Band Bio

Judge Roughneck initially began as a hobby for former leader of the Jonez, Byron Shaw. Shaw started making calls in January, 1995, while working on his first solo album.

It started with a call to trumpeter, Rolf Reitzig, whom Shaw referred to as "a rude boy from way back." After some more calls, and a promise of making $50 a night playing ska, the rest of the original members were soon formed: Byron Shaw (vocals, percussion, melodica), trumpeter Rolf Reitzig(formerly of The Crazy 8's), saxophonist Jon Hegel(formerly of Street Choir and Bucket), drummer Kenny James, Chris Reidy(formerly of Chatterbox and Wretched Refuge), whose persistence won him guitar over bass player and C.D. producer Kyle Jones.

Shaw stated that it didn't matter if members had never even heard of ska before - "I just wanted cats who could play, and I knew they could."

With such strong talent, Judge moved its way into the Denver club scene. Their unique take on ska, ranging from jazz, heavy metal, and reggae, has served to capture fans both young and old. Judges broad form of ska, has also brought about some criticism, especially from former Denver-based paper, 'The Hooligan.' The paper stated that Judge Roughneck's broad music was nothing more than a "money making scheme," a statement the band heatedly disagrees with.

Fortunately, this review did nothing to discourage Judge Roughneck, in fact the band took it more as a challenge, to perform better, and to take the band as far as they could. Soon, with compositions contributed by bandmembers, Judge put together their first C.D., "Rude One's Money Making Scheme".

The bands popularity has been growing since the beginning. Judge Roughneck has been asked to play Red Rocks for Reggae on the Rocks at both the 1995 and 1996 concerts, a main-stage performance at the LoDo music festival, the 1997 Big Adventure at Fiddlers Green Amphitheater, touring with ska founders, The Skatalites, and recently, September 27, 1998, Judge won Best Colorado Ska/Reggae Band in the Westword Music Awards Showcase '98, and in November '98, Judge Roughneck will be performing at the Semi Finals of the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands.

Band members have since changed, JR now consist of musicians: Byron Shaw, Chris Reidy, Rolf Reitzig, Jon Hegel, Kyle Jones, new drummer Zach Pietlock, and new trombonist Dave Densmore. Judge is planning a release of a new EP highlighted by the song, "Skankin' Naked," which is described as being about "dancing naked in your house while you're listening to Judge Roughneck," which Shaw says, "I've done before." The disc is an entree to the longer-playing, "Rudy Dead, Rudy Dead and Gone," which should be completed early 1999.

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