Red dB

Born to rock
New Lenox native, band Red dB to open summer concert series


by Amanda Battaglia





Rock cover band Red dB (pictured) — with New Lenox resident Dave Bellah (center) — will open for the Smithereens and Soul Asylum in the Commons on June 19.
March 31, 2010 | 02:07 AM

Lifelong New Lenox resident Dave Bellah started singing when he was 4 and started playing the guitar when he was 14. Now, 31 years later, he and his band will kick off the first night of New Lenox's Triple Play Summer Concert Series.

Red dB is set to hit the stage on June 19 at 5 p.m. before the Smithereens and Soul Asylum perform. Bellah said he was ecstatic when he found out he would be performing in his hometown.

"I'm really, really looking forward to this since I was born and raised in New Lenox," Bellah said. "I'll be performing in front of a lot of people I grew up with."






Born and raised in New Lenox, Dave Bellah will take the stage in his hometown June 19 with band Red dB.
Bellah is the primary singer and guitar player of the band, and said he started Red dB — a term for amplitude in the "red zone" — in October 2009. Other members of the band are bass player and singer Zack Edgar; drum player and singer Sean McDaniel; and lead and rhythm guitarist Chris Grossi.

Red dB is primarily a cover band, but has begun to work on original music. Bellah said the band performs rock tunes from numerous groups, including Aerosmith, U2 and Theory of a Deadman.

"We look to see what the crowd is like and adjust accordingly," Bellah said.

Red dB is focused on cultivating a local following and performs mostly in the Will and Grundy county areas. Bellah said the group has performed about 17 shows — many in New Lenox — since it was formed. The next performance will be at The Charleyhorse Restaurant in New Lenox on April 9 from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.






Red dB drummer Sean McDaniels shows his skills.
Bellah said the families of the band are very supportive and help out with many things, such as sound at performances, marketing and the band's Web site.

"It's an all-hands-on-deck band, a big family in a way," Bellah said. "Family is very important to us, so we make sure to get time in with them."

As for the band's performance at the New Lenox concert series, Bellah said if people are just going to the concert to stare at the stage, that won't happen during Red dB's set.






Rhythm guitarist Chris Grossi lets his finger fly.
"It's going to be phenomenal," he said. "We always put on a show. It's a great time, the band is good and we're entertaining."

For more information on Red dB, visit www.reddbband.com.

Concert series tickets are on sale at the New Lenox Village Hall, 1 Veterans Parkway, to New Lenox residents only. Tickets are $50 and will admit residents to all three nights of the concert series. After May 1, tickets will be open to both residents and non-residents for $60.

- New Lenox Patriot

Dave Bellah of New Lenox just learned that his newest band -- Red dB -- will open for the Smithereens and Soul Asylum on June 19 in the New Lenox Commons.

Not bad, he said, for a band that was only a dream last fall.



Dave Bellah of New Lenox is one of the members of Red db.

"I was born and raised in New Lenox, and I'm thrilled that they picked us when they could have selected anybody," said Bellah, lead vocalist and guitarist. The June 19 show initiates New Lenox's Triple Play Concert Series.

Red dB -- a term for amplitude in the "red zone" -- plays a select blend of classic rock, current rock and contemporary country rock. Members are Christians who participate in their respective churches' worship teams, but who came together to produce Red dB's unique sound.

"I think God put us together just by the way everything fell into place," Bellah said. "We all get along unbelievably well, and we have this natural flow together; it's quite amazing. There is no dictatorship here. We all decided together which songs to go for and then we make it happen. There is a lot of mutual admiration in this project."

In addition to Bellah, Red dB includes Zack Edgar of Rockdale on bass, Sean McDaniel of Joliet on drums, and Chris Grossi of Verona on guitar.

All harmonize well with each other. Bellah performs 85 percent of the lead vocals, while Edgar and McDaniel occasionally provide that role.

Gross's guitar is the band's "fancy Van Halen icing on the cake leads," while Bellah's guitar playing adds color. Members are 40-something except for Edgar who is 29.

"Zack keeps us in touch with the younger material," Bellah said. "Sometimes when you age -- and you hate to think it -- your mind gets set in a particular way. You like certain music and that's that, but if you play too much classic rock, you're deemed as antiquated."

Although Red dB performs strictly covers, members are fiddling with original material and hope to have a few original, performance-ready pieces by the end of the year.

For now, they reserved an entire month for practice because they played so consistently since their October 2009 inception they had no time to rehearse new material. "We've played 15 gigs so far this year, and it's only March," Bellah said.

Still, with their recent successes, members of Red dB cultivate no lofty aspirations of fame and fortune. Instead, they diligently promote a local following and promise their fans the best show they can provide. They feel the same thrill with a contract with this year's Grundy County Corn Fest as another band might feel upon obtaining a contract with a major record label.

At the same time, band members' families come before Red dB and, perhaps most importantly, their families know it. "We never book more than one show a weekend," Bellah said.

Red dB will unveil their new songs at 9 p.m. March 27 at The Crowd Around Me, 103 E. Jefferson St., Shorewood.

For more information, visit www.reddbband.com or Red dB's Facebook page.

- Chicago Sun Times