Code Whiskey

MIKE HANCOCK is a relative newcomer to the Pittsburgh area, having honed his singing and songwriting craft in New York, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Shreveport and Downstate Illinois with groups including "Frozen Rose", "Broadway", "AZ-BY " and "Cold Night Calling ". After recording and touring for several years he took a deserved sabbatical for a couple years, working briefly as a morning drive disc jockey for WRIK-FM and running his own travelling DJ show before finally succumbing to fate and returning to the music he loved in St. Louis with "Cold Night Calling" and then, back on the stage in Pittsburgh with Code Whiskey. His soulful vocal style is classic hard rock to the core, with just a tinge of Texas boogie thrown in for good measure! Mike has been compared with vocalists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Cetera, Sammy Hagar and Layne Staley and Mike's musical pedigree includes his father Herschel Hancock who sang baritone with the New York Metropolitan Opera as well as an Emmy-and Grammy-award-winning grandfather, Frank Milton Smith, who conducted radio and television live orchestras across the country, most notably for WBBM-FM/AM and TV in Chicago. A died-in-the-wool singer/songwriter and a consummate entertainer, Mike heats up when the lights go down and would be more than happy to tell you a few almost-unbelievable stories from the road, over a shot or twelve!

KENNY KOVACH is the founding lead guitarist for Code Whiskey, returning to the band after a short hiatus where he focused on his own act, "Soulriot" as well as performing for Iron Maiden tribute band "Powerslave". Ken's musical lineage includes his father, also named Ken Kovach, who leads a very successful latin orchestra in the Pittsburgh area. Performing live since the young age of 15, Kenny's amazing guitar style has been described as an amalgam of Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Mark Reale, Rudolph Schenker and Joe Satriani, but he also plays a more soulful style, drawing comparisons to legends like Carlos Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughn. His showmanship is without comparison and Kenny always puts on a great show to compliment whatever song he's playing!

GLEN SUPINSKY is the newest addition to the family, providing outstanding additional guitar work and is a multi-talented performer. It is a rare thing when, in the course of auditioning prospective bandmates, it takes only about two minutes to know you want someone "in", and we had this experience with Glen. He not only fits right in, but we could tell that his input to our overall sound and future original projects will be amazing! He is equally as comfortable playing rhythm or lead guitar and Glen is widely known for performing in the popular local act "No More Johnny", as well as other Pittsburgh-area bands over the course of his 15+ year musical career. His versatile style reminds you of guitarists such as Kirk Hammet and Alex Lifeson and we welcome Glen as the newest member of CODE WHISKEY with open arms!

"MAGIC" MIKE PADOLF has been the driving force behind many Pittsburgh-area bands for over 20 years, most notably in groups such as "Montford", "Powerslave" and "6 OF 1". Not content to merely play bass, he has turned the world (and his bass ) upside down, showing crowds that there definitely IS more than one, or even six ways to skin a cat! With well over a hundred critically-acclaimed guitar and bass instructional videos to his credit, several hundred shows' worth of stage experience and comparisons to everyone from Billy Sheehan to Geddy Lee to Tony Levin to Dave Ellefson to Geezer Butler and everyone in between, Mike is considered "Magic", because he can not only exactly duplicate the sounds and chops of the bass masters, but when showcasing his own intricate and inimatable style, he takes a basic sound structure and turns it into a musical adventure!

GARY BOWLING comes to us from Wellsville, Ohio, where he directs and teaches drums for a local-area drumline, receiving several national and regional awards and accolades along the way. His complex, yet succinct percussion style brings to mind classic-styled drummers such as John Bohnam, Cozy Powell, Bill Ward, Ginger Baker and Terry Bozzio. With a work ethic that approaches absolute insanity, Gary throws 150% into everything he does, ensuring the audience will always walk away from the show with their heart beating faster, their eyes not quite believing what they've just seen, and their ears damaged beyond all possible medical reconstruction! But the best part, is that after you've HEARD Gary play drums, it doesn't matter if you ever hear again anyway, because you've just heard everything you ever needed to hear in the first place!!!