
-
A Dam Good Sports Bar - Atlantic City, NJ
Brandywine Picnic Park Corporate
Event - Pocopson, PA
Bullies @ Wachovia Spectrum - Philadelphia Phantoms Hockey Game
Cingular Pavilion @ Wachovia Center - Villanova NCAA Basketball
Game
Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA
Devlins - Atco, NJ
Fagers Island - Ocean City, MD
Flanigan's Boathouse - Malvern, PA
Gators Sports Bar - New Castle, DE
Hummers Niteclub - South River, NJ
JD McGillicuddy's - Drexel Hill, PA
JD McGillicuddy's - Upper Darby, PA
JDRF Walk To Cure Diabetes - Malvern, PA
Jerzee's - Newark, DE
Joclyns - Media, PA
Junos Sports Bar - Collegeville, PA
Maggie O'Niell's - Drexel Hill, PA
O'Kelly's - Elkton, MD
RI'RA' @ The Tropicana - Atlantic City, NJ
RI'RA' - Arlington, VA
Shady McGruff's - Somerdale, NJ
Siamsa - Stroudsburg, PA
Sligo - Media, PA
- Sweeney's - NE Philadelphia,
PA
Tailgators - Clifton Heights, PA
The Bayshore Inn - Cape May, NJ
The Blarney Stone - West Chester, PA
The Trappe Tavern - Collegeville, PA
The Rail - Bound Brook, NJ
The Wharf Tavern - Aston, PA
- Tom & Jerry's - Milmont
Park, PA
Tir Na Nog - Philadelphia, PA
Tony & Joe's On Georgetown Waterfront - Washington, DC
Top Dog Sports Bar & Grill - Cherry Hill, NJ
A Bandcampers Show is an escape
into a fun, energetic evening of retro and modern rock surprises
for all our fans! It's about partying, singing along, and having
a great experience shared between both the band in the crowd! Our
fan interaction is what keeps us going so come out early, have a
drink with us, and party 'Bandcamper style!
Get to know us a little
better by reading our individual bios below! Emails are always welcome!
SEE YOU AT THE SHOWS!
CHECK OUT OUR MYSPACE
PAGE WHERE YOU CAN LISTEN TO ONLINE LIVE TRACKS AND GET A SENSE
OF THE WHOLE "BANDCAMPERS EXPERIENCE"!
LISTEN TO TONS OF LIVE
TRACKS COVERING DIFFERENT STYLES HERE
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THE
BANDCAMPERS PERSONAL
BIOS
DROP US A LINE: BRIAN21@PTD.NET
Jake
Trincheria - Lead Vocals
Petey & The Band
Campers introduce lead vocalist, party maestro Jake Trincheria!
Jake is a wily veteran to the cover scene, having fronted former
bands such as Philly's Shaggy's Last Trip, and NJ's Big Love Dogs.
His stage persona is second to none as he is sure to whip any crowd
into a frenzy with his energetic vocal style and funny antics. With
a variety of different vocal achievements to his credit, Jake will
take on any song with reckless abandon while throwing in his own
personal spice to keep the party rockin'! Whether your taste is
classic, 80's retro, or modern rock, Jake delivers and will leave
the crowds wanting more!
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Lance Miller
- Guitars/Backing/Lead Vocals
The Bandcampers introduce new
guitarist Lance Miller. Lance comes to The Bandcampers as a veteran of the rock cover
scene having played with great bands such as Shotgun Wedding, First Round Knockout, and most
recently The McFlys! Lance brings great stage presence, strong vocal ability and skilled guitar
to the fold as he rounds out an impressive lineup. Show Lance the love at a "Campers show and
buy him a drink!
Lance's Gear:
Line6 Vetta Combo
Guitars:
Les Paul Studio
Kramer Custom Stratocaster
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Brian Shepherd
- Guitars/Backing/Lead Vocals
I came into the original lineup "Petey & The Bandcampers" in late 2003-2004.
