Drew Harrison: Vocals, Guitars, Percussion

Drew“Yer Blues”
Drew honing his vocal technique, age 1.

My first vivid memory was rocking back and forth on my hands and knees, in front of our large Motorola stereo/TV console, to the song “A Hard Days Night”. I was three years old. We lived in Forest Hills, New York, near Shea Stadium. I can still recall the traffic in our neighborhood as people went off to see the Beatles perform there. The Beatles were the ambient soundtrack of my early years, as I remember visiting relatives´ homes, or riding in the car listening to them on the radio. In hindsight, it was incredible subliminal musical propaganda.

At eight, I was shuffled off to recreation school in New Jersey. We would play sports outside and work arts and crafts afterwards in a room called the Quiet Room. We were working on making lanyards for whistles one day, when our long- haired teaching assistant, named Neil put this new LP on the little phonograph. It was the White Album. I don't recall hearing the first cut - Back in the USSR, but the second - Dear Prudence, floored me. I kept asking for it to be played over and having dropped all interest in lanyards, took up a position in front of the phonograph. I was mesmerized, captivated and adopted ‘Prudence' as my official song. For the rest of summer school I couldn't wait to get back into the Quiet Room and listen to it.

I found books and John Lennon’s solo albums in my adolescence. It is not a stretch to say his early solo material provided a guidance and philosophy with which I live my life today. I listened objectively, wrote the lyrics out at school, and by 15 years old ‘Imagine' was my favorite song. I have played it every New Year’s Eve since then as a reminder of what life could be like. That was then….

Ah yes, The Sun Kings, back to the Beatles, singing that nursery rhyme ‘Prudence' still. It's never lost its charm. It's great working with Michael, Peter, Bill and Steve who are passionate about being true to the Beatles’ recordings, and reaching to capture that vibe in the music that for some inexplicable reason moved, and continues to move, so many of us. We’re not out to be cheap imitators, nor does anyone take themselves so seriously in the process. We work hard at it ‘cause we dig it.  Giving the music its due in performance is important to us. I also have to give kudos to Jennifer, the band’s assistant. She’s fantastic.

Presently I perform not only with The Sun Kings but I have ‘In the Spirit of Lennon’, an acoustic tribute to Lennon that I present a few times a year, as well as The Plastic Fauxno Band who presents a full band concert of Lennon’s solo music.

I am a singer-songwriter and have a solo acoustic CD, ‘Go It Alone’. It is a collection of songs written over the years and I finally put them all together while finishing up a degree in Peace & Conflict Studies at Berkeley. ‘Go It Alone’ is available at all Sun Kings’ shows, my solo shows, and online.

“And in the end…” We appreciate all the folks that come out to listen and join in.

And maybe that's it…really. You just do it and get with people you can hang around with, have a whiskey, laugh, and get serious when you need to. Live life, and give back when you can.

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Michael Barrett: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars, Harmonica

Michael"It Won't be Long"
Michael at 13, displaying mastery of the C chord on his first electric guitar.

The Sun Kings are the second Beatles cover band I've joined. I formed my first one in February 1964, on the playground of the school where I attended 2nd grade. The Beatles appearance on Ed Sullivan had overnight, taken the nation by storm. We lived less than 90 miles from New York City at the time, and everybody at school, radio and TV was talking about them. Within the week, a kid at school brought the singles of 'She Loves You' and 'I Want to Hold your Hand', and played them on our classroom's record player for show and tell. That was it for me. I hounded my Mom into buying me those same two singles, and quickly recruited my own version of the Fab Four. At recess the schoolyard became our stage, where we'd belt out Beatles songs with off key gusto while the lads played air guitar. I got to be Ringo, and had the only tangible instrument; rocks of varying sizes arranged in a semicircle around me. I sat on the ground singing along, tapping away at the rocks with a pair of twigs. Very Flintstones.

At age 11, my parents gave me a stereo cassette recorder for Christmas, along with cassettes of Magical Mystery Tour and the following year, the White Album. Even at that age there was no question in my mind that these guys had progressed a long way since 'She Loves You'. That summer I read Hunter Davies' bio on the Beatles and that was when the music bug resurfaced and bit hard. At 12, I got my first guitar, a Stella nylon string acoustic handed down from my Uncle Kevin, and a Mel Bay chord book. Once again I fell in love with the Beatles, just in time for the releases of Yellow Submarine and Abbey Road, the Paul is dead furor, John and Paul's marriages, and John and Yoko's antics du jour. Then came the sadness of the band's breakup, so soon after I had come back to the fold, and the kiss-off 'Let it Be'. It was a tough time to be a Beatles fan, but I took consolation in Led Zeppelin and liked it just fine.

By age 13, I'd graduated to an electric guitar and at 15, began to pick out music on keyboards when my Dad bought a used Wurlitzer organ from his brother. In high school I put together a rock band called (don't laugh) Crystal Mist. Eventually, to expand our sound I rented a transistorized keyboard that bleated out horrible imitations of piano and organ. Armed with this sad contraption, I took up keyboards on stage in addition to guitar. That has remained my role in every band since, though the equipment has improved.

After playing with a series of bands through the mid-eighties, I left the stage and became attracted to sound design as a career. For the last two decades I've been creating music, audio and character voices for many computer game titles, children's toys, electronics, radio and video. If you were a gamer in the Nineties or a new parent in the last decade, chances are decent that you may have heard some of my work.

In 1994, I released a homemade CD called 'Early Flights', a collection of music I'd written and recorded in the Eighties and early Nineties. After getting the urge to play live music again, I began patronizing Alameda's open mic nights. Drew arrived on the local scene in 1997, and we hit it off pretty well. Unsurprisingly, we usually performed Beatles songs. After the band formed, Peter joined to give the rhythm section a shot in the arm, bringing that authentic Hofner bass sound to the Sun Kings. Add Steve to the backbeat, Bill on lead guitar and you've got a great group of players!

