the Undecided in OC

You can visit our web site at...

We're a blues-rock outfit in Orange County, Ca., performing mostly as an opening act for nationals who are touring locally. We also do clubs, but we are moving away from doing the standard drudgery of a four-set/hour show when we appear in clubs. More typically, we'll arrange to have another band come in and share the stage for the evening and split the proceeds with them, which has worked out very well for us, and for the venues. It tends to bring in more people, and patrons get more show for their money. We charge a cover at the door, pay a sound man to make it sound pro, and the bands work half as much, and get paid as much or more, depending on how well you promote it. Our intent is to get this started in other clubs too, using our successes as incentive for them to change the way they operate.

the Undecided began in 1983 as The Deborah Rose Band, an off-shoot, born of the members from a few different bands, including a locally popular top 40 Whittier-based cover band called Mirkwood, and another very popular Orange County-based concert and cover band called Let's Eat. The Deborah Rose Band rose to popularity quickly, using the original Golden Bear Concert House in Huntington Beach, Ca. as their home base, showcasing their talents opening for nationally known acts, and alternatively headlining some of their own shows. The band featured Deborah Rose Novak on lead vocals and guitar, Bil Ruiz on lead guitar, John Sleeger on bass guitar, Bill McFadden on drums and Jim Jensen on keyboards. Bear owner, Rick Babiracki, supported the band fully in their endeavors, and was a favorite among the Golden Bear staff. The band performed their last of many sold-out shows there in 1986, prior to the closing of the original Golden Bear.

The Deborah Rose Band began looking to update its sound, and for new venues to peform in, and changed its name to Modern Shadows, and released an album under this name. However, with no record contract, and no distribution deal, the record only sold a few local copies to fans and followers. The band performed in a few clubs, did a local cable television appearance, and not long after Jim left the band to pursue more lucractive venues, and John followed to pursue his own interests soon after that. Debbie, Bil and Bill continued to perform together, joining with former Let's Eat bass player, Steve Hagar, and keyboardist, Tom Bellone. This band continued peforming small clubs and private parties, etc., until the mid-90's under the name Thick As Thieves, and the primary purpose of the venture was to have some fun and keep the chops up. Eventually, Steve moved from the area, and did the long commute off and on. He performed his last gig with the band in 1996. Steve then joined with Murietta-based Bluefish, formed along with former Let's Eat drummer, Roger Ellis, Ken Kaplan on keyboards and lead vocals, and Rob Miller on lead guitar.

Debbie, Bil and Bill re-formed and disbanded several times with various players looking to rekindle some of that lost magic, but it never came together again. Bil finally left what was left of the band around 2000-2001. Shortly thereafter, Bill and Debbie contacted John Sleeger on the long-shot chance that he might be interested in reforming the original band. John agreed, and this re-sparked Bil's interest in the project. The band was loosely reformed as a four-piece rockin'-blues band in 2001, and began rehearsing and working on a mix of cover songs and original material. Jim Jensen was approached about rejoining, however Jim was working on his own projects and declined, wishing everyone well just the same. A second guitar player, Dave Nelson, was added in place of the missing keyboards, and the band performed their debut gig on April 20th, 2002 as 'the Undecided' at the Blue Moon Saloon in Redondo Beach, Ca., along with The Kind, a Chino Hills-based band. The show was a big success, and gave the band a taste of what they could do in front of an audience.

After performing around the Orange County area at several local clubs including Bourbon Street in Tustin and The Press Box in Anaheim, the band was approached by their old friends from Let's Eat, and now in Bluefish, about doing a showcase show together at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, Ca. Bluefish, who had been doing numerous showcase gigs at the Coach House and The Galaxy Theatre opening for acts such as Edgar Winter, Ambrosia, Molly Hatchet, and many others, spoke to Coach House management about 'the Undecided' and on their say-so the band was included in a show with Wishbone Ash on August 23, 2003. The band out-sold their friends and promoters by nearly twice as many tickets, thereby pleasing management and also created a solid bond with many of the Coach House Staff through their friendliness and humor. Since then, the band has returned to the Coach House to share the stage with Billy Vera and The Beaters, Johnny Winter, and Terri Nunn & Berlin. Over two-hundred tickets were sold to the latter show before house management halted the band's continuing sales... house profits were beginning to be tapped, we suspect. Regardless, management could not have been happier, and once again the members of 'the Undecided' were finding a place on the same stage as the pros. On another very happy note, keyboardist, Tom Bellone, who had gone missing for a few years, had recently resurfaced and was present in the audience for the Johnny Winter show. He was asked that night to rejoin the band and attended rehearsals shortly thereafter. He was present for his new debut with the band for their sold-out show with Berlin and the sound of his Hammond B3, and his singing voice added an extra touch of special magic. Even Berlin's hardcore fans were very pleased with our show.