Entering 1996 and 1997, myself and Jake along with Matt Kerns moved our home base to the mecca of the cover band world, the greater Philadelphia area. Practicing at Kern's parents house in Hatfield, Pa, our fearsome threesome were poised to put together a great new project. This project ended up being called Shaggy's Last Trip. Shaggy was spawned from the hard work and diligence of Kerns who sought out respected area agent Frank Kielb, who had been managing the likes of a young Lima Bean Riot at the time! This was an exciting time in the philly music scene as Shaggy stood its ground in a circuit of bands such as Crystal Roxx, Crush (who included Brian Bortnick now of Octane fame), Weekend At Bernies, Spooge, Diggin' Up The Skipper, Split Decision, and a little band called Fuel who was making their rounds by adding in originals at the time and were super popular! Some musicians came and went but we kept the fires burning! Enter female siren Desire Benedict, talented technical metal drummer Eric Maticounis (sorry for the bad mispelling!), and Jimmy (sad, can't remember his last name! he was our "Sting") on bass and now the band had something special going! This was Shaggy's best lineup by far as Frank Kielb booked the band in venues such as John's Boardwalk (now Whiskey Tango), Big Kahuna, Shooters, Bent Elbow, Bronco Billy's, Margarita's, and many other popular places at the time. I credit my time with Shaggy from 1996-97 as a great period of advancement in my overall playing style and technique. With Matt's leadership and Frank's consistent managing of the band, I learned alot about the details of the music business, the dedication it takes as well as the hard work involved in marketing a band product to clubs. All of this information would be vital later in my musical journey! By late 97, Shaggy had run its course as the musicians within it were moving forward with life, getting marrried and having children. I took a hiatus from the scene from 98 to 99 before answering an advert online for a great cover band in North Jersey called The Big Love Dogs. Bringing in his knowledge and experience of the cover band scene from his Philly days, as a "shaggy-haired" rocker (LOL) I was able to win over the BLD boys right away after tearing into 3-4 tunes at the audition. BLD was a fun band that prided themselves on danceable tunes and great vocal harmonies. Gigs at popular north jersey venues such as Poor Billy's and Bar Anticipation were indeed highlights as I began to make a name for himself as a guitar player with a bit of savvy business sense. Jake entered shortly after and fronted the band very well before leaving in early 2002. With holdover musicians Frank Mongalieri on guitar, and Brian May on drums, and the addition of tatented bass player Mike Barry and energetic frontman Phil Dezago, the band Whiskey Fueled was born. Whiskey was a great hard rock party band that was known for its packed shows at popular local hotspot South River Pub in South River, NJ. The name symbolized the excesses of boozing and loud guitars! It was awesome and I loved that f-king band! We were often known to set up, leave the venue to engage in the nearest house party, often returning to a packed house at "The Pub"....entering in true rockstar fashion. I was able to hone my playing by working with Franko closely on alternate guitar picking patterns and dynamics. The stint with Whiskey Fueled ended in late 2003, but the band has since reformed and is rockin' North Jersey harder than ever!
Shortly after, Jake and Matt came calling on me as I returned back to my roots to the greater Philly area with the band Petey & The Bandcampers who signed on Frank Kielb as manager. Now having run the gammut of diverse musical styles in bands, "The Campers were the brainchild of Kerns and Trincheria who wanted to put together a different kind of cover band project, focusing on a full acoustic party band! I entered after guitarist Brian Capuano departed, joining forces with Jake, Matt, John Williams (bass), and Kyle Dossick (drums). Sucessful shows at area pubs such as The Blarney Stone, Joclyns, Maggie O'Neill's, and the cult event "The Bash At The Boat", followed as "Petey" played out its musical journey. Chris "Cash" Holmes entered as bass player soon after for a short time as the band started to evolve into a full on modern, retro, hard rock cover act.
So this brings me to where I am today! With "Petey" being dropped from the name, The Bandcampers began to sustain sucess in 2006 but not without some hard work and persevearance! A list of musical drummers came and went for some time until Vic Cardone settled in full time. Jeff Camarco took over on bass and has recently left "The Campers to seek new projects as well as recently departed guitarist Brian Capuano. As of April 2007, The Bandcampers are poised to continue thier success with new guitarist Lance Miller and bass player Marc Bitzer. With shows at Fagers Island, RiRa @ The Tropicana in Atlantic City, and the popular Trappe Tavern, the momentum is building and the journey continues on! All of this band history has played a major role in my evolution as a guitarist....and the band plays on!
