The new band features Brandon Gibbs, Mike Sweda & Bryan Kimes
Poison drummer Rikki Rockett has introduced his new band, The Rockett Mafia. Rockett has enlisted Brandon Gibbs on vocals and guitars, Bulletboys guitarist Mike Sweda, and The Hot Summers’ Bryan Kimes on bass.
“This little band was created to have fun re-imagining, for the most part, 70’s cover songs, but not the usual batch that you’d expect,” Rockett shares of the band. “Wait until you hear some of these songs and you’ll go, ‘Hey, I know that song! I can’t believe they are playing that!’ However, do not discount original material. Brandon and Mick both are powerhouses.”
Rockett and Gibbs have a nearly ten-year history of performing live together. In 2014, Rockett formed Devil City Angels with Tracii Guns and Cinderella bassist Eric Brittingham featuring Gibbs on vocals. The Rockett Mafia made its debut after The Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride motorcycle charity event in May in Santa Monica, California with guitarist Brent Woods and bassist Wiley Hodgden.
“Last night Brandon and I jammed for the first time in very long time in order to grease the wheels for the show Sunday afternoon. We rolled through some cover tunes, but when we chomped on a some Devil City Angels tunes we both felt some serious passion come back. If you don’t know, we put the Devil City Angels together several years back and made what I think is a very good record,” Rockett shared in mid-May.
He continues, “I pretty much have always put my heart and soul into everything I do and I had a passion for the Devil City Angels project. That being said, Brandon and I have been friends for a very long time and it’s good to get together with Brent Woods and Wiley for this charity event. While you may see Brandon and I do something together again and you may see me sit in with Chevy Metal from time to time, you may not ever see this particular combination again. Brent Woods is a busy guy with several artists including Gene Simmons Sabastian Bach, John Waite and of course Chevy Metal featuring Shane Hawkins the son of the late Taylor Hawkins.”
In 2015, Gibbs also joined Rockett and his Poison bandmates CC DeVille and Bobby Dall as The Special Guests, performing Poison hits while frontman Bret Michaels focused on his solo career.
“Tracii Guns along with Eric Brittingham, Brandon and I, as Devil City Angels, made our way across the country playing shows in a single tour bus and trailer, old school. The steamroller was going well until I got cancer. Then Tracii got asked back into LA Guns, etc, etc. Botton line, the band sidelined and only ever did a couple more corporate gigs. With the exception of the Stadium Tour and a few sit ins with Chevy Metal, I have pretty much stayed away from live performances with other artists,” Rockett states. “This not The Devil City Angels and it’s not Chevy Metal, this is the Rockett Mafia, a jam combo that I may put together from time to time to enjoy my love of rock ‘n’ roll with some of my besties in the rock world.”
Further details about The Rockett Mafia are forthcoming.
