About Calabrese
Calabrese is an American rock band that is based out of Phoenix, Arizona. The band originally consisted of three faux brothers; bassist/vocalist Jimmy Calabrese, guitarist/vocalist Bobby Calabrese and drummer Davey Calabrese. In 2022 Jimmy left the band and was subsequently replaced by Argyle Goolsby, best known as the frontman of Blitzkid. Calabrese has been described as "Melodic, hook-laden, catchy, fun, Rock with a Punk attitude”. They have cited other bands such as the Damned, Alkaline Trio, Black Flag, Black Sabbath, Turbonegro, the Misfits, the Hives, White Zombie/Rob Zombie, AFI, Danzig, Type O Negative, and the Ramones as influences.
The three “brothers” were originally raised in the rural town of Antioch, Illinois in a large family of Italian American heritage. Jimmy Calabrese, the oldest of the trio, developed a fascination with horror and fictional monsters at an early age through a friend. Jimmy recalled in his blog how after the violent suicide of a local boy, paranormal activity was witnessed and investigated by him and a group of friends via the use of a ouija board. Afterward, their house was supposedly haunted, plagued by a foul smell, and had a demonic figure appear in a door. The hauntings reportedly stopped after the family moved to Arizona. Through Jimmy, Bobby was introduced to punk rock, metal and rock and roll music.
The two brothers both played bass and were separately active in a handful of local bands. In 2002, after completing film school at Columbia College, Jimmy decided the two should form their own band. Bobby switched to guitar and the two recruited the then sixteen-year-old Davey Calabrese, their youngest brother, to play drums.
On May 13, 2022 an announcement from Jimmy Calabrese stated he had left the band to retire. On 14th of April 2024 the band announced that Argyle Goolsby was joining the band.
In 2003, the band self-released the EP, "Midnight Spookshow". The EP received positive reviews from underground and indie publications from around the world. Michigan-area artist Tony O'Farell was hired to do the artwork. Aaron Carey recorded the "Midnight Spookshow" EP at Studio Z in Phoenix Arizona. The EP was mastered by Andrew Davenport at Edgeworth Studios, New Zealand, making this a truly international affair from the start.
Though retaining their original punk rock sound, "13 Halloweens" displayed a foray into a more professional quality for the band that includes catchy melodies, AFI-like wails, heavier bass and drums. Canadian artist Andrew Barr was hired for the album's artwork. A music video for "Backseat of my Hearse" was directed by local filmmaker J.D. Smith. Subsequently, the band was approached by several indie labels, including an exclusive deal with Antidote Records. The band declined the offers and instead decided to again self-release their first full-length album through their recently created record label, Spookshow Records. For the title, the band held a contest to name their next album. The winning title was "13 Halloweens," sent in by Tempe fan Kurt Havelock under the name Nil Failstorm.
One year later the band released their second full-length album, The Traveling Vampire Show. The album features the artwork of Tom Bagley and Andrew Barr. The Traveling Vampire Show continued the sound of 13 Halloweens in many ways and explored in more detail the topics of the paranormal, vampirism, and the occult.
Map & Directions To Venue
