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Band History

Founded in the Early 1990s

Lead guitarist Dave originally conceived the band Wilkes Booth on the legendary Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, where guitar wizard Steve Vai employed him in the 1992 music video "Nineteen" by Bad4Good for MTV. This was after a failed attempt with another band called Rokzilla.

The Los Angeles Years (1992-1994)

• Brian Caldera (vocals)
• Dave Wilkes Booth (guitar)
• Fred Neal (guitar)
• Steve Rom (bass)
• Steve Montoya (drums)

Steve Montoya was only in the band for a few months, but he recorded drum tracks on their first demo "It's Not So Funny," which they used to find Richard "Richie Bitch" Coates. Richie was with the band the longest in Los Angeles. Brian Caldera was with the band only through the first 6-8 months. When he left, Dave took over vocals and recorded them on all Los Angeles material.

Steve Rom left the band in 1993 for a few months. That's when Ruik Holmes came in, but they begged Steve to come back, and he did. Steve left the band because Dave was an asshole to him. He should not have been, he apologized, and they moved on.

Additional members that came and left during their Los Angeles years were:

• Tony West (vocals)
• Jonas Jones (bass for a few months after Ruik)
• Bruce Barr (vocals for a few months)

An interesting side note is that Tony West went on to sing for a band called Blacklist Union, and they had some big success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Another weird note is that a drummer named Dustin Trinchini played in Wilkes Booth in October through December of 1994. Dave happened to meet Mike Fittos in December of 1994, and they knew that they belonged together. They had an unbelievable friendship.

Wilkes Booth performed regularly in the famous night clubs such as Gazzarri's, The Roxy Theatre, The Whiskey, and The Troubadour — the very same clubs that spawned acts such as Motley Crue, Van Halen, Guns 'N' Roses, and Poison. They played the same style of music as these bands, but all original in an attempt to achieve the same national status.

Our Demos

Wilkes Booth released demo songs during these days which received airplay on Los Angeles' famed KNAC radio station.

It's Not So Funny (1st demo, early 1992)

History Will Repeat (2nd demo, mid 1992)

History Continued

Wilkes Booth regularly appeared in various rock music magazines such as Rock City News and Bam with international circulation.

With a renowned booking agent intact and an appreciative fan base, the pieces were in place for the band to go all the way. However, the timing was wrong.

In late 1992, the music industry changed almost overnight, whereas the glitzy "Hair Metal" was no longer being embraced by the music industry. Unwilling to change styles and compromise it's integrity, the band returned to their home city of Rochester in western upstate New York.

After the industry's transformation, the band continued on, however, performing for a good cause at many benefit events, local night clubs, bars, and festivals, in an attempt to revive the spirit of old "Hair Metal." The band believed that there was still a market for this genre of music due to their continued success.

This high-energy band now included vocalist Bobby "Rocker" Fredericks, guitarist Dave Wilkes Booth, bassist Jason Carter, and drummer Mike "Oxbig" Fittos. They played live extensively and recorded their debut album Blows U Away in 1996, which received airplay on several local college radio stations.

With new bassist Kevin Rappenecker, Wilkes Booth added 12 new original songs to their discography and a healthy dose of razor-sharp covers with their signature Wilkes Booth sound.

Wilkes Booth was relentless in their passion for a classic hard rock sound. They ignored trends in favor of playing firey covers from such artists as Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and Metallica to Motley Crue, Poison, and Van Halen to name a few. The Wilkes Booth original material was written and played in the same passionate vein as well.

Wilkes Booth covered songs by John Cougar Mellencamp, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Judas Priest, Poison, KISS, Montrose, Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, Dokken, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Ted Nugent, Rush, Steppenwolf, The Kinks, Steel Dragon, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Black Crowes, Metallica, Jackyl, W.A.S.P., April Wine, Tesla, Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, and similar classic hard rock bands.

"Bass-ic" History

Wilkes Booth had a revolving door of guys that they rehearsed with and played shows with over the years. The band was Bob, Mike, and Dave, and they kept switching bass players until they found Kevin Rappenecker.

• Jason Carter (1994-1996, recorded on first album)
• Jamie Bell (1996-1997)
• Kevin Scally (1997-2000)
• Bob Littolff (2001-2002)
• Kevin Rappenecker (2002-2008, 2013-2021)
• Bryan Juda (2008-2010)
• Steve Angora (2012)
• Dennis Jones (2021-)

In 1999, Wilkes Booth recorded a song titled "Determination" for the Camp Good Days 20th anniversary album. It was Dave on guitar, Kevin Scally on bass, Anthony "Tony" Barbato on vocals, and Paul Amorise on drums. This same year, the band had one of their classic fights, so Bob and Mike started jamming in another band with Donnie Gramatico (Lou Gramm's brother) on guitar and somebody on bass.

