Crash Kelly

In 2002, Toronto-based session player Sean Kelly launched Crash Kelly. A committed enthusiast of pop-inflected '70s hard rock acts including Cheap Trick, Kiss, and Alice Cooper, Kelly also positioned himself as a steadfast adherent to English glam icon Marc Bolan. He modeled the band chiefly after Bolan's famed T. Rex, recruiting Allister Thompson as second guitarist, Jeff Pearce on bass, and Eric Herrmann on drums. The group then issued its self-financed debut, Penny Pills, in 2003. Steady road work throughout the U.S. and Canada followed, prompting L.A. label Liquor and Poker Music to re-release the album and secure the band for its next effort, 2006's Electric Satisfaction.