Sly Boots: Bad News Walkin'

Sly Boots was formed in York, Pennsylvania, in 1987 by drummer Rick Kunkel and bassist Mark Phillip Wagaman. Living in the same neighborhood and jamming frequently they soon decided to add guitarist Mike Shope, who had just returned from a nationwide tour with Baltimore, MD based band Strong Arm. For a short time they called themselves Top Cat. By early 1988 the pair added guitarist Mike Kunkle, and lead vocalist Erik Brenner to the line-up. The band began playing original musical shows in Eastern Pennsylvania.

In the fall of 1989, the band changed their name to Sly Boots and added Terry Cole as the new lead vocalist and frontman. The band entered PA studio (Soundworks Studio, Hanover, PA) and recorded “Da Bootsleg EP”. Countless hours of practice and numerous gigs helped the band to perfect their “A” game which in turn helped Sly Boots to get noticed by major studio manager Richard “Vance” Van Horn who ran the commercial Sheffield Studios (Sheffield Audio/Video) in Phoenix, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. This connection then led the band to being introduced to producer Rob Stevens of One Stone Productions, New York, New York. Sly Boots would enter Sheffield Studios and over the next eighteen months recorded three releases with Stevens as producer: “Three of a Kind” EP, “The Cassingle” EP, and the single track “Dead on the Money”. Things were moving along smoothly and it seemed as if Sly Boots were making all the right connections to climb that big ladder in the sky to a major label record deal.

1991 was a banner year and with the success of power ballad “Cry for You”, Sly Boots would go on to win the 1991 Coor’s Light Pennsylvania Battle of the bands; this victory moved Sly Boots to headline status in numerous venues from Baltimore and Washington DC, to the South New Jersey club circuit, to numerous cities and towns throughout Pennsylvania. This raised the bands game and media coverage would follow suit. Sly Boots was featured on the cover of Pennsylvania Musician Magazine, and had positive reviews in numerous national and international music magazines such as Metal Edge, Metal Forces UK, NYC Village Voice, East Coast Rocker, RIP, Maryland Musician, and Kerrang! UK, amongst a host of many others.

The success of the attendance at Sly Boots shows along with word-of-mouth praise, local radio airplay, and through the help of printed blurbs allowed the band to earn gigs at numerous venues on the east coast including clubs like the famed CBGB’s in New York City, The Ritz, NYC, Kenny’s Castaways, NYC, The Rock Palace, Staten Island, NY, The Cell Block, Amblerville (Philadelphia) PA, Bonnies Roxx!, Atco, NJ, The Galaxy, Philadelphia, PA, Hammerjack’s, Baltimore MD, The Bayou, Washington, DC, Manny’s, Rockville, MD, Wilmer’s Park, Brandywine, MD, The Network, Pasadena (Baltimore) MD, Swizzles, York, PA, The Metron, Harrisburg, PA, amongst others including outdoor festivals.

And…so the story is often told – the music scene was growing restless, a cookie-cutter blueprint was being used to sign almost anyone with big hair and a heart-wrenching power ballad, and unbeknownst to many… the scene was soon to come crumbling down thanks to…NEVERMIND.

Sly Boots disbanded in the fall of 1992, with each member moving on to form other projects. Vocalist Terry Cole moved to Great Britain and became the lead vocalist for Heaven & Earth, a British arena rock band, which was produced by David Richards, who recorded the last eight Queen albums. Interestingly, Cole was the first person asked to record with Freddy Mercury’s personal vocal microphone since his passing in 1991.The group released the power ballad single “Victim of Love” which was recorded and released through Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland to the UK and Japanese markets. Cole returned to America in 1997 and was signed to Longevity Records and worked extensively with Producer Ernesto Phillips until the producer’s untimely death from a massive stroke in 2004. Cole joined The Sharkadelics sponsored internationally by Jaegermeister and had a successful 10 year run as a full-time working musician in North Carolina from 2002-2012, logging over 2500 live shows and sharing the stage with numerous national acts such as ZZ Top, REO Speedwagon, Stone Temple Pilots, Brett Michaels, Hinder, Saving Abel, My Darkest Days, and Rehab.

In 2013, Sly Boots was observed via You Tube by FnA Records (Nashville, TN) A&R Rep Justin Loretangeli, who in turn contacted vocalist Terry Cole. This led to a new record deal and a full-length release for 2014. The album “Bad News Walkin” contains 11 studio tracks and is available through various media outlets including Amazon, CD Baby, Ebay, and through the FnA Records website at: (www.fnarecords.net).