supersonic
Artist Information
Biography
ARIEL is an original rock band that performs the music of award winning singer/songwriters JJ Jenkins and George Petersen. ARIEL is currently supporting the critical and commercial success of their latest CD “Sure Thing, You Bet!” With the radio singles “Crank up the Victrola” and “Zombies” receiving steady play in most national markets and overseas, ARIEL consistently draws well, living up to their reputation as exciting and formidable live performers. ARIEL received the East Bay Express newspaper’s “Best of the East Bay” award in 2007 for “Most Rousing Band” and in 2008 for “Best Old School Musical Act.”
Based in California, ARIEL has been a live music staple, performing countless live shows in venues varying from intimate clubs to large festivals. ARIEL has been lucky enough in the past to have been featured in concert supporting such luminaries as Carlos Santana, Eddie Money, Starship, John Lee Hooker and even Metallica!
ARIEL’s consists of founders JJ Jenkins on lead vocals, guitar/keyboards and George Petersen on lead vocals and drums. The ARIEL sound is augmented by guitar virtuosos Chris LaRocca and Kristian Habenicht along with bassist/multi-instrumentalist Walter Bush.
ARIEL first made a name with the single release, "In Mendocino," a reggaeish paean to the specialty agricultural industry, which received massive West Coast airplay. Greetings from Ariel!, the band’s debut album, included the singles "An American Girl," (featuring guitar phenom Ronnie Montrose) and "Stuck in Traffic" (with Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis). ARIEL’s next CD was International World. Recorded in multiple languages, its title track--a rock anthem to world peace--has been heard in various forms in nearly every country in the world. The album also yielded the haunting hit "Poem for Cassandra." ARIEL gained national attention in 2004 with the “Wartime President Song,” an anti-war novelty song. ARIEL’s latest CD “Sure Thing, You Bet!,” has received a goodly amount of radio play, along with the singles “Crank Up the Victrola” and “Zombies,” and the band is poised to make a national presence with its next CD release.
Instrumentation
George Petersen: Lead Vocals, Drums, and Guitar
JJ Jenkins: Lead Vocals, Keyboards, and Guitar
Walter Bush: Bass, Vocals, and Guitar
Chris LaRocca: Lead Guitar and Vocals
Kristian Habenicht: Lead Guitar
Discography
Sure Thing, You Bet!
EveryWednesday Night
International World
Greetings from Ariel!
Links
Press
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Ariel Rocks
[+ Show ]
The energy at an ARIEL show is comfortable and fun loving, yet serious about the music. These guys...
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Caution! Contagious!
[+ Show ]
I got a rockin' pneumonia and a boogie-woogie flu from just one exposure to Ariel's news opus: "Sure...
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Sure Thing, You Bet!
[+ Show ]
Sure Thing, You Bet! has got a good sound and a good sense of humor. The album's got a sort of Klaat...
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A wicked sense of humor
[+ Show ]
The two friendly guys at the adjacent table turned out to be George Petersen and J.J. Jenkins of Ari...
Setlist
Songs played on ARIEL’s 2009 “Place Another Bet” tour
An American Girl
Another Turn of the Page (New Song)
Are You Ready to Rock?.
Bordertown
Church of the Cosmic Cookie
Climbing
Crank Up the Victrola
El Dorado Gold
Franklin, Jackson and Grant
Got to Find the Love
Halfway to Harris
How Now?
In Mendocino
International World
Lane Splitter (New Song)
Looking for Trouble (New Song)
Mercury’s in Retrograde (New Song)
Nick Fury (New Song)
Poem for Cassandra
Zombies
