Red Hot and the Saltines
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A local San Francisco Bay Area Band, Red Hot and the Saltines have been playing up and down the Peninsula since late 2020. With high energy performances, the Saltines get audiences up dancing and singing along to their selection of Classic Rock ‘n Roll tunes. Their songs include a wide variety that everyone knows, and not every other band out there is playing. Songs that gets stuck in your EAR!!!
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Our Story
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What is the story behind Red Hot and the Saltines you ask? Who is Red Hot anyway? What is a Saltine? Behind every band name there is a silly story and RHS is no exception.
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In September 2016, Jeanene and Todd decided to form a duet and learn a couple of songs to perform at a private party. Jeanene’s hair being “flaming” red and Todd having some “salt and pepper” on top, they decided to jokingly name the duet Red Hot and Salty. Although Jeanene and Todd played in another band together for many years (Two Week Streak), only a handful of times did Red Hot and Salty perform as a duet.
Years later in November 2020, Jeanene heard that the Beach Hut Deli in San Mateo was looking for unplugged acoustic entertainment. Jeanene pitched the idea to Todd to revive Red Hot and Salty!
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On November 15, 2020, Red Hot and Salty perform at the Beach Hut Deli for the first time. After a few more appearances, Todd’s good friend Andy Heller offered to play drums. Now was the dilemma....what to call the trio? Well, being that Andy also had some "salt" on top, it only made sense to turn the "Salty" into "Saltines". That's when the band changed the name to Red Hot and the Saltines.
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Next the Saltines added the talented bass player, John McManus. Both John and Andy added many great ideas for awesome songs that fit within our classic rock/pop genre.
For the next year and throughout 2021, Red Hot and the Saltines continued to play at the Beach Hut Deli along with other venues including American Legion (both Half Moon Bay and San Mateo), Chit Chat Café in Pacifica, Winters in Pacifica, Freewheel Brewing Company in Redwood City, The Pioneer Saloon in Woodside, Los Altos First Fridays, Marvin Gardens in Belmont and various private parties.
In late 2021, The Saltines added solo-looping acoustic artist Rick Sanders as the Lead Guitar Player. Soon after, while playing the Los Altos First Fridays in December 2021, keyboard player David Gilmour introduced himself and turns out he was a friend of Rick's. So, in January 2022 the Saltines welcomed David Gilmour to the band (no, not Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour).
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In January 2023, Rick Sanders decided to pursue his solo career and while Rick still joins us from time to time, it was clear that the Saltines needed to find a permanent Lead Guitar player. In late January 2023, the Saltines welcomed our latest addition, Jimmy Cooke on Lead Guitar.
So, that’s the story of how we became Red Hot and the Saltines. A great group of musicians and more importantly, friends who really enjoy playing together and entertaining audiences. We’ll keep adding to our story and we hope if you’ve read all the way to the end, that you’ll become part of our story as well!