Dave hired Tony and Paul only for the recording of "Determination." Tony was hit by a car crossing the road in 2020 and died, so this recording was used in his tribute since it was the only professional recording that he had done.

"Grand from the Band" Meets Goal for Taylor

Left to right: Billy, Kevin, Bryan, Bob, and Mike (barely visible behind Bobby)

The Wilkes Booth band made short work of its quest to help an ailing local musician. Rochester-area bassist Billy Taylor was battling stage 4 inoperable brain cancer. With the recent release of their latest album, Respect the Rock, they solicited CD purchases at $10 each in raising $1,000 for the cause. On June 29, they presented the check to Taylor at Pineapple Jack's.

Unfortunately, Dave was not able to attend due to a crazy stalking female fan that wanted to harm him.

Song Playlist

Here is a list of our songs, and cover songs, that we played at a few of our live performances. These 4 pages formed a booklet that people would choose songs from.

KISS's lead guitarist Tommy Thayer reviewed albums by Wilkes Booth and Kris Hadlock (of Hadlock). Dave briefly played as the bassist in Hadlock and recorded one song with them entitled "Dirty Christine." Watch the music video here.

Journalist and author Lonn Friend visited Wilkes Booth and Killer Instinct.

Former editor of iconic RIP Magazine, Lonn Friend, was in Rochester the week of October 28, 2014. Five years after helping to edit Hustler Magazine, Friend joined RIP Magazine in 1987. The publication was known for featuring exclusive interviews with heavy metal rock bands and was among the first to promote Metallica and Guns 'N' Roses.

Two of Friend's books share stories about mixing with many rock 'n' roll greats of the period — Life on Planet Rock (2006) and Sweet Demotion (2011). He's appeared in numerous television documentaries and has written liner notes for projects by Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Dio, and Alice Cooper. Friend contributed to the health and fitness book The Rockstar Remedy by Dr. Gabrielle Francis.

Kris Hadlock, Dave Wilkes Booth, Tony Gross (of Head East and GFI), Lonn Friend

Below is a mockup cover of RIP Magazine for fun.

The Farewell

Things were rolling along quite nicely until 2016 when medical issues sidelined Dave and Mike. As a result, Bobby and Kevin joined other bands, and Wilkes Booth was sidelined.

The band had started working on album number four when this went down. The musicians stayed with the band. However, singer Bob "Rocker" had thoroughly ensconced himself in numerous golfing events and assembled his own cover band so he could play the lighter songs that Wilkes Booth refused to do and had no time for the band. He stopped returning calls and would not answer text messages.

Ultimately, the band found out on Facebook that Bob was claiming that he was fired from Wilkes Booth and formed his own band to look like the hero and garnish sympathy from anyone who would listen, and the masses ate it up like sheep on a feeding frenzy. Wilkes Booth moved on with longtime friend Dee St. James taking over on vocals. Together they finished album number four, aptly titled "Bid You Farewell," in regards to Dave Wilkes Booth's declining health and ability due to neurological development, and Dee St. James abruptly leaving the band due to physiological decay. German magazine Music an Sich wrote a review of this album. Read it here.

The band figured that it had hit the end of the road. That was until singer Todd Cragle approached them and expressed interest in joining. Todd came to an audition and sang 16 songs without the assistance of a teleprompter, flooring the band, and was immediately accepted.

"Bid You Farewell" had just been released, and the band embarked on a small club tour across New York State, booked by agent Richard Radice. Radice had booked the band in lower-quality dives, stole the revenue from all performances, and was never heard from again. That was pretty much the last straw. The band had enough of the logistics of what compromises a rock band. Rappenecker, Cragle, and even Fittos started jamming with other bands while Dave stewed alone in the grand Wilkes Booth rehearsal facility.

As David was constantly recording licks, bits, and pieces of fretboard shred, he soon had a song backlog that needed recording. Unfortunately, in late 2019, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic further delayed any attempts to record.

Finally, in 2021 David brought in a bass player named Dennis Jones (DJ) from The Tombstone Hands. DJ was also a graduate of the same high school that Dave attended in Pittsford, NY. In turn, Dennis brought in Mathius, a twisted Blues Rock vocalist from Wayne County, NY. This combination of talent bonded around Mike's drumming and was forged into malleable metal by Dave's over-the-top shredding! After a few rehearsals, it was off to Big Time Studio in Interlaken, NY, to record eleven new Wilkes Booth songs.

Unfortunately, in February of 2022, Mike unexpectedly died shortly after completing the basic tracks. Dave's 28-year best friendship and professional relationship with the hardest rocking drummer in Rochester, NY, came crashing to an end. After a painful period of time, Dave, Dennis, and Mathius completed the recording. One Last Ride is dedicated to you, Brother Mike!

Live Performance Dates & Locations