Influenced by the upbeat, party rock n roll of the '80s (yet mixed with a refreshing soulful sound), Sacramento’s Red Voodoo are ready to take on the world with their debut single, “Rise Up”, produced by Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon.

Comprised of members Dino McCord (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Davin Loiler (guitar), Andrew Edwards (bass), and Nick Pesely (drums), the group is working on a full-length debut album – also under the guidance of Hannon.

Formed in 2018, Red Voodoo features the lead vocal skills of 17 year old Dino (who is influenced by Sam Cooke, Mark Farner of Grand Funk, and Otis Redding, thus bringing a very unusual vocal ability to a band of this age group), the band places a huge emphasis on quality vocals. This is also heard in the harmony backing vocals of Davin and Andrew to enhance the band’s sound. Nick’s drumming however leans more to the progressive influences of Neil Peart, and this brings a colorful melodic tom tom approach to his drumming which is also a rarity in today’s music.

Being fans of '80s music and local icons Tesla, Dino had heard about Frank’s skills as an engineer and producer of studio recordings from his father. As it turns out Frank had recorded demos for Dino’s father in local bands 30 years ago. Dino and his dad attended a Frank Hannon solo concert and Dino sat in to sing the Tesla classic “Getting Better”. The guys then discussed the idea of having Frank coach the band on songwriting and recording a debut single for Red Voodoo. Now the team is working on developing the band even further.

And concerning the composing of their lead-off song, the band explains its creation as, “We wrote ‘Rise Up’ to express our confusion and our feelings during this recent pandemic that turned the world upside down. With the Coronavirus COVID-19 affecting everyone in different ways, we wanted to have a message of hope for all human beings and make people feel better. We feel that music should be a positive uplifting experience and we hope this song will help anyone ‘Rise Up’ from feeling down.”

And what about the story behind the band’s name? “We heard the song ‘Red Voodoo’ by Sammy Hagar & The Waboritas. We thought it had a good ring to it for a band name. Even though Sammy may have his own meaning to the term ‘Red Voodoo’, for us it describes the magic of creating fun rock and roll music and the energy we put into it in during our live show. Red Voodoo prides ourselves in being a high energy live band in concert.”

Prior to the social distancing and lockdown of live concerts due to COVID-19, Red Voodoo had been performing regularly around the Northern California club scene and building a local following. Turning heads with their unusual talents for their age, nightclubs such as Holy Diver and Ace Of Spades were bringing the band in as direct support for national shows with Uli Jon Roth, Enuff Z’ Nuff, and Faster Pussycat.

For further details, visit Red Voodoo on Facebook.