The Red Light Saints are coming.
Chad Crabtree, vocalist for the Nepean band, Red Light Saints, belts out a tune at the SuperEx on Aug. 22 when the band opened for Helix.
Jennifer McIntosh
The saints are coming – the Red Light Saints that is.
A Nepean band is feeling like they’re on the up and up.
The band originally started as a jam band called The Middle
Fingers with Chad Crabtree on vocals and Johnny Bell on guitar as original
members. Bell
and Crabtree found each other through the internet and decided to try each
other out.
“It was like a musical first date,” Bell said.
There are four members currently in the band: Chad Crabtree,
vocals and guitar; Johnny Bell guitar; Humbe Fernadz, bass and vocals; and Dan
Pichette, drums and vocals.
It wasn’t until 2006 that the band decided to become more
professional starting with a name change.
“Any band trying to find a name will tell you that it’s a
tough process,” Crabtree said. “We started with a long lengthy list of names —
most of them completely inappropriate — and Red Light Saints stuck out the
most. It had that balance of the dark and the light.”
Right now the band is preparing for another stab at the Big
Money Shot put on by a local radio station. Before being allowed to compete,
the group is attending rigorous workshops hosted by the station to prepare them
for the reality of show business – it’s about more than just the music.
Last time the band competed in the contest in 2008, they
were eliminated in an early round but made a comeback as the wild card – a band
that’s voted back by popularity – earning the group $2,000.
Initially the money was supposed to go towards funding a
tour, but due to shuffles within the band, the money was spent on new equipment
to upgrade the band’s sound.
“We lost our bass player at the time so we spent the money
on pimpin’ gear instead,” Crabtree said. “We couldn’t be happier.”
That’s when Fernandz came into the band in 2009.
Fernandz was a firmly established musician in Cuba and his
band mates fondly refer to him as “a certified Cuban pop star.”
Both Bell
and Crabtree attribute a large part of the band’s current success to the
addition of Fernandz, who they found through the internet and almost didn’t
interview.
“We were looking for a bass player for eight months,”
Crabtree said. “At first I almost brushed him off but then decided to give him
a chance ... he was touring for years and years, he was a real pro.”
Up next for the band is opening for Helix at this year’s
SuperEx happening Aug. 19 to 29.
RLS are planning a tour around the college and university
circuit this fall to promote their new EP.
Following that release will be an acoustic album meant to
accompany the EP.
RLS said to keep your ears open for big news from them in
the spring, but for now they’re keeping mum.