Home Cookin'
Encyclopedia
Home Cookin’ is a horn
-based soul
band that played in the Las Vegas
local scene from 1989 to 2000. Described by drummer and video game composer Frank Klepacki
as "just a good-time, funky dance band", the band has been compared to Tower of Power
and featured a five-man horn section. Begun as a high school hobby in 1988 by vocalist Jordan Robins, the band took a hiatus early in the decade as its founding members pursued college. Robins recalled, "We were together for a couple of years and wanted to do some serious recording. I was working at a pizza place, making nothing. Pretty soon I realized, where's the money going to come from? If I'm going to do anything seriously musically, I've got to get some money first - and some knowledge." The band became active again around 1995 after Robins recruited members from the jazz
ensemble of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Around the mid 1990s, the band grew to include ten members, including a five-man horn section and drums played by video game music composer
Frank Klepacki
. The group released their debut album in 1997
, named Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
and featuring fourteen tracks. Track nine, Soul Space Express, appeared on Road Rash: Jailbreak
and the television series Cupid
, while X-Rated Superstar was a number one hit and received regular airplay on Vegas's KXTE
-FM Xtreme Disorder format. Playboy
playmate Corinna Harney
volunteered to appear on the album's cover. The success of this song sparked a racy music video
. Home Cookin' songs were regularly included on Las Vegas scene compilation albums.
Klepacki explained in an interview about their then-unreleased next album that Home Cookin' did not want to get signed, but rather "work with a label, not for them." To this end, they created their own "Fly Records" release label. Despite setbacks in losing two band members, group followed up with a second album of thirteen songs in 2000
—Pink in the Middle
—and promoted their work online through local band websites. In March, Klepacki touted Home Cookin' as something for visitors "looking for something unique besides the casinos and ritzy stuff." The band won "Best Band" at a competition in Malibu while X-Rated Remix appeared in the film An American Vampire Story. Home Cookin' was voted "Best Horns" by Las Vegas Weekly and their albums were voted "Best Local CD" certain years by Las Vegas audiophiles. Klepacki contended in 2000 that turnout for the band at clubs was usually above four hundred people. Towards the end of its run, the band played at Quark's Bar in Star Trek: The Experience
and at the Boston Grill and Bar. Home Cookin sometimes opened shows with a four member funk
act named Junkfood in this period. The group then launched an extended tour of California, but disbanded late in the year after recording Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
for a local Christmas
album. Frank Klepacki continues to support the band's music by selling copies of the albums through his website.
Alumni
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
-based soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
band that played in the Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
local scene from 1989 to 2000. Described by drummer and video game composer Frank Klepacki
Frank Klepacki
Frank Klepacki is an American musician, video game music composer and sound director best known for his work on the Command & Conquer series. Having learned to play drums as a child, he joined Westwood Studios as a composer when he was only 17 years old...
as "just a good-time, funky dance band", the band has been compared to Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
and featured a five-man horn section. Begun as a high school hobby in 1988 by vocalist Jordan Robins, the band took a hiatus early in the decade as its founding members pursued college. Robins recalled, "We were together for a couple of years and wanted to do some serious recording. I was working at a pizza place, making nothing. Pretty soon I realized, where's the money going to come from? If I'm going to do anything seriously musically, I've got to get some money first - and some knowledge." The band became active again around 1995 after Robins recruited members from the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
ensemble of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Around the mid 1990s, the band grew to include ten members, including a five-man horn section and drums played by video game music composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Frank Klepacki
Frank Klepacki
Frank Klepacki is an American musician, video game music composer and sound director best known for his work on the Command & Conquer series. Having learned to play drums as a child, he joined Westwood Studios as a composer when he was only 17 years old...
. The group released their debut album in 1997
1997 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
, named Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,
Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, is the 1997 debut of the Las Vegas soul music band Home Cookin', featuring fourteen tracks. Track nine, Soul Space Express, appeared on Road Rash: Jailbreak and the television series Cupid, while X-Rated Superstar was a number one hit. The success of this song warranted the release...
and featuring fourteen tracks. Track nine, Soul Space Express, appeared on Road Rash: Jailbreak
Road Rash
Road Rash is the name of a motorcycle-racing video game series by Electronic Arts, in which the player participates in violent illegal street races. The game was originally released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, but was ported to several other systems. Six different games were released from...
and the television series Cupid
Cupid (TV series)
Cupid is a 1998–1999 American comedy-drama series created by Rob Thomas, which featured Paula Marshall as Dr. Claire Allen, a Chicago psychologist who is given charge of a man named Trevor Hale . Hale believes he is Cupid, sent down from Mt...
