The Lineup
Paul Davie
bass/vocals
In 2001, Paul’s decision to follow his passion and create The Fab Five was life-changing to say the least. At the ripe old age of 40, dreams upon dreams kept coming true:
Backing two of his British rock heroes – Terry Sylvester of THE HOLLIES (’69-’81) and Joey Molland of BADFINGER, over two dozen times…including a three week of tour of Australia in November 2009
Headlining International BeatleWeek at THE CAVERN CLUB with Joey in 2006 (seen here in the photo…and standing on the same spot as Paul McCartney did in 1999!) with The Spencer Davis Group opening for them!
Becoming friends with original BEATLES drummer PETE BEST & his band, by opening for them 15 times in three combined US tours
Sharing the stage, and opening for legendary acts from the 60′s & 70′s – The Grass Roots, The Rascals, Gerry & The Pacemakers and The Buckinghams
But without a doubt, the most meaningful experience that came out of The Fab Five, was meeting his (eventual) wife, Linda and their 2006 wedding at Strawberry Fields (Forever), with none other than Joey Molland giving the bride away. The ceremony was even featured on The BBC, Liverpool Echo newspaper and WSTM-3. (Could it have been because we were “the other Paul & Linda from the other Liverpool”?!)
Paul is looking forward to this fresh, new experience called The Fab 570. He considers the power pop of the 70′s as the next best thing to the Beatles, British Invasion & 60′s music.
For booking info, feel free to write him at pdavie@twcny.rr.com.
Bill Barry
Hammond B3 w/Leslie, keyboards, rhythm guitar, vocals
Multi-talented Bill Barry was the first logical invitation for Paul to extend, as they have worked together in various ways over the last 5 years. Bill was a frequent sound man and fill-in musician for The Fab Five. He has also been a backing musician for Terry Sylvester (The Hollies) and Joey Molland (Badfinger) from Buffalo to Nyack, as well as at Upstairs At The Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse in 2009 for The Fab Five Finale with Joey.
Bill is currently performing with two other acts in CNY. He has been the leader of versatile and venerable horn band The Sharp Dressed Penguins for over 20 years, and a long time member of the SAMMY Award winning R&B group, Stroke. Bill just recently joined the re-formed lineup of the very popular southern rock artists, Frostbit Blue for occasional festival appearances in Upstate NY.
Primarily a keyboardist, Bill gets to blow the dust off his electric guitar for The Fab 570, and join in on power pop classics like “Go All The Way”, “My Sharona” and “What I Like About You”.
Tom Hillenbrand
6 & 12 string lead guitar
Tom is a huge Badfinger fan, and attended the first Fab Five show in 2004 where Paul backed Joey Molland, which is how they met. Bumping into each other through the years, Paul & Tom would always say, “we should jam sometime”. Well, now….the chance has finally come!
Tom’s first job in the CNY music scene was an auspicious one – earning the lead guitar slot for legendary local veteran, Joe Whiting in the early 90′s. Eventually, Tom took what he learned from that valuable experience, and applied it for the extremely popular (and extremely busy!) Prime Time. Occasionally, you will find Tom playing with the stripped down version of the band, Prime Time Unplugged. With either version, he has been with them an incredible 15 years.
You will quickly discover that Tom is one of the unsung guitar heroes of CNY. He lets his playing do the talking, and his incredible talent to recreate ‘just the right tone’ for each song in second to none! After you hear his tasty, note-for-note replications in Elvis Costello’s “Alison” or Three Dog Night’s “One Man Band”, you’ll see why we call him our “Guitar Hero”.
Lenny Milano
drums & percussion, vocals
Lenny is truly “a drummer’s drummer”. He is dedicated to his craft, and is one of the most in-demand drummers in not only Syracuse, but also his lifelong hometown of Utica. (So if you have a spare dollar or two at our next gig, feel free to slip it to Lenny to help pay his Thruway toll – thanks!)
Lenny has literally “played with everybody”, but he comes to The Fab 570 by way of Bill Barry’s “Sharp Dressed Penguins”, and then as a fill-in drummer for The Fab Five, including a two-day theater gig in Buffalo, NY in 2007, backing Terry Sylvester of The Hollies (’69-’81), and opening for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, The Rascals. You’ll see Lenny with one of his own heroes, Rascals drummer Dino Danelli, in the picture above.
Lenny has also toured with world-renown blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa in his early days of his first band, Bloodline, and may best be known for his long-time stints with Vinny & The Butchers, and Phil Petroff’s Natural Fact. You can catch Lenny in action throughout Upstate NY with co-Fab570 bandmate Tom Hillenbrand in PrimeTime, the area’s hardest working band.
His amazing sense of metre and dynamics makes Lenny the only choice for this band. He replicates the legendary drum fills of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma”, Grand Funk’s “We’re An American Band”, and Three Dog Night’s “One Man Band” with incredible accuracy.
Jerry Crimmins
vocals, congas, tambourine, maracas, utica clubs
Jerry comes by way of Ilion, NY and for over a dozen years, his band “Nightwatch” was a fixture on the legendary ‘Thruway Circuit’ of the 1980′s, pulling double duty as drummer and vocalist. A record deal was in the making, but like so many talented musicians before, Nightwatch just couldn’t get that lucky break nationally. Eventually, Jerry settled back home in the Mohawk Valley to help with the family automotive repair business, but kept his hand in music all the while. Most recently, Jerry has been a vocalist/percussionist for “Big Krush”, led by Utica’s Grammy-nominated producer Bob Aquaviva (Boston) with The Fab 570′s Lenny Milano on drums.
You will be amazed with his incredible range on power pop classics like The Raspberries “Go All The Way”, The Faces’ “Stay With Me” and Grand Funk Railroad’s “Footstompin’ Music”. Jerry has the range that is ESSENTIAL to the success of a power pop band like The Fab 570.