Modern Times:
Over the past 23 years Bobby has performed solo and in several duet and trio arrangements. Bobby Rex and Steve Wall have performed hundreds of times together as the main duo you may have seen at Lovell's in Lake Forest, IL where they have been performing on various weekend nights (mostly Saturdays) since Oct 2004. The cover songs you hear on this site were perfomed by Bobby and Steve. Please contact us to play at your next event or party.
For the past 16 years the band, Biff and the Waybacks has been a 5-piece rock band with Bobby on guitar and vocals and are available for hire to perform upbeat party numbers and danceable favorites like Twistin' the Night Away, Up on Cripple Creek, and Jump, Jive, and Wail and songs by artists like Hootie and the Blowfish, Goo Goo Dolls, Gin Blossoms, Jimmy Buffett, Counting Crows, and Jack Johnson. Biff and the Waybacks are: Bobby Rex, Paul Allodi, Steve Wall, Herman Winkler, and Tom Malec on saxophone. See our myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/biffandthewaybacks for more info. In Dec 2007 Biff and the Waybacks had the pleasure to perform many songs on stage with Davey Jones of the Monkees and Martha Reeves at a private party held at Lovell's in Lake Forest, IL. Other honorary Waybacks (or subs) over the years have been great players like James Wayman on bass, Jon Johnson and Brian James on keys, Jeff Weber and Dave Levit on drums, and John Metzger on guitar and vocals.
The newest side project for Bobby and Steve is a band called Fifty Degrees in June with Ira Sussman on upright and electric basses. This band has featured Gregg Rodriguez on violin on occassion, and more recently David Harris on drums. This band covers some of the songs Bobby & Steve have already been playing as part of their sets with a few new tunes added, but with a fuller band feel. Music by unique artists such as Dave Van Ronk, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, and John Prine fit well with songs by classic artists like Tom Petty, Badfinger, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, and The Band done with this band's acoustic instrumentation. Fifty Degrees has performed at Norton's in Highland Park, IL and at various parties and private events in and around Chicago since 2009.
The Early Days:
As is the case with many a budding musician, Bobby had piano lessons as a child and started composing on piano at about age 10 in the styles of Ray Manzarek of the Doors with an affinity for the keyboard sounds of The Young Rascals and British rock groups such as The Animals, Yes, ELP, and The Moody Blues. At age 13 Bobby started playing acoustic and classical guitars and soon took to the electric guitar, a Teisco Del Ray to be exact. Bobby's early guitar based influences were Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Duanne Allman, Dickey Betts, Keith Richards, Brian Setzer, and Steve Howe. It was hard to avoid the FM stations blasting out UFO, Rush, Skynyrd, and the Outlaws back then too, all of which sunk in to the psyche. In 1983 when Stevie Ray Vaughan came on to the scene, Bobby at age 18 started singing lead vocals while playing guitar in the blues and rock and roll styles. The first band Bobby and chums Bob Boyle and Alex Mezny created in 1983 was called "Panacea" ala The Cure, another early musical influence.
The Men of Leisure was formed in 1985 and they performed a slew of oldies, classic rock songs, rockabilly, and country the likes of Elvis Presley, The Yardbirds, Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Stray Cats, Robert Palmer, Dire Straits, Randy Travis, and Dwight Yoakam with Bobby doing the majority of the vocals and lead guitar playing. Some original songs began to make way into live sets about this time too. With Uncle Pants and the Jetson Slacks another band with Bob Boyle on drums, and Chet Zarzecki on bass, more Motown, R&B, and alternative rock music was added with longer jams and experimental musical idioms woven into each set. Around this time other musical influences were r.e.m., U2, Violent Femmes, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Replacements, Elvis Costello, and other alternative rock acts of the mid 80s including some metal.
The Given was then formed with Gene Tenuta & Bob Boyle in 1987 and about 12 original songs were written. About a dozen shows were performed in Chicago in 1989 at venues like The Cubby Bear, Orphans, Thunderbirds, Connolley's, and PJ Flaherty's. Bobby also played bass for "The Remarks" in 1988, a mostly original 5 piece band and did gigs opening up for Three Dog Night in Hoffman Estates and Marshall Tucker at Biddy Mulligans near Evanston.
By 1990 Bobby started writing and performing alone more often having rediscovered Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Bobby played many of the Chicago folk clubs, bars, and open stages during these years including The Earle of Olde Town, Schuba's, the Clearwater Saloon, At the Tracks, the Gallery Cabaret, Heartland Cafe, Lottie's, the Blue Note, and the Abbey Pub to name but a few. Also by playing in the streets in Lincoln Park & around the Grant Park sidewalks Bobby was able to entertain various types of people while testing out new material & singing and strumming American songs to passersby. Besides doing solo gigs Bobby was a member of The New Foliage Trio with Dave D'Alessandro and Gary Gibula playing traditional bluegrass, folk, western swing, irish reels, and country music. Around this time Bobby also played guitar and sang with a band, or was it a troupe?, called the Angst Sisters.
In 1991 Bobby Rex and the Nomads was created and many original songs and unique covers were perfomed at various venues with many different players from the south, north, east, and west sides of Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Bobby's friend Paul Allodi was one of those original Rustic Nomads having met at Johnny's Back Room Lounge near Midway Airport where Bobby hosted both an open jam, as well as songwriter and poetry nights for 5 years. In 1994 and for a few years later Bobby also played with After the Fact a band with Leisha Fawn as leader. Bobby had the chance to meet and play with many more of Chicago's north side musicians like Buzz Killman, Tommy O'Brien, Bruce Illig, Jimmy Hughes, Pickles Picarski, Mark Zeus, Dave Allard, and Betsy Redhead during these years. Also in 1994 Bobby & Paul Allodi put together a band that the following year would be known as Biff and the Waybacks with Steve Wall on acoustic guitar and harmonicas, Myron Medwecki on drums and percussion, and Tommy Malec on saxes and flute. This 5 piece band continued until the death of Myron in 1998 and Herman Winkler joined on drums. Biff and the Waybacks continue to this day as a 5 piece rock and roll band with these same members! The band was also known as the North Shore Blues Brothers when Jon Johnson on keys, and Jeff Kempiak and friends were added to this show from 1998 to 2001. Also from 1994 to 2002 Bobby was the guitar player and background vocalist for the 6 piece band Montage based out of Streamwood who performed a dozen well received energetic shows in the area.
With a home music studio set up origianlly as a place to hone the craft of songwriting, Bobby has been able to score music for several sci-fi films, advertisements and logo music for film as well as other instrumental projects for hire from 1991 through to today.
