Local band set to expand audience

Drivin' Rain has been a fixture on the Cape Girardeau heavy metal/hard rock scene since 1994, but now the band is setting its sights on a world stage.

The hair metal-influenced rockers recently signed a distribution contract with label Perris Records, which boasts such groups as L.A. Guns and Warrant, that will allow its music to be heard across the United States and overseas.

The deal is just the next logical step for a band that has become a regional act since its formation, playing throughout the Midwest from Minnesota to Kentucky.

"We hope to get out on the road now and get our music as far as we can," said frontman Timexx Nasty Rainwalker. Nasty and bandmates Tommy DeWolf (guitar), G.P. "Geep" Clark (drums) and the newest member Skully Shemwell (bass) have already gotten airplay in Europe and fans in Brazil, both places where a huge market exists for the kind of late-'70s and '80s era hard rock they play.

Drivin' Rain has had the chance to open for some big name acts in its time, such as Nazareth, Eddie Money, Steppenwolf and Molly Hatchet. Despite those gigs, Nasty said the band is still sweating it out with the hard work and determination of an indie band that craves success.

"It's been fun," said Nasty. "It's not made a lot of money but we're having a ball. We're poor kids anyway, and as long as we're having fun for free that's great."

The band's roots trace all the way back to 1983 and a common musical thread, said Nasty. DeWolf and Nasty met that year as they were camped outside the Show Me Center trying to get tickets to a concert by the original shock-rocker, Alice Cooper.

Over 20 years later, a higher profile for the hair metal style is bringing the band more exposure.

"We went through a long state in the late '90s when people hated us because we didn't sound like the grunge groups," said Nasty. "People didn't know why we didn't sound like the Seattle sound. But we stuck to our guns regardless of whether it was cool and popular.

"For a long time this style was the dirty secret nobody wanted to talk about."

Drivin' Rain built a following playing at biker rallies, metalfests in the area and local venues like The Pour House, Players and Breakaways.

With radio play in Europe and a fan-club operator in Brazil, going international might be the next step. Foreign markets are often the saving grace for many indie bands.

Drivin' Rain hopes to step into that market, possibly playing some of the overseas metalfests that draw tens of thousands of Europeans thirsty for authentic American rock.

The deal will also hook the band up with other American artists playing in other parts of the country, delivering opening slots for Drivin' Rain in markets outside the Midwest.

Shemwell, who joined the group in late 2002, said the band is going nowhere but up.

"Since I joined every step we've taken has been another step forward, and this is a good step for us," said Shemwell. "To finally have somebody like Perris Records helping us is great."

Even if the Perris deal doesn't deliver bigger and better things, said Nasty, the band will soldier on anyway.

"We don't intend to ever stop," he said. "Short of death nothing is going to stop us."

msanders@semissourian.com

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