Tramps Tuning Up for Reunion

The Cadillac Tramps ruled the Orange County grass-roots alterna-rock club scene during the early ‘90s. Now they’re back in the same boxcar again after four years apart, aiming to record and tour in hopes of fulfilling ambitions that were blunted in their first go-round.

The hard-driving band broke up in frustration early in 1995 after three albums of roots-based punk rock for the Orange County label Doctor Dream failed to propel it beyond a grueling and profitless grind of low-budget touring.

But the Tramps began rehearsing a month ago and will play comeback shows Feb. 26 at the Casbah in San Diego and Feb. 27 at the Roxy in West Hollywood.

Singer Mike “Gabby” Gaborno, guitarist Brian Coakley, bassist Warren Renfrow and drummer Spanky Barrios are back from the Tramps’ heyday; the other core member, guitarist Jonny Wickersham, turned down a chance to rejoin, opting instead to stay with U.S. Bombs, an Orange County punk band that records for the Hellcat/Epitaph label headed by Tim Armstrong of Rancid.

Taking his place is Mike Combs from the Los Angeles band Back Alley Gators. Mutual friends recommended Combs to the Tramps as a player who matched their style.

“With the Tramps, there was a certain tension that pushed all of us to our limits artistically,” said front man Gaborno, who made albums with X-Members and Manic Hispanic after the Tramps’ breakup. “I kind of needed that back, because I’d grown a bit bitter and bored. . . . The bitterness is not so much a jealousy thing, but you know there’s a lot of bands we helped out quite a bit; you hear them all over the place [now]. And I’m happy for them, but you wonder [what could have happened] if we hadn’t taken a break.”

Featuring a hefty beat that put a swampy bounce in the usual punk-rock rumble, and a withering, blues-tinged twin guitar attack that sounded like a punk successor to the Yardbirds, the Tramps were a club-packing draw on the local scene from 1990 to 1994, an era before the “Orange Curtain” parted and a succession of hit local bands emerged.

They were Doctor Dream’s biggest-selling band, reaching the 20,000 mark with their 1991 debut album. The Tramps headlined at the Hollywood Palace, sold out back-to-back nights at Bogart’s in Long Beach and were billed above the likes of Sublime.

Members of Pearl Jam took a liking to the Tramps and recruited them to open two shows in Canada in 1993.

But conflicts developed within the band.

Coakley left to focus on Rule 62, a side band he fronted that eventually recorded a strong but unsuccessful album for Maverick Records. Gaborno’s new band, X-Members, had a promising start after releasing a debut album on Priority Records, but the label suddenly dumped all its rock acts to concentrate on its bread and butter, rap. Renfrow landed in One Hit Wonder before dropping out of music during the last year. Barrios, who had been the third in a succession of four Tramps drummers, played in various bands, including the Joykiller.

Coakley refused to take part in the Tramps’ occasional reunion gigs until last year, when he agreed to play at a benefit at the Roxy for the Musicares drug-abuse assistance program, staged in memory of the Tramps’ former booking agent, Gabe Bloom. With Rule 62 disbanded, he continues to work on his own music but says the Tramps are now his top priority.

“One of the things I had against doing the reunion shows was that if we were going to work out our differences [and play together], it was going to have to be real and not just for the money. When you have a certain kind of legacy, it’s important to live up to that.”

After about a half-dozen rehearsals, Coakley thinks the Tramps are on their way: “At first it didn’t sound like the Cadillac Tramps and I was wondering if we’d be able to do this. . . . [Now] everyone’s wanting to give it a full go.”

Doctor Dream put out a news release announcing that it would issue a new Cadillac Tramps album in July. But both parties now say that negotiations are still underway.

“It’s up in the air now; it could go either way,” said Maurice Torres, label manager for Doctor Dream, which has changed ownership since the Tramps’ tenure and is now a major-label affiliate funded by Mercury Records. “The Tramps weren’t happy about some things toward the end of their time here on Doctor Dream. We want to let them know it’s a new label.”

Gaborno, whose humorous side band, Manic Hispanic, will put out its second album on Doctor Dream this spring, says one trademark element besides Wickersham is gone from the Tramps’ arsenal: namely, the blubbery mound of stomach flab he used to shake at audiences.

“I’ve been concentrating on health quite a bit the last year. I’ve dropped about 40 pounds. When I go to grab the belly, there’s not too much belly to grab anymore. The belly’s retired.”

INDUSTRY SHAKEUP: Meanwhile, at Doctor Dream, the earthquake that hit the record industry last week is having repercussions. Torres said the Huntington Beach-based company, which is Orange County’s longest-running alterna-rock label, has pushed back the release dates for albums by Manic Hispanic and Los Infernos until the aftershocks have died down from Seagram Co.’s restructuring of its music holdings, which led to 500 layoffs at several labels, including Mercury Records.

“We’re OK, but everybody we dealt with [at Mercury] on a day-to-day basis is gone. They’ve been fired,” Torres said. “People are taking over new positions. It’s [a matter of] establishing relationships and getting to know what they’re going to do.”

Torres said the two albums will come out in May, about two months later than previously planned.

SUBLIME BIOGRAPHY: Attention, Sublime fans: Brad Nowell will be the subject of the Feb. 16 episode of BIOrhythm, a weekly celebrity-biography series on MTV. Showtime is 10:30 p.m.

CHRISTIAN MUSIC SHOWCASE: Crystal Lewis, the contemporary Christian singer from Newport Beach, is a nominee for Female Vocalist of the Year in the 30th annual Dove Awards, the Christian music showcase set for March 24 in Nashville. Lewis, who scored in 1998 with a fine album, “Gold,” is the defending champ in the category, where her competitors are Jennifer Knapp, Rebecca St. James, Kathy Troccoli and Jaci Velasquez. Lewis also has a stake in this year’s Grammy Awards competition: Along with Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly and U2’s Bono, she was a guest vocalist on Kirk Franklin’s “Lean on Me,” a Grammy contender in the Song of the Year and R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group categories.

The Orange County Supertones also are in the Dove running, albeit tangentially, for their guest appearance on Audio Adrenaline’s song “Blitz,” a nominee as Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year. And former Orange County resident Bob Carlisle (of “Butterfly Kisses” fame) is a Dove nominee as Male Vocalist of the Year and for Song of the Year (“We Fall Down”).

W.C. HANDY AWARDS: Over in the blues world, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, the Riverside band that regularly headlines in Orange County, is once again nominated for several W.C. Handy Awards. Piazza is a nominee for Entertainer of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year on harmonica; his wife and bandmate, Honey Piazza, is a contender for Instrumentalist of the Year on keyboards, and Piazza and the Mighty Flyers are nominees for Blues Band of the Year. Handy ceremonies take place May 27 in Memphis. The Tone Cool/Rounder label has announced a March 2 release date for the band’s new album, “Here and Now.”