As a singer/songwriter, actor, composer and producer, Rob Kolar is a multi-tasking quadruple creative threat. The grandson of legendary British actor Robert Shaw — best known as Quint in Jaws, Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting and an Academy Award nominee for A Man for All Seasons — Kolar has several acting credits of his own in independent films and on television, including TBS’s The Detour, for which he also provides the score music.
Kolar has also been involved with a couple high-profile projects, most notably the acclaimed Rockabilly/Glam Folk outfit He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister, with his sister Rachel and his wife Lauren Brown, and his latest creation, a Blues/Glam/Pop/New Wave mash-up duo with Brown called KOLARS. In this configuration, Kolar sings and plays guitar, with occasional forays into keyboard sampling and manipulation, while Brown replicates her full body-slam approach to rhythm, occasionally beefing up the beat by tap dancing on the bass drum that serves as her soapbox while playing a stand-up kit.
A quick perusal of YouTube reveals a wildly evocative twosome that feels at home translating covers from a broad musical spectrum as well as peeling off originals that draw on the last half century of musical influence. KOLARS turns the oft-visited “Mystery Train” into a bloodcurdling rave-up, crosses buzzy Glam with Blues grit and anthemic Rock melodicism to great effect on “One More Thrill” and makes shimmery 21st-century Dance Blues on “Beyond the World of Man.”
So far, Kolar and Brown have resisted the temptation to chain themselves to a label deal by coming up with a fairly amazing alternative. Rather than press CDs or offer downloads, KOLARS has loaded up 15 tracks, a few bonus tunes, music videos and other goodies onto a USB thumb drive for a reasonable cost through its web site (kolarsband.com). For a band that’s been up and running for less than a year, KOLARS has already rattled an impressive number of cages with its self-described Desert Disco/Glamabilly/Space Blues/R&Beyond. There’s plenty of room on the KOLARS bandwagon; reserve your spot now.
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This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 5, 2017.
