The song writing team of Rachel Steele and Scott
Prentice is what makes up Road 88.
Rachel and Scott had been writing and performing, on their own, most of
their adult lives but it was a chance meeting that put them together. Rachel is
the funny one of the two and Scott is always serious which makes for a great
combination in their writing. Another interesting thing about the two is that
Scott comes from a more rock and roll back ground while Rachel was influenced
more by jazz. Over the years as they got older Rachel and Scott both turned to
country music. Country music tends to have an honesty in the lyrics that you
don’t find in other genres of music. “It’s all about words and music and just
telling a great story”. While they both enjoy playing in front of an audience
just as much as the next person, Rachel and Scott truly find happiness when
they are in the studio recording. They really are song writers first.
Road 88 is a contemporary country band that mixes up fun, sassy songs with some very emotional lyrics that will really make you think. “We aren’t trying to please everyone all the time with our variety of songs”, Rachel and Scott just have a wide range of interests and ideas that all seem to come out in their music. When we were in the middle of the recording process for our No Speed Bumps CD, we started to put together what we feel is a great band. We were able to put together a sort or Who’s Who among Northern California musicians to fill out the rest of the band. Along with Rachel on vocals and Scott on guitars they are accompanied by David Phelps, Bruce Bolin, Rod Van Derheydt and Joe Anderson. “We feel very fortunate to have been able to put together such a talented group of musicians”.
David Phelps (lead guitarand background vocals) started his musical career after leaving college and performed with various bands in the Sacramento area and Northern California and ultimately ended up with the highly acclaimed Rutabaga Boogie Band. Dave has played throughout California and Canada opening for groups as diverse as The Ramones and Pure Prairie League and has performed with members of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Sly and the Family Stone.
Bruce Bolin (bass guitar) has performed as a professional musician for over 30 years. He has played in many bands backing recording artists, and was the leader of his own band called Puddingstone. He has played in Europe and all over the western states including Alaska. Bruce is also an accomplished live and studio engineer who owns a very successful recording studio in Sacramento.
Rod Van Derheydt (keyboards, harmonica and background vocals) graduated in 1982 from Hollywood's Institute of Audio Video Engineering. Multi instrumentalist Rod Van Derheydt became one of Hollywood's favorite studio musicians. Rod has collected over 30 album credits as keyboardist, recording engineer and producer. During his tenure in Hollywood he worked with many major recording artists including Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson, The Chambers Brothers, Coke Escovedo and the Pointer Sisters. Equally experienced on stage, Rod has performed with members of the Tubes, Jefferson Starship, The Animals and Montrose.
Joe Anderson (drummer and percussionist) is a veteran of the Northern California music scene. Joe has performed with bands in both Europe and the United States and has opened for groups such as Jefferson Starship, The Greg Kihn Band, Huey Lewis and the News and The Jeff Watson Band. In addition Joe has also performed with Cactus lead singer Keith Gosney and worked with the band Steelbreeze from 1980 to 1986.
