This home grown Chicago rock n roll band began in the summer of 2010 when Ronald Repple and Jason Donnelly decided to mingle their talents to create an ambitious, self produced recording project: Ronnie and the Puzzle.
As a young teen Ronnie was obsessed with polished pop rock, the meticulously arranged melodies of the Beatles, and the gritty hard driving rock n roll of the Rolling Stones. Focusing on musicianship, he relentlessly pushed his craft, becoming an aficionado on drums, bass, guitar, vocals, as well as a prolific composer. Ronnie puts these talents to full use in the studio. The new record "With The Goofs" is a cohesion of these past influences taken a step further, creating a pop driven sound that stands on its own.
About The Band
This home grown Chicago rock n roll band began in the summer of 2010 when Ronald Repple and Jason Donnelly decided to mingle their talents to create an ambitious, self produced recording project: Ronnie and the Puzzle.
Jason and Ronnie go way back. The two met in 1988 in High School in Franklin Park IL., where they performed in choir and plays. Their first songs were recorded in Jason's apartment on a four track cassette recorder.
As a young teen Ronnie was obsessed with polished pop rock, the meticulously arranged melodies of the Beatles, and the gritty hard driving rock n roll of the Rolling Stones. Focusing on musicianship, he relentlessly pushed his craft, becoming an aficionado on drums, bass, guitar, vocals, as well as a prolific composer. Ronnie puts these talents to full use in the studio. The new record "With The Goofs" is a cohesion of these past influences taken a step further, creating a pop driven sound that stands on its own.
Live, Ronnie maintains center stage as lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Bringing in compatible musicians, Ronnie has pieced together a band that is a solid lineup of multi-instrumentalists, allowing for an always changing rotation on stage. Ronnie produced his first solo record, Ramron in 2007. A few of the Ramron songs carry over into his present set. Including the playful, "Pluto is not a Planet" a light hearted science fiction, crowd favorite.
Jason, also known as DJ Puzzle, is a music producer and DJ, known for his production work for Sony's ACID DJ software and for his company, Peace Love Productions. He has released his music on his own label, Solar Sound Records and can be found on iTunes and other popular music sites. Jason has published Ronnie And The Puzzle under his publishing company, Music Design by Jason Inc. On stage Jason gets to have live fun, playing congas, bass and singing.
A major contributor to the group's sound is the lead guitarist, Derek Gundersen, who also met Ronnie and Jason in 1988 and played with them in the band, Roadside Sketches in 1993. Derek and Ronnie have collaborated in a number of bands including The Screans and the New Randys and are currently in the power trio, Odd Shaped Pieces. Formed in 2007 with Ronnie on drums, Derek on lead guitar and Josh Hines on bass, with all band members singing. Odd Shaped Pieces has also just emerged from the studio and will release a record this year. In January 2011 Josh (Rufus Pablo, Missile, The New Randys), began frequenting the stage as bass player, singer and sometimes drummer.
Robin Crawford (Royal Brown and High Anxiety) is featured on cello and bass, deftly adding beautiful layers of lyrical strings, rhythmical interpretations, and lush harmonies. Another important piece of the puzzle is vocalist Troy Morris (Tallulah, Eyeball Descending). Troy and Ronnie's symbiotic tuning brings the edgy poignant lyrics to the fore, pleasing to the ear, hook after hook.
The band is playing in the Chicago area on a regular basis and while the new record is to be released soon, they plan to head back into the studio immediately.