ARRIVAL
What is “Suburban Apocalypse Blues”,
anyway? Well, to the members of OMEGA TRAIN, a rock band based in the
Northeastern United States, it’s the coming together of a myriad
of musical styles and influences to create a distinctive sound. It’s
a crunchy recipe of classic whiskey-guitar riffs of the glam era, free
wheeling bass grooves, thunderous drum beats, and a gospel-honed voice
of passion, sorrow, rage and elation.
The band, originally called Last Train Out first formed in the Spring
of 1990 , when Cobra the lead singer of the now-defunct cover band Industrial
Avenue(IA) teamed up with Stroudsburg, PA native Mark AKA Outlaw, IA’s
bass player to continue writing original material. This connection allowed
Outlaw to get back into guitar work, concentrating on lead riffs and solos,
fulfilling the untapped potential for creativity that a cover band just
can’t provide.
Kenny Pelt joined Cobra and the Outlaw, first as
a drummer and later as rhythm guitarist. Danny Blaz, the bombastic drummer
out of North Brunswick, NJ joined the fold in December 1990. Berklee College
alumnus Bruce Leboff completed the unit shortly there after, adding bass
and keyboards to the mix. Last Train Out first began performing at outdoor
parties, charities and open mike nights at various sites in New Jersey,
such as the Waiting Room in Rahway, NJ. The band would mix in covers to
their set, as they built up original material. In the early 90’s,
the band built a boisterous following, playing in battle of the bands
contests, while wreaking havoc in venues such as the Beowulf, Club Bene,
Escapades, the Cove, Art Stock’s Playpen, Neri’s, The Royal
Pub, Jammers, Kenny’s Castaways, and the world famous Stone Pony
in Asbury Park, NJ.
The
band also participated in Hot Rock Productions “Victory Park: Concerts
on the Pier Series”, opening up for the legendary Rick Derringer
on August 31st, 1991. In addition to local college radio air play, the
band earned professional radio credits. On September 9th, 1991, WDHA-FM
105.5 selected Last Train Out as its “Homegrown Spotlight”
Band of the week, featuring the song “Three Alarm Fire.”
The same program selected “Solitude” in May 1996, which
is probably the quintessential “Suburban Apocalypse Blues”
song, chock full of angst-filled, ironic lyrics served over warm whiskey
guitar riffs. The song was recorded in March 1995 at Soundscape-Levelhead
Studios, and co-produced by the late Gary Wade, who had previously recorded
platinum recording artists Damn Yankees and Terrance Trent D’arby.
Robbie K. of Cranford, played bass on that particular session. The resulting
“Solitude” demo was sent out
to major and minor independent record labels.
As the years went by, the technological advances
of music recording, compact discs and the internet exploded, and an epiphany
struck Cobra one morning in the winter of 2000. He still had the recordings
on reel tapes from all the previous sessions, much of which had never
been mixed, mastered or even heard by anyone outside of the original band…thus
the genesis of a new project: OMEGA TRAIN.
All the former players were contacted, and in 2002, the proposal was put
forth. Cobra, Outlaw, Kenny Pelt, Danny Blaz and Bruce Leboff were back
together, and remixing material at the Bass Doctor’s digital home
studio, preparing two CD’s to be released “Three Alarm Fire”
in September 2002, and “Urban America” in late Autumn 2002,
under the Last Train Out Entertainment LLC label.
Keep checking in to www.omegatrain.com for
more information, concerts, releases and news, and make sure you sign
up for our mailing list so you can RIDE ALONG with OMEGA TRAIN—Saving
the world with whiskey-guitars, thunderous drums and a voice of angst-filled
exhilaration.
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