Artist description We have our own blend of country-rocky top music. Refer to the bio to learn where we are coming from.

Music Style Country Rock with a hint of blues-grass

Musical Influences Grahm Parsons, Bird's, Led Zeppelin, Elvis, Dylan, Savoy brown, Buddy Rich, Tony Rice and many more

Artist History The roots of the Cosmic American Derelicts are shrouded in the drunken haze of yesteryear. It all started out, not so long ago, on a fateful day when a young Ed Rainey first picked up a guitar at the gentle age of three. His father Rich was quite a proficient banjo player, playing in various bluegrass festivals throughout the north and south. Ed would watch intently and strum along with his dad and his band. Before long Eddie would be playing with his father’s group as well as his own band. By the age of seven, he had started his first band, called The Bluegrass Hoppers, which included his brother and cousin. By the early 1980’s, Eddie had been bitten by the rock n roll bug. He soaked up all of the great guitar players of the day, Van Halen, Page, Vai and Rhodes. He put these influences together with his country influences to establish his own signature sound. By the time he graduated high school in 1990 he had been playing in a full time band and had gotten himself into Berkely School of Music in Boston. He graduated Berkeley in 1996. But the whole Berkely experience had left him dry to the music industry. He retreated back to his hometown of Bergenfield, N.J., where he teamed up with Brian Murray and a few fellow musicians to form Northern Comfort. Eddie had played and collaborated with Brian since 1987 and was in the band Backtalk with him. The Comfort boys sang four part harmonies and played honky tonk rock. They set the Jersey scene on fire with the inspired singing and playing but after just a few short years the band, after various personnel changes, was limping to its death in the fall of 1998. Toward the end of Norther Comfort’s run the band had hired a musician friend to play bass, George Kapitanellis. George was in a successful power blues band of his own called The Bleeding Hearts, which had one CD under its belt and was on their way to recording another. He filled in occasionally with Northern Comfort and would always bring Eddie and Brian up a notch with his enthusiasm. His friendship with Northern Comfort also went back to the 1980’s. He would always jam with the boys both privately and publicly. Brian had also filled in on occasion whenever the Bleeding Hearts keyboard player went on the road, which was quite often. After a few dozen gigs with George, Brian and Eddie soon realized that the dynamics of their band was changing. George had stirred them up and they knew that they had to move in another direction. But George was still fully booked with his band and the Comfort boys were also booked fully, making lots of money doing cover material. After their original drummer left the band, the band stopped playing original music and concentrated on making money in the lucrative jersey bar circuit. One day Brian, George and fellow guitarist Mike Corr, another mutual friend, were sitting at the bar talking about music when they came up with the idea of forming a super group to showcase Brian’s tunes, which in Comforts latter days were relegated to very few shows, and play some fun cover songs as well. Brian quickly came up with the name The Derelicts which he had gotten from a George quote about the band’s friends. Thus with a new scheme and name the band also recruited George’s brother Galinos (Gal) on drums, Sotiri Karlis percussion, they both had played with George and Mike in various blues bands. Joe Wilkenson, from The Bleeding Hearts, also joined in on Guitar. Eddie could not play the first two gigs because of prior commitments but jumped on board by August of 1998 when Mike left due to health reasons. The band debuted in June of 1998. Joe dropped out by the winter of 1998 and Gal Kapitanellis also parted ways, leaving the band a four piece. Sotiri Karlis had made his presence as the band’s drummer. But the band was still only playing once in a while because the boys were still playing in their own bands. As fate would have it, one-third of The Bleeding Hearts was chosen to tour Europe as a backup unit to BMG Artist Neil Casal. Thus with the Bleeding Hearts at a standstill George dove head long into his secondary project. By the time the rest of the Bleeding Hearts came off of touring, their CD was a year old. Their vibe was also torn, internal disputes and bad judgment quickened their demise. By December 1998 the band had called it quits. George was really bummed out but took solace in the fact that he was still playing with Comfort and was booking The Derelicts more and more. Northern Comfort played their final show in January of 1999. All that was left was The Derelicts. The band played relentlessly honing their chops writing songs and releasing a full length CD in the late winter of 2000. All it took was dedication, hardwork and friendship; to form the Cosmic American Derelicts. The new name came about when someone contacted the band to tell them that he had trademarked The Derelicts. So the boys took the moniker Cosmic American, from their hero Graham Parsons and connected it with Derelicts which is their essence. That’s our story for now, but it is always changing. So come on out and help us make history. Come and groove to the righteous rock n roll, that has been burning up every bar and honky tonk in the tri-state area. The band is in pre-production, readying themselves for another CD, tentative date Winter 2001. They play regularly 6-8 times monthly and are attempting to double that amount and expand their playing to include the whole northeast. We would love to hear from you our fans. Any questions or comments call us at 201-387-6008 or email us at myderelicts.com.Rock n roll lives.

Group Members Brian Murray Ed Rainey Sotiri Karlis George Kapitanellis

Instruments guitar, drums, bass, rhythm guitar, vocals, dobros, tenor guitar

Albums Cosmic American Derelicts :-Self Titled

Location Bergenfield, NJ - USA

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