Clearly one band just isn’t enough for multi-instrumentalist Brooks Wackerman.
The 35-year-old Long Beach resident is best known as full-time drummer for seminal punk band Bad Religion, yet he has several other projects underway, including anchoring both the Jack Black/Kyle Gass musical-comedy act Tenacious D and long-running Huntington Beach quartet the Vandals whenever their main time-keeper, Josh Freese, is busy with his other bands, be it A Perfect Circle, Devo or Weezer.
On top of all of that (and stepping in for studio session work as needed), Wackerman, above right, has his own group, Kidneys, for which he steps out from behind the kit to strum guitar and sing. He also writes all of the songs, and for the band’s 2008 debut, he played most of the instruments and recorded the effort on his own.
Now, bassist John Spiker (also with Tenacious D) and drummer Todd Henning (formerly of O.C. metal outfit Death by Stereo) have joined Wackerman for Kidneys’ latest release, Hold Your Fire, due April 10. The trio is celebrating with a release party at the Slidebar Rock-N-Roll Kitchen in downtown Fullerton this Friday, April 6, with support from another side outfit, the Kyle Gass Band.