The band has also sought to give back to the community by participating in a couple of charity shows since reforming. On July 20, 2003, the band was honored to perform at the 1st Annual Body Art Expo, benefitting breast cancer survivors, at Los Angeles County's, Pomona Fairplex. And, on May 21, 2005, Debbie, Tom and Bill performed for The Art & Music Festival, to help heighten awareness about National Missing Children's Month, featuring actor-musician Ronnie Cox & Lisa Haley, Erin Runnion, Jannel Rap & the C Street Band, and Chris Paul Overall. We look forward to doing helping out with other charitable causes in the future!

Many great things are coming together for the band now. On September 9, 2005, we will add The Smithereens at the Coach House to our resume, and the following week we'll join up with Bluefish, and a Let's Eat Reunion for a show promoted by owner, Bobby Cee, at his Martini Blues Supperclub in Huntington Beach, Ca. In many ways, Bobby reminds us of our old friend and supporter, Rick Babiracki, from the Golden Bear. We look forward to a great relationship with Bobby Cee and the Martini Blues Staff in the future! And, there's more... we have recently gathered information on submitting press kits to the Assistant Talent Buyers for the Anaheim-House of Blues, and Vault 350 in Long Beach, Ca., about doing future shows in those venues, and today I was approached by a booking agent about performing at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach, Ca. Keep in touch, and stay tuned everyone... things are beginning to heat up real good!

We've done lots of shows opening for national acts, and we love it. We started out at the original Golden Bear Concert House (capacity approx 400) in Huntington Beach, Ca., in the early '80's. Many of the greats of the 70's and 80's played there, and the owner, Rick Babiracki, liked us and we had such great success as an opening act, that he sometimes made us the headliners. It was a thrill to show up there, and see lines of people stretching around the block to see you. Great times! These days, we do a few shows a year at another local Concert/Dinner House, The Coach House (capacity approx 540), in San Juan Capistrano, Ca. In September we opened for The Smithreens, which was a great show... the guys are not only cool rockers, but nice guys too. And, last March, we opened for Terri Nunn & Berlin at the same venue. We helped pack the house that night... in fact, the house cut us off after we sold over 200 tickets (I guess we were beginning to cut into the house profits). This show was probably one of our best ever, and Terri Nunn is such a nice lady... treats her fans really great! Some other shows we've done over the years are... Johnny Winter, Wishbone Ash, Billy Vera & The Beaters, Dwight Twilley, Canned Heat, Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers, and many more... see our web site for more info...

Oh wow.... there are really too many to list, as each of us have several favorites.... let's just say a great deal of the popular and underground music from the 50's through the 90's, but we're still listening! You can also check our web site's Band Bio page, and some of our influences are listed there at www.thesiteguy.com/theundecided

We have the basic stuff... I play a set of Yamaha Honey Amber Oak drums (two rack toms, two floor toms, large bass, and a Pearl snare)... my stands are DW and Pearl, and my cymbals are mostly Zildjian, with a couple of Paiste's and one off-brand crash. Our keyboard player, Tom Bellone, plays a 1958 Hammond B3 with Leslie cabinet, and uses my Roland keyboard amp for his Techtronix electrix piano. Deborah Novak, our singer, plays an electric-acoustic Ovation through a Music Man twin with two 12's, and our guitar player, Bill Ruiz, plays through a mid-sized Marshall and has an entire stable of guitars, which he uses per his mood. I know the least about our bass players rig (John Sleeger), which is ironic, isn't it? Most often he plays a Fender bass, but once in a while throws in a 5-stringer. He's solid as a rock, and you can feel it... and that's what counts! :)