Shep's Gear:
Peavey 5150 Amplification
Mesa Boogie 4x12 Speaker Cab
Boss Delay & Chorus Effects, Morley Wah
SansAmp DI/EQ Box
Guitars:
Ibanez Exotic Wood Acoustic
Ernie Ball Music Man JP Custom Piezo
Gibson Les Paul '57 Goldtop Heritage
Paul Reed Smith Custom-24
Fender Stratocaster Deluxe w/ Dimarzio Custom Pick-ups
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Marc Bitzer
- Bass/Backing/Lead Vocals
I was a band nerd back in high school, playing trombone in the All Philadelphia High School Band, Orchestra and Jazz Band. After finding that playing trombone didn’t have much of a “cool” factor, I started learning to play bass guitar my senior year…it still didn’t help.
While I was college I joined my first band, “After Hours”. I met the other guys through Howard Herbert’s Music in Northeast Philly. We played a wide range of clubs and bars from Maui on Delaware Ave. to a place called The Witches Inn underneath the Market-Frankford El (a place that had daily strippers - but not the kind you want to look at).
Shortly after graduating college, I joined a band with some guys I knew through mutual friends. We kicked around several potential band names, including many of which no club owner would put on their marquis, such as their previous band name, “The Runs.” We eventually decided on the name “King Friday”. After playing a few placed on Northeast Philly, we hooked up with Midnight Sun booking agency and started playing 3 nights a week at clubs from College Park, Maryland up to Scranton, PA. We even did a gig at ski resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia. After a few years of traveling with a full schedule on top of a 40 hour a week day job, I needed a break and went into retirement.
A couple years later, I came out of retirement for a summer to play with “Monster Island”. Most of the original members had left and we were thrown together to finish out their schedule. It turned out to be the best band that I had played with. Afterwards, the other guys went onto other bands including The Rockets, Burnt Sienna, and Kristin and the Noise. I went back into retirement.
After getting bored with just playing with my self (I mean playing bass…the other thing never gets boring), I hooked up with a couple guys (and girl) from my work. They were in a band called “Redline” a few years earlier, but some other band had taken their name. Since the other band didn’t seem to be around anymore (and they still had their light-up “Redline” sign) we went with the name “Redline”. After a year and half, we played a few small places, but schedules never seemed to work out between the four of us.
So here I am now…the newest member of the Band Campers!
Marc's Gear:
Hartke H7000 Bass Amp Head
Hartke 2.5XL Speaker Cabinet
Hartke 215XL Speaker Cabinet
Furman PL-Plus Power Conditioner
Samson CR-3M Wireless System
Korg DTR-2 Rackmount Tuner
Bass Guitars:
G&L L2500 5 string
Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe 5 string
Fender Precision Plus
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Victor
Cardone - Percussion/Cowbell
It all started in high
school with hopes of getting chicks. VH and the Crue were successful
at it, so we thought it was a good idea. We started an all-original
band with yours truly on guitar, "Dreamstalker" - hey,
it was the late eighties. The drummer we had sucked, so after a
few months we fired him and I jumped on drums. We tried the posing,
moves & hair, didn't do the make-up or spandex (I was always
too fat for spandex), but nothing worked. Then we started dating
girls seriously, and it was down hill from there.
A couple of years later, I started
playing in an all-original band with management and everything,
MAN THIS WAS IT!! We were called "Crosstalk" and playing
top places in the Philly area, cut a record and the guitar player
quit. While looking for a replacement, the bass player and I joined
a cover band playing full-time north of Philadelphia; we were "The
Buzzmonks". Never found another guitar player for "Crosstalk"
before the band split up. Guitar players...
So I'm playing full-time and one
night I had the dream that I thought would change everything. We
were opening for Bon Jovi and hanging out with Cinderella back stage,
somewhere in LA. That morning I knew, I've got to have it; I've
got to have it... So I started looking for an original band, and
suddenly woke up.
After some time off and playing
in lame-ass bands with promises, I get hooked up with a guy who
wants to put a 9 piece band together playing wedding/corporate stuff.
I go for it, it comes together and I call it "Goodfellas"
(most of us were Italian). We start playing out and it falls apart
one night at rehearsal after only 5-6 months. I hear they're back
and working.
Years later I find a bunch of guys
that are cool and want the same stuff I want. After a couple of
name changes, we get an agent/manager, call ourselves "The
Geeks" and on the circuit in the Philly area. After a year,
we change our name to "The McFlys". One night I had another
rock-n-roll dream, but now I'm and too old to join an all original
band and no way in hell wearing spandex now! Not smart enough to
know what to do next, so I quit. A year later I meet "The Bandcampers",
and the saga continues...
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