Asphalt Ballet is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band formed in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. Their style is rooted in

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

and incorporates elements of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

. The band's name was derived from descriptive terminology used to depict a motorcyclist, crashing and skidding along an

asphalt concrete Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and Tarmacadam, tarmac or bitumen macadam in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface road surface, roads ...

road at high speed. The band consists of vocalist Gary Jeffries, bassist Terry Phillips, drummer Mikki Kiner, and guitarists Danny Clarke and Julius J. Ulrich,

History

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

signed the band and released their self-titled debut album in 1991. Asphalt Ballet was crowned champion of Headbangers Ball with the video "Soul Survive" that remained unbeating going head to head with Ozzy Osbourne, The Cult, and others over a two month period. Unfortunately singer Gary Jeffries left the band due to personal problems in 1992. Their second album, ''

Pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

'', was released in 1993, with Tommy Dean on lead vocals. The band toured with Great White throughout 1993 in support of the "Pigs" record. All members are currently alive and well with talk of a possible 35 year reunion featuring all original members @ Sturgis in 2026. The self titled 1st album had two songs on the Charlie Sheen movie "Beyond the Law" and has always held close ties to the biker community. The band has plans to release a live record that was recorded in 1991@ Dallas City Limits in 1991 that has the entire 1st album and covers from the Doors (LA Woman) Blackfoot (Wishing Well) that captures the band at its best. Also recently discovered were 18 live concert videos from 1991-1993 that have never seen the light of day.

Membership

*Gary Jeffries – vocals. harmonica *Terry Phillips – bass, backing vocals *Julius Ulrich – guitar, backing vocals *Danny Clarke – guitar, backing vocals *Mikki Kiner – drums, backing vocals *Tommy Dean – vocals

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

References

{{Authority control American blues rock musical groups Hard rock musical groups from California Virgin Records artists