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Holka, Rondinelli, and Aaronson

  • Abilene Bar & Lounge 153 Liberty Pole Way Rochester, NY, 14604 United States (map)

Doors 7pm, Music 8pm

Holka, Rondinelli, and Aaronson

Jamie Holka

Jamie Holka is a solo finger-style guitarist from Niagara Falls NY. His style incorporates many layers to assimilate bass, drums, chords and melody. Switching between a Gibson L-5 and a Maton Michael Fix model, he’s able to create quite a diverse sound.

Jamie studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and continued the study of jazz guitar long after his Berklee days. However, jazz is only a foundation for his multi-layered arrangements.

Jamie took 3rd place in the North American Rock Guitar Competition in 2006 and has been a support act for many classic artists such as Allan Holdsworth, Todd Rundgren, Michael McDonald, Steve Morse, Steve Miller, Little Feat, Kansas, Steve Kimoch, Adam Rafferty, and CCR. His arrangements span the likes of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Super Tramp, Toto, the Beatles, the Cars, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, the Bee Gee’s, the Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Boz Scaggs and many one hit wonders.

Jamie Holka truly is one of the busiest entertainers in New York state that many know little about. He stages well over two hundred performances annually, the majority of which are in upstate New York.

His album titled “The Gathering”. The Holka-Rondinelli debut studio album was released on June 6th, 2025.

Holka joined Captain Beyond in 2017, and toured as the band’s guitarist for several years. However, his outreach to drummer Bobby Rondinelli (Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Rainbow, Quiet Riot) was the true catalyst that brings his career front and center circa 2025.

It started out as an idea of Holka’s to locate an old school drummer. Colin Hart, the key crew member who was with Ritchie Blackmore for years, connected the two of them. Holka recalls: “I asked at first if he’d record a tune with me. Technology enabled us to collaborate, which led to our exploring Rondinelli producing in earnest. My partner Stephen Dillon committed the resources to begin collaborating, and with my being from Niagara Falls, and Bobby on Long Island, we were able to get together in the studio. It was easy from the start, and unfolded in a manner that was yielding exactly what we set out to accomplish. It felt prolific and great. It then turned in to a parade of folks I could have never imagined would make contributions to these recordings. Bobby really came through in opening those doors and bringing this cast of characters in to the fold”.

Rondinelli and Holka began a partnership at first to cut one new recording in the studio. The guitarist and his business partner Dillon of Segno Records, together with the projects Associate Executive Producer, Chris MacKenzie, green lit the interest to capture a complete album of new repertoire. Rondinelli’s vast network of friends and historic players that include Billy Sheehan, Don Airey, Jimmy Haslip, Danny Miranda, Kenny Aaronson, Mark Rivera, Mark Wood, and others on board to contribute performances.

https://www.facebook.com/jamie.holka/

www.facebook.com/Jamie-Holka

https://www.jamieholkamusic.com/

Bobby Rondinelli

Rock veteran Bobby Rondinelli has recorded and toured with legendary rock bands, including Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, and Leslie West, along with a long list of others. Bobby currently records and tours with German heavy metal rock guitarist Axel Rudi Pell. Bobby has also played and recorded with Leslie West, Micheal Shanker, Scorpions, Doro, Bonnie Tyler Quiet Riot, Aerosmith, Foghat to name a few.

Bobby is also a well-known and respected author and teacher. Along with Michael Lauren, Bobby co-authored the highly popular, “The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming,” one of Modern Drummer’s Top 25 books of all time. And when he’s not on the road, Bobby maintains an active teaching and recording and producing.

https://www.facebook.com/BobbyRondinelli

Kenny Arronson

Kenny Aaronson was born in Brooklyn, New York. He started playing drums at the age of eleven, following in his older brother's footsteps. Kenny switched to electric bass at the age 14 after becoming enamored by the low end of the bass on Motown records that he would hear on the jukeboxes in local pizza joints. To this day, he is still a huge James Jamerson fanatic. As a teenager, he played bass for Brooklyn based hard rock band Dust, which included Marc Bell (a.k.a. Marky Ramone), which released two albums in 1971 and '72 on the Kama Sutra label.  In 1973, Aaronson joined the New York band Stories, who's single,"Brother Louie", reached #1 on the Billboard, Cashbox and Record World charts.


Kenny Aaronson went on to become a recognized world-class rock and roll bassist with his extensive touring and recording with a variety of artists including Bob Dylan, Billy Idol,  Joan Jett, Billy Squier, Foghat, HSAS (Sammy Hagar, Neil Schon, Kenny Aaronson, Michael Shrieve), Brian Setzer, Mick Taylor, Dave Edmunds, Robert Gordon, Graham Parker, Hall and Oates, Edgar Winter, Leslie West Band, Rick Derringer, Corky Laing,  Carmine Appice and many more.
In 1988 Kenny was named Bassist of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine. Aaronson was also bassist in the house band for the MTV Guitar Greats Show where along with Dave Edmunds, Chuck Leavell and Michael Shrieve, he had the opportunity to back up artists as diverse as Steve Cropper, Brian Setzer, Lita Ford, Tony Iommi and Dave Gilmore. A few of Kenny's most memorable moments in his career were auditioning for the Rolling Stones, recording with George Harrison and opening for Led Zeppelin.
Kenny Aaronson has supported singer song writer John Eddie since 1996.   In the summer of 2011 he toured with the New York Dolls supporting Motley Crue and Poison in the US along with solo Dolls dates in Austarlia.  In the fall of 2011, the New York Dolls toured the U.K. supporting Alice Cooper.  Recently Kenny has played with  Philadelphia's "In The Pocket" (partners David Uosikkinen, Eric Bazilian, Tommy Conwell, Jeffrey Gaines, Soul Survivors, Jim Boggia, Ben Arnold, Cliff Hillis and other Philadelphia musicians).  Kenny has played with The Yardbirds since 2015 and will be touring with The Yardbirds in the Fall of 2020.  

https://www.kennyaaronson.com/home

Cover: $10 advance, $15 day of show and on sale now at https://abilene.showare.com and at the bar