About Us

VOCALS/HAND PERCUSSION 

Kathy was practically born with a mic in her hand and the stage beckoned her early in life.  At age sixteen she joined a local Christian rock band and toured colleges throughout the Seattle area.  Looking back, she wishes she would have picked up the guitar along the way.  While raising her family and nurturing her career, she was able to indulge in the local karaoke bars and win an occasional competition. Ten years ago, her talent as a back-up singer with local workplace group Disregarded Entity quickly evolved in her becoming the band’s lead vocalist.  Her trio, Titusville Station, was born from that venture along with opportunities to play with other great local artists.  She created Party of 5 with musical friends along the way, as well as arranging “wedding bands” for private events.  Each show brings new excitement and the friendships that are made along the way are priceless.  There is nothing like being part of the music on stage while sharing with an audience.

     “I am Hooked for Life. Come Dance with Me!”

ELECTRIC & ACOUSTIC GUITARS/VOCALS

Growing up in the San Francisco bay area, Chris doesn’t remember a time when there wasn’t a radio in close proximity tuned to iconic AM stations KYA and KFRC. This was the 1960’s and his daily exposure to the “top 40 hits of the day” led to an obsession with guitar and bass playing. Early influences were many, including James Jamerson, Freddie King, and Jimi Hendrix. With the encouragement of music teacher Charles Perkins, a former big band leader and trumpeter with Harry James, Chris joined the musician’s union while in high school and played numerous casual gigs in the Sacramento area. The next stop was with Landus, a busy four-piece rock group that performed in the clubs of Sacramento and throughout northern California. After an extended break, Chris returned to music in the 1990’s as a member of the sax and Hammond B-3-driven band Hippology. Following this was a stint in the band of Seattle blues legend Dick Powell. Wanting to get back on guitar Chris landed an extended engagement with The Paperback Riders, a cover group that transitioned into Party of Five with Kathy Rad on vocals. In his current musical home, The Ante Up Band, Chris has found kinship with a fun and talented group of performers who combine a solid rock foundation, sweet vocals, and a bit of country twang. 

 GUITAR, SYNTH, VOCALS
Dave has been playing music since childhood, at first learning to play folk guitar. Inspired by the Beatles and other bands of the ‘60s, Dave quickly transitioned to rock ‘n roll and country rock. He played in his first band as a teen and was hooked right away on the energy created by playing live music with other musicians. He has been playing in bands in the Seattle area ever since.

Since 2009, Dave has been the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Blue Lizard Band, playing at venues and summer festivals all over the Puget Sound region. Past bands include the Rasters, Seven Times Blue, and The New Flamingos, just to name a few. Dave has also gigged with the Linda Carroll Band, Loose Gravel & New Roads, and has filled in on guitar for the Rain City Time Machine.

Besides guitar and vocals, Dave is also proficient on the bass guitar and mandolin, and adds additional dimension to the Ante Up Band with a Roland GR-55 digital guitar synthesizer, adding strings, keys and horns to the band's sound.

When not gigging with Ante Up or Blue Liz, Dave spends his spare time as a space systems EME engineer for a local aerospace firm.

Dave is very jazzed to be a part of the Ante Up Band.

 BASS & VOCALS

Starting his early years as an Army brat, John has lived in many places. The one constant in these moves to different military bases was his love of music. Some of his earliest memories are listening to his older brothers practicing in their rooms on trumpet or hearing the cool record collections they had. His first instrument was trumpet, but when all the neighborhood kids had guitars and wanted to form a band, bass seemed like a logical choice. 

After playing in various bands in high school John enrolled in McLennon Community College’s commercial music program in Waco Texas, where he received a performance degree on bass. 

John plays a number of different musical genres, from Jazz to Country to Singer Songwriter. He’s played on dozens of recording sessions and some nationally released CDs. Always attracted to places with a rich musical heritage, John has lived in Nashville, Austin, and the Seattle area. 

While living in Nashville, John discovered a deep fascination with the art of Lutherie, the making and repair of stringed instruments. Currently, he has a shop at his house in Snoqualmie where he makes upright basses of various woods and body styles on consignment. 

Other instruments John plays are trumpet, guitar, piano, and baritone ukulele. 

SOUND ENGINEER 

Joe grew up playing keys and accordion but decided to take a hiatus from music for several years to raise kids, race motorcycles, fly airplanes, and scuba dive.  As his wife began singing with different bands, he applied his technical skills to live sound engineering but swears he may pick up an instrument again.