Now it has come back full circle, with an interest even keener than in 1964, and real instruments to boot. Beatles music has achieved classic status, and interest in them is as strong as ever. It's an interest that recaptures us every time we hear one of their songs. They remain a happily irresistible force, filling our sails with a joyful sound that time does not diminish. Thank you for everything, John, Paul, George and Ringo.

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Bill Zupko : Vocals, Lead Guitar

Bill"Here Comes the Sun "
Bill, age 4, learns how a guitar or most anything resembling one can get a guy noticed.

The manner in which I gradually became acquainted with the Beatles was somewhat unique. Around '63 or '64, as a little lad living on a military base near Tokyo, everyone began noticing that these four identical-looking guys with impossibly long hair were appearing on the covers of magazines with increasing regularity. They obviously were not just another run-of- the-mill group. At the time the Beatles got no air time on Armed Forces Radio or Japanese stations, so for many months I had absolutely no idea how their music sounded! When we first rotated back to "The States" I spent a couple of weeks enduring my cousin's (that's her in the photo) around-the-clock fanatical raving about the Beatles. Fast forward to a year later in Tucson, Arizona, lo and behold, the Beatles cartoon show made its debut. Since every episode featured a few Beatles songs, I was at last able to get a satisfying dose of their music!

At school nearly every kid I knew was habitually speaking with a bad English accent and playing air guitar. At this time I started violin lessons (bet you didn't see that coming), which were to continue for some years. My fourth-grade teacher bought everyone in class—with her own money, bless her heart—a ukulele. She taught us chords and we had a ball singing corny songs. The experience would prove helpful when I soon took up the guitar. Until the end of high school I played guitar on and off, but went on to play mainly clarinet and sax, dabbled in most other band instruments, and played in many excellent concert bands, orchestras, and smaller ensemble groups, both classical and jazz…and certainly had plenty of adventures! 

I was finally and completely immersed in the Beatles in '75 as my friend Brian (a stellar sax man) and I spent the entire summer listening to every Beatles album. Until then I had pretty much missed most everything after "Help." I was quite impressed, and gained a respect for George Martin's contributions in particular. It was surprising that I recognized so many of the songs from someone else's car radio, and my usual refrain was: "I didn't know the Beatles did that!" Sadly, the Beatles as a group was history and without much more than a Wings concert tour to look forward to, I passed out of this second passionate Beatles "phase," but not before learning many of their songs on the guitar, especially the acoustic ("unplugged") songs.  

In '94 for the first time I experienced early-era Beatles music played live by a band called the Termites, and I sensed the same excitement of Hamburg or the Cavern Club! By '97 I was playing in the all-Beatles band Ticket to Ride, my first rock band. We have played innumerable memorable shows, mostly in San Francisco, with this and other bands.  In late 2005 the lead guitar slot opened in the Sun Kings, and the rest as they say, is history. 

The classic music of the Beatles—from silly love songs, to clamoring rockers, to brilliantly inspirational masterpieces—was instrumental in transforming rock into a social phenomenon. That even the very young are still learning the Beatles' songs speaks volumes for the enduring greatness of their music. The honor and pleasure of playing their music these past several years with a string of talented musicians in the Bay Area has definitely been good for my soul. And now that I've been fortunate to join fellow devotees Drew, Michael, Peter and Steve, and most important, all of you faithful Beatles fans!

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Peter LoMenzo: Vocals, Bass

Peter"Oh! Darling"
Peter, age 1, wishing that the guitar in his hand was a Rickenbacker.

I've been playing music professionally for over 30 years, and am a veteran of the 1980's/1990's New York/New Jersey music scene, having performed at countless concerts and recording sessions with some of that era's elite musical groups.

As a member of The Sun Kings since 2004, I've has played to large crowds at some of the biggest venues in California, both with the band and as a solo performer, and continue to mix my two biggest passions in life: Performing live on stage, and meticulously recreating the music of The Beatles.

I pride myself on having an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music in general, and for the history of The Beatles in particular. Often called "The Historian" or Authenticity Police" within the band, I apply all this knowledge and passion into playing the music of The Beatles as accurately as possible. I use a full array of authentic Beatles instruments to recreate to music as closely as possible to the original.

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Steve Scarpelli: Vocals, Drums, Percussion

Steve"All I've Got to Do"
7 year old Steve (center) improvises a drum set just in time to accompany the band to Hamburg.

I started the drums at age eight during the heyday of Beatlemania, and was drawn to Ringo's ability to inject excitement, energy and emotion into Beatles' music.  As we all know by now, their music has stood the test of time, and Ringo's contributions are no small part of that legendary sound.  Just about all the bands in which I've played included Beatles songs in the repertoire.  Cut my eyeteeth in many a cover band and managed to continue drumming through good days and bad.  I still love it and recommend it to everyone-so therapeutic!

I listened to Top 40 AM radio in the 1960s, a creative and disparate period in popular music.  The cool thing about radio in those days was its diversity. As a budding musician, I absorbed the artistically produced tunes and discerned the differences between the Motown Sound and the British Invasion, the relentless funk of James Brown from the easy sway of Frank Sinatra.  Sadly, those days are long gone.

I enjoy playing drums in The Sun Kings because, in one sense, I get to relive my childhood.  Many hours were consumed playing drums along with Beatles' records (a special nod to my parents for encouraging me and never complaining about the volume level).  It's kind of the same feeling with The Sun Kings, except now there are lots of people watching.  My thanks to all the fans who make our shows enjoyable.  The Sun Kings know that you appreciate Beatles music in its original form, and that's why we do what we do.

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