, while X-Rated Superstar was a number one hit and received regular airplay on Vegas's KXTE
KXTE
KXTE is a modern rock radio station licensed to Pahrump, Nevada owned by CBS Radio. Former calls are KFBI, KUDA, KLVV.-History:...
-FM Xtreme Disorder format. Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
playmate Corinna Harney
Corinna Harney
Corinna Harney is an American model and actress. She was chosen as Playboy's Playmate of the Month for August, 1991 and Playboy's Playmate of the Year 1992. At age 20, she became the youngest Playmate of the Year ever at that point....
volunteered to appear on the album's cover. The success of this song sparked a racy music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. Home Cookin' songs were regularly included on Las Vegas scene compilation albums.
Klepacki explained in an interview about their then-unreleased next album that Home Cookin' did not want to get signed, but rather "work with a label, not for them." To this end, they created their own "Fly Records" release label. Despite setbacks in losing two band members, group followed up with a second album of thirteen songs in 2000
2000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
—Pink in the Middle
Pink in the Middle
Pink in the Middle is the second and final album of the Las Vegas soul music band Home Cookin', featuring thirteen tracks. X-Rated Superstar Remix appeared in the film An American Vampire Story. Home Cookin' was voted "Best Local Band" and their albums were voted "Best Local CD" several times by...
—and promoted their work online through local band websites. In March, Klepacki touted Home Cookin
Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience was a themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. It opened in January 1998, closed in September 2008, and was scheduled to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall on May 8, 2009 in time for the premiere of the...
and at the Boston Grill and Bar. Home Cookin sometimes opened shows with a four member funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
act named Junkfood in this period. The group then launched an extended tour of California, but disbanded late in the year after recording Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. He is popularly known as "Santa's 9th Reindeer" and, when depicted, is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through...
for a local Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
album. Frank Klepacki continues to support the band's music by selling copies of the albums through his website.
Personnel
- Ryan Bull - Electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(98-00) - Russell Burt - Tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
(90-00) - Jason Colby - TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(96-00) - Jon Cornell - Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(99-00) - Frank KlepackiFrank KlepackiFrank Klepacki is an American musician, video game music composer and sound director best known for his work on the Command & Conquer series. Having learned to play drums as a child, he joined Westwood Studios as a composer when he was only 17 years old...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(95-00) - Joe Malone - percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(90-00) - Tom Pastor - Baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
(98-00) - Dave Philippus - BonesBones (instrument)The bones are a musical instrument which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more...
(96-00) - Jordan Robins - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
(89-00) - Rob Stone - Alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
(96-00)
Alumni
- Dave Baker - Electric guitar (89-98)
- Steve Barclay - Bass guitar (97-99)
- Glenn Colby - Trumpet (90-96)
- Steve Dawson - Baritone saxophone (97-98)
- Hal Floyd - Bass guitar (96-97)
- Joe Hamrock - Bass guitar (89-92)
- Fito Ruiz - Bones (90-92)
- Rob Mader - Alto saxophone (90-97)
- Nate McClenden - Baritone saxophone (90-92)
- Mike Mitlyng - Drums (89-92)
- Daryl Williams - Bass guitar (97)
Discography
- Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,Mmm, Mmm, Mmm,Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, is the 1997 debut of the Las Vegas soul music band Home Cookin', featuring fourteen tracks. Track nine, Soul Space Express, appeared on Road Rash: Jailbreak and the television series Cupid, while X-Rated Superstar was a number one hit. The success of this song warranted the release...
– 1997 - Pink in the MiddlePink in the MiddlePink in the Middle is the second and final album of the Las Vegas soul music band Home Cookin', featuring thirteen tracks. X-Rated Superstar Remix appeared in the film An American Vampire Story. Home Cookin' was voted "Best Local Band" and their albums were voted "Best Local CD" several times by...
– 2000
External links
- Frank Klepacki's website, featuring information on the band
- The Connextion