Motel Drive

Motel Drive came to life in 2008 and shot up screaming like a crazed Chevy Bel Air on a hot July night in California’s Central Valley. The ever persevering search by long-standing valley rocker JD Goodwin (Cacti Widders, Cole Fonseca, MoFo Party Band) for the right musicians to take his songs to the level where they could lift your soul or break your heart finally paid off in early 2009 as he turned his search back toward home and toward longtime friends and fellow musicians. The four-piece lineup that is now Motel Drive is comprised of exactly that, longtime friends and former band mates, and has solidified into a diligently focused powerhouse. Telecaster and Gretsch wielding guitarist Michael Monteiro (Crossing Caldwell, Stephanie Rolfo) blends deliciously with JD and his Gretsch mastery. In addition, Michael brings songwriting skills honed at the famed Guitar Institute in Hollywood. Add the steady slapping of Jake Finney (MoFo Party Band, Arsen Roulette, many others) and his upright bass and the solid drumming of Christopher “Rhinestone” Estep (The Suppressors, Darrin Stout, many others) together and you have the foundation upon which Motel Drive has risen to the top of the Central Valley scene.

The foursome have taken their electricity-filled live show to venues up and down the valley, from Bakersfield to Chico, out to the California coast, down to Pasadena, and even on up to the snow covered peak of Mt. Shasta. Premium venues such as The Cellar Door in Visalia and Audie’s Olympic Tavern in Fresno regularly host the band allowing them to play for their core following and best friends. Both venues even hosted CD release shows for Motel Drive. In early 2009, the band recorded a six-song EP, $5 Tricks. Truly, as the band warns on the label, the music does lift your soul and break your heart, fulfilling JD’s final search for the right band. Fan favorites “Drifter Blues” and “Plastic Dashboard Jesus” have both been featured on the podcast show Radio Free Bakersfield produced out of Seal Beach in southern California, and Straight Razor Records features “Plastic Dashboard Jesus” on their compilation Rebels of Rock ’N Roll Volume II, playing alongside The Chop Tops, Devil Makes Three, and others. Currently the band is finalizing tracks for a full-length album and hope to have it in their fans hands this coming September.

Proving themselves as a sight to see time and again, including winning the 2010 Fresno State Battle of the Bands, the local media has caught wind of the growing zephyr that is Motel Drive. Fresno Bee writer Mike Osegueda featured the band as “Artists You Should Know” in 7, the weekly entertainment magazine, raved over their performance at the re:FUSE Festival both online and in print, and recently named Motel Drive as a local band deserving attention. College radio station KFSR (CSU Fresno) and Monterey Bay Area radio station KPIG have both hosted the band for live in-studio sets streamed across the globe through the Web and have added $5 Tricks to the playlist. The band also made a live appearance on the KMPH-Fox local morning news show, Great Day. In addition, local broadcasters and net-casters Central Valley Talk Radio/TV hosted the band for a live video set.

Make no mistake about Motel Drive. They are soon to catch fire in the bigger city markets as they are booking shows up and down the California coast from Eureka to Long Beach, catching the attention of promoters in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as southern California. Motel Drive is truly your new favorite band!

Visit Motel Drive on MySpace, Facebook, and at home: http://www.moteldrive.com