About Me
HELLO, I'M CHI-CHI ROD, BORN RICHARD LOUIS RODRIGUEZ ON APRIL 3,1960 IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS TO ALBERT AND THE LATE ANN RODRIGUEZ. I HAVE ONE BROTHER, WHO I LOOKED UP TO THROUGHOUT MY EARLY YEARS OF GROWING UP. HE'S GONE ALSO. I HAVE BEEN MARRIED TWICE AND CURRENTLY SINGLE. I BEGAN PLAYING DRUMS AT THE AGE OF FOUR INFLUENCED BY MY LATE UNCLE, BERT MOJICA, WHO PLAYED FOR "THE PARAMOUNTS" IN THE LATE 50'S EARLY SIXTIES. I TAUGHT MYSELF HOW TO PLAY ON HIS 1957 LUDWIGS, I STILL HAVE THAT SET TODAY WHICH IS STORED AWAY FOR NOW. I ALSO BEGAN PLAYING GUITAR AT AGE EIGHT AND PICKED UP THE BASS IN HIGH SCHOOL AFTER MY GOOD FRIENDS, AND BASSISTS JOHN SKENDER OF (SUPERMERCADO) AND JESSE TOBIAS OF (RICO) SHOWED ME SOME AWESOME TECHNIQUES AND WITH SOME GOOD ADVISE FROM THEM , I PRACTICED ALOT. GUYS, YOUR HELP HAS BEEN GRATIFYING TO ME AND EXTREMELY APPRECIATED.
ENOUGH OF THAT,NOW ON TO THE DRUMS WHICH ARE MY MAIN THANG IN MUSIC. I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 42 YEARS. INFLUENCED BY MY UNCLE IN MY CHILDHOOD YEARS. I GOT INTO IT MORE IN MY EARLY TEENS PLAYING WITH HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES, CHUCK BLUM AND JOHN SKENDER. JOHN BONHAM, DRUMMER OF LED ZEPPELIN AND NEAL PEART, DRUMMER OF RUSH, WERE MY IDOLS AS I WAS GETTING OLDER SO MY STYLE OF DRUMMING IS A HARD HITTING POWERHOUSE WITH SPEED AND FINESSE. I LOVE THE BACKBEAT AND PLAY IT OFTEN. THERE ARE MANY OTHER DRUMMERS THAT INFLUENCED ME, LIKE RINGO STARR, LOUIS BELSOM, KEITH MOON, GINGER BAKER, TO NAME A FEW, BUT BONHAM AND PEART RATE AMONG MY TWO FAVORITES. I USED TO HAVE MANY INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DRUMMING AND DRUMMERS AND WHO WERE THE BEST DRUMMERS WITH MY HIGH SCHOOL BUDDY, GREGG POTTER OF (SUPERMERCADO). THANKS G.P. YOU ARE AWESOME DUDE HEY EVERYBODY, IF YOU WANT TO SEE A GREAT DRUMMER, PLEASE PEOPLE, CHECK OUT GREGG POTTER OF SUPERMERCADO. HE WILL AMAZE YOU WITH HIS UNIQUE STYLE OF PLAYING AND ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE GROUP,THESE GUYS RAWK HARD. CHECK OUT THERE WEB. (CLICK ON SUPERMERCADO PIC IN MY FRIENDS) O.K GUYS, I GOT UR PLUGS IN. IN THE LATE 70'S I PLAYED FOR "COPPER FUZZ". "TRYYAD" IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES, AND THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS WITH "LIFE OF RILEY". RILEY WAS A HOT ROCKIN ASS KICKIN IN YOUR FACE TYPE OF BAND, LED BY THE TALENTS OF NICK SANCHEZ ON VOCALS, JOE "JONES" KOPKE ON SMOKIN LEAD GUITARS, MYSELF ON THE DRUMS, KIETH KURZBAND ON RYTHUM/LEAD GUITARS, AND JULIAN PALACIOS ON BASS. I'VE PLAYED AND RECORDED WITH JIM PETEREK WHO WROTE 'VEHICLE' AND CO-WROTE 'EYE OF THE TIGER' AND MANY OTHER BIG HITS. I'VE SAT IN ON SESSIONS WITH MEMBERS OF STYX AND TONY LEWIS OF THE OUTFIELD. MET MANY BLUES PLAYERS FROM CHICAGO, LONNIE BROOKS, HIS SON, JUNIOR, AND BUDDY GUY TO NAME A FEW. I AM FOCUSING NOW ON MOVING UP TO THE FORE-FRONT AS LEAD RYTHMN GUITAR AND LEAD VOCALS FOR MY ROCKIN BLUES GROUP 'THE CHI-CHI ROD BAND'. I FEEL ITS A DIFFICULT TASK AFTER SPENDING MANY YEARS IN THE BACK PLAYING THE DRUMS. I AM CURRENTLY AUDITIONING MUSICIANS WHILE RECORDING MY FIRST C.D. AS A SOLO ARTIST PLAYING ALL THE INSTRUMENTS ON IT. I HOPE ALL MYSPACE FRIENDS LIKE IT. A REMAKE SONG A. MILLS WROTE,"GOING DOWN," WHICH JEFF BECK MADE FAMOUS,SO TO SPEAK, IS NOW LOADED, PLEASE GIVE IT A LISTEN. THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHECK ME OUT. REMEMBER MUSIC IS IMPORTANT FOR OUR SCHOOLS LETS KEEP IT GOING THROUGH "THE 'SAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION." TO MY THREE BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN, JORDAN, KEEP JAMMING UR DOING GREAT AS A DRUMMER AT YOUR AGE, BUT REMEMBER, SCHOOL IS VERY IMPORTANT TOO, ALEXIS KEEP UP WITH THOSE STRAIGHT A'S, U R THE BRAINS OF THE FAMILY AND I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IN WHATEVER YOU DO. TO MY VERY ATHLETIC SON ALAN, KEEP UP THE DEDICATION AMD HARD WORK, YOU BY FAR, WILL BE A FUTURE SPORT STAR SOMEDAY. YOU DO HAVE WHAT IT TAKES. AND TO EVERYONE THAT HAS SUPPORTED ME THROUGH THICK AND THIN, ITS BEEN A GREAT RIDE SO FAR, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, I LOVE YOU ALL, CIAO, CHI-CHI (Richie Rodriguez)-THE CHI-CHI ROD BAND
