The Band
Hell on Heels is Milwaukee's Premiere Classic Rock cover band. It was awarded the first place in the Battle of the YPO Bands in Los Angeles among six top contenders. The jury, among them Scott Page (Pink Floyd, Brian Wilson, Supertramp, Toto) and Kenny Lee Lewis (Steve Miller Band) unanimously voted Hell on Heels the best performing band.
Vocals & Keytar: Renee K. has a voice as "down and dirty" as her shimmy. She punctuates the fast-driving Euro-inspired tracks like "Checkin' Out" while giving a sensitive touch to ballads such as "Beast of Burden". She was known in Germany as an "energy bomb" for ability to send a vibration through a room. In her book, life is to short to stay seated, so be ready to get out of "park" and had guest appearances with Gene Simmons and Billy Idol live on stage.
Guitar: Rene Burkard has been playing guitar for over 54 years and was in 1984, 1985 & 1986 repeatedly quoted as being one of the best rock guitar players in Germany. His band “Broomstick Dusters” won two prestigious award competitions among several thousand qualified rock bands and they were touring all over Germany. Rene also played with greats like Luther Allison in Germany and France, Helge Schneider and Eelco Gelling (Cuby & the Blizzards/Golden Earring). Besides touring and production Rene worked for many years in the music industry as a product development specialist and sales manager for a large multinational musical instrument distributor.
Keyboards: Julian Herzing-Burkard studied classical piano and jazz for years and loves classic rock.
Drums: John Calarco, who started drumming at age 10, has received seven WAMIs and played in many local bands including Big Bang Theory, Greg Koch and the Tone Controls, Common Faces (from Madison), Tony Jarvis, Daryl Stuermer Band, NC-17 (Gabriel-era Genesis Tribute band featuring Todd Sucherman from Styx ), "H," Chasin Mason, Kirk Tatnall Trio, Mike Standal, Dan Trudell Trio, The String Station, The Willy Porter Band and many other side projects. Calarco also worked with Andy Summers of The Police, Bruce Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren, Pat Travers, The B-52s' Kate Pierson and Frank Zappa's guitarist Mike Keneally.
Bass: Steve Andreoni worked as a session player in Los Angeles for many years and joined the band just recently. His full tone and solid groove resonates through the songs and he and Rene have "fine-tuned" into each other rapidly. The result is a tasteful musical experience. V
Vocals: Claudia Johnson, a New York City native has been a professional singer for over 30 years with a successful career in and around NYC. She is currently also working as a professional vocal teacher.