RNR Virus Strikes Four Davis Kids

Officials Find it Impossible to Squash Rock’N'Roll Bug

It’s a school-free summer day, the sun is shining and if you  look around you’ll probably see most 11 and 12  year old kids swimming at the local pool, eating ice cream downtown or riding bikes through the greenbelt.

But if you listen really closely you might just hear something else brewing in Davis, and it’s not the beer at Sudwerk, it’s the sound of Davis’s youngest band playing their hearts out in a hot suburban garage.

Introducing Hotwire, four young lads with more passion for music than a busload of seasoned road dogs. Don’t let their age fool you, these kids can play!

And they want to be taken seriously says 12 year old  self-proclaimed hippy drummer and back up singer Riley Donahue, “Just because we’re young doesn’t mean that we don’t have something to say.”

“We’re organized,” says 11 year old Brady  Corcoran, the lead singer/guitar player of the band. “Most kids just don’t understand how much work we put into what we do. It’s not like we just walk up  on stage and rock out. We spend hours and hours practicing making sure that we have our songs down and that the band is tight.”

And if Riley is the hippy, Brady is definitely the punk in  the band. He has an aura of the late great Joe Strummer from The Clash with a dash of Elvis Costello in his early, early years. “Although the whole band writes songs together I prefer  to be alone when I’m coming up with ideas.” says Brady. “I’ll spend hours just sitting around working on song ideas.”

Also 11, Cole Morse, the lead guitarist and vocals adds,  “we’ve only been together for a year and we’re proud of how far we’ve come… this is only the beginning.” Well if this past year is any indication to what lies ahead, with making it into the finals at “The Jammies”  to getting gigs at local Davis festivals and fundraisers to appearing on Good Day Sacramento, these boys are headed for really great things!

Laying back on the couch is Theo Farnum, the guy who lays  down the bass lines, and you guessed it … he’s also 11. He claims that he owes his Dad for his passion for music. When I asked him which bands inspired him to  join a band, he shouted out “Weezer!!” One thought entered my head – this kid has brilliant taste.

As a matter of fact the whole band has brilliant taste,  attributing Green Day, The Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Lynard Skynard and Led Zepplin as some of their influences. I must admit it gave me quite a sigh of relief not  hear them mention The Jonas Bros and Lady Gaga. These kids know music history. Whether it’s due to their family members exposing them to great music or just a natural obsession that takes place when you ring that first chord out, hear  that first snare drum crack or feel the low tone of the e string on the bass moving your insides around. They caught the rock’n’roll bug and I don’t think they’ll be cured anytime soon.

Check them out on their MySpace page for more info and show  dates: http://www.myspace.com/hotwiredavis