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The HOTCAKES
The Awesome Hotcakes are a collection of great Sonoma based musicians that Spike has hand-picked to get just the right amount of flavor required to make his tunes SWEET & SAVORY! (The band is available as a 4 piece to 7 piece group, depending on venue and need – learn more on our booking page)
The recipe for Awesome Hotcakes starts with the following ingredients…
SPIKE SIKES
Spike grew up in El Paso, TX, studied jazz at The University of North Texas, started The Spike Band in 2004, recorded three albums with them, joined the Coast Guard in 2008, continued playing music wherever he was stationed (Maine, NorCal, and New Orleans), and formed Awesome Hotcakes in 2014.
He is a husband, a Dad, a part-time elementary school band director, a songwriter/performer and he tries to write poetry. Some of his biggest influences include Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Cleanhead Vinson, Gatemouth Brown, Lightnin Hopkins and Albert Ayler. Spike likes his coffee cold, black, and made with chicory.
RAY FERNANDEZ
Horn Section Leader / Saxophone
Ray has played and toured with: Spike Sikes & the Awesome Hotcakes, The Mad Maggies, Sonic Strut, Stax City, Trousers, The Zins, The Overcommitments, Lagos Roots Afrobeat Ensemble, The Melt, Rita Lackey, Macy Blackman & the Mighty Fines, Those Darn Accordions, Patrick Maier Band, Lorn Leber, Blue Rock Country Club, Hour of Tower, Miss Kitty & the Big Dogs, Club Ed, Beat Freaks, Bohemian Luv Jones, Kings Hat, The Essentials, Spare Parts, Action Jackson, Party of Five, Stiff Upper Lip, All the Kings Men, Joyce Rooks, Rudy Chalard and The Blue Light Revue.
Ray performed in the house band for The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s award winning play Freedomland in 2015 and 2016. Freedomland was voted winner of “Outstanding Performance by the Ensemble of a Musical,” “Outstanding Direction,” & “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Principal Role in a Musical” by Theatre Bay Area Awards!
TRACY ROSE
Drums / Percussion
Tracy’s recordings include television shows for PBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, corporate videos, and numerous music CDs.
Live Performance with many popular groups, including, Legendary Blues guitarist Steve Freund, Richard Kermode Latin Quartet(Santana Keyboardist), Steve Wynn, Ashwan Batish, Pete Escovedo.
Tracy has also opened shows for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Pointer Sisters, Jefferson Starship, Susan Tedeschi, Toto, Yellowjackets, Jaco Pastorius, Jeff Lorber Fusion, The Tubes, Rippingtons, Robben Ford, and many other well-known groups.
MARK MILAZZO
Bass
This award winning New York floral designer and music school dropout left the Big Apple to fulfill his boyhood dreams of racing cars, riding motorcycles, and playing music in California. He is now living that very dream.
Mark has been addicted to music his entire life, and he spent the first half of his childhood plugged into a transistor radio. During the other half he was inseparable from the guitar. He has been a pro musician since way back in the 1900’s!
When he isn’t holding down the bass guitar duties with AHC, Mark is at home holding it down with his three wild little boys.
GEORGE HUMPREYS
Piano / Organ
His first 10 years were a picture of nerdom – a 70’s plaid butterfly collar, accordion playin’, coke-bottle glasses, skinny, D&D, braces, Star Trek kind of dude. Moving from New England as a tweenager and fresh off his first band experience playing the drums, he traded in his kit for a dirt bike, bought an electric piano, and has been hooked on California and keys ever since.
While studying graphic design and playing basketball in college, he moonlighted as a wedding singer and frontman for “The Best Party Band” in Butte County (as voted in the Chico News & Review). After miraculously graduating, he went on to play and sing for multiple groups including rock, blues, reggae, country, and funk, opening for the likes of The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Buddy Guy, The Tubes, Foghat, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, and many others.
He’s played nonstop ever since while holding down his day job, raising two boys, playing basketball (at 6’6″ he has a standing order to never stand up on stage), working on his 54′ Chevy truck and obsessing over his saltwater aquarium – any of which he’ll happily talk your ear off about – don’t get him started!
RICK CLIFFORD
Saxophone
Rick is a St. Louis raised sax player who began playing professionally at ballrooms throughout the Midwest during the seventies.
Rick moved to California in 1991 to study Music Therapy and has been a member of The Pulsators since 1997. Rick loves jazz and classical music, and his favorite band is The Meters.
He is the former band director for The Oak Grove School District and is now retired. He can usually be found on the golf course or hanging with his Labrador retriever Buddy. (when he isn’t on a gig!)
TONY DAVIDS
Trombone
Tony grew up in the San Francisco public school music programs, began gigging as a teenager, and has enjoyed playing in a wide variety bands ever since.
After gigging with the Rich Martini Orchestra for many years he also began touring the rehearsal band circuit in the Bay Area and had the amazing opportunity of playing with cats from the actual swing era. Those bands include the Bob Bissel and Rudy Castro bands, The Dave Altschuler band, and Footnotes.
Tony has also played with the Jeff Sanford Cartoon Jazz Orchestra, the Starduster Orchestra, the Ray Simpson Orchestra, Youngblood and Company, the Blue Lights, West Coast Cool, and The Rice & Beans Project before joining the Awesome Hotcakes.
And These Folks Add The Spice….
With an average of 100+ shows a year,Spike pulls from a great pool of local talent.
These are some of the folks who have rounded out the big band over the years…
Some of the locals Spike has gigged with include:
Zachary Thorne (Miss Moonshine), David Scott (Gator Nation), Jeff Irvin, Ron Charlesworth of The Blind Barbers, JP McLean (Melvin Seals), Harry Gale (Harry’s Big Rock Revival), KC Mosso (Crowbot), Steve Pile (Lazyman), Mark Goldenberg (Jackson Browne), John Youngblood, The Beautiful Questions, The Blue Lights, Paul Schneider Quintet, Chip Boaz, Cathey Cotten, Dan Imhoff, Radioactive (Spearhead), Libby Cuffie, Joe Oviedo (Danny Click), Rae Rae Millard (Sonoma Jazz Girls),
Dylan Juhan, Scott Nygard (Stax City), Sean Mudcat Parnell (Dirty Red Barn), Ben Dubin, Bruce Gordon, Emily Froberg, Kent Fossgreen,
Mingo Lewis Jr., Sebastian St. James of the Highway Poets, and Levi Miller.
CONNECT
Get In touch
Email: booking@awesomehotcakes.com
Phone: 940.453.6763
Electronic Press Kit