Fast Lane
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
Music
Press
It took four tries before Fast Lane frontman Bob Basselgia won the WIOV Showdown at Shady Maple in East Earl.
The event allows bands to compete for an opening spot at the country radio station’s annual Fallfest. Basselgia first competed with his former band Running on Empty, and then three times with country-rock band Fast Lane.
The fourth time proved to be the charm. Fast Lane took the honors last year, earning the band a spot on the same bill as Gary Allan, Adam Wakefield and Thompson Square. WIOV invited the band back for this year’s Fallfest on Oct. 8.
Fans can get a taste of what to expect at Fallfest when the southern Lancaster County band performs at the Strasburg Community Park amphitheater Saturday with Duane Slaymaker.
Fast Lane formed in 2013 after Basselgia’s long and winding search to perform the music he loved. The Lebanon County native has played in straight country and strictly classic rock bands before, but he always wanted to blend the two sounds. AC/DC inspired him to pick up the guitar at age 14, but he loved such country artists as Waylon Jennings, George Strait, George Jones and Merle Haggard, too.
After playing with a few local bands, Basselgia branched out on his own to form Fast Lane. After Fast Lane’s original drummer left, he recruited Joe Furnier, who drummed in Basselgia’s former band Running on Empty.
The band’s latest addition is bassist Tom Gerard, whom Basselgia met online.
Basselgia says it was clear the band found a winning combination.
“It clicked, and we said, ‘You know what, this is something we can probably take pretty far,’ ” Basselgia says. “We’re going to try as hard as we can here. The jobs just started coming in and the demand for the band just started going higher and higher.”
And Basselgia is finally playing the type of music he wants to be playing. The band performs covers and original songs, some written by the band and some composed by other songwriters.
“It’s taking kind of modern country and classic country and blending it together, and not really having rules to what we have to do with it,” Basselgia says. “We don’t have to play it identically to the way people are playing it now. We’re putting our own spin to it now, and we can be creative with the way we want to do it.”
The approach has proven to be successful for Fast Lane. Basselgia says performing at Fallfest is the “coolest thing” the band has accomplished so far, and he loved getting to interact with Allan, Wakefield and Thompson Square backstage.
He’s pretty excited for this year’s Fallfest, which will be headlined by Trace Adkins.
“I am a big fan of Trace Adkins,” Basselgia says. “I don’t think there’s a song (Adkins) recorded I don’t know.”
While the big shows are memorable, Basselgia says the band greatly values the fan interaction more intimate shows provide.
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
Entertainment Lancaster — Find out what is happening in Lancaster County every week with our Entertainment Lancaster newsletter.
Enter email address
“We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t have the support that we have,” Basselgia says.
On Fast Lane’s website, there’s a section dedicated to the late Clyde M. Roland, of Peach Bottom. Roland was a friend and dedicated fan of Fast Lane. Basselgia could always count on a big smile and a handshake from Roland and his wife, Nancy, who accompanied him to the shows.
After Roland died unexpectedly in April 2016, Basselgia wanted to dedicate a portion of the band’s website to him.
“We just felt we had to do something to honor him and keep it going,” Basselgia says. “It wasn’t the same not seeing him walk through the door when we were playing.”
Other Fast Lane fans have inspired brand promotions by the band. After one fan loudly professed his love for the cinnamon whisky Fireball at a show, other Fast Lane fans followed suit. The band now has a partial sponsorship from Fireball and occasionally has Fireball merchandise to hand out at its shows.
The whisky inspired an upcoming song, too, Basselgia says.
While Basselgia has enjoyed Fast Lane’s growing success, he and the rest of the band try to stay in the moment rather than looking too far into the future.
“We’re not to the point where it’s pushing us too hard,” Basselgia says. “We’re just enjoying what we’re doing, playing the local scene. … We’re just kind of riding it out, to see what happens.” - JENELLE JANCI
"This song has a country vibe and as soon as it started it made me smile. I do love country music and the singer has a genuine country voice. This is very catchy and the words are very nice as well. Good song!"
" not my taste in genre of music but had my feet going ,the man singing in this song has a superb voice and would catch and keep the attention of anyone listening , great tune with great use of all the instruments used in this song very good indeed , this definitely could be a big hit in the mainstream without a shadow of a doubt definitely would be a big hit to the audience of this particular genre , i enjoyed this 7/10 :)"
"A traditional sounding country song, the immediate impact of the vocals is incredibly pronounced, try not to smile is probably where im getting too. If you close your eyes you could mistake for being in the center of a country bar in Tennessee. The band accompaniment has great arrangement, it's got great bridges that uplift the song and keep the tempo high."
"A very energetic opening which preps you for the song. Has a very catchy tune, almost addicting. The guitar and piano make for a great rhythm the vocalist sings to. The vocalist sounds great, very confident and strong with his singing which is an excellent attribute. I really enjoyed this, I'm not that into country but this is great." - Multiple critics
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
We’re Fast Lane, a hard rockin, party, country band from Lancaster Pa. We mix country and rock like nobody else can. If you don’t call yourself a “country” fan, come see us, and let us change your mind about what country can be. We are anything but your grand daddy’s country. We enjoy making the hits you love our own. We play uptempo all night long to keep you on the dance floor. Come see us at show near you!
Band Members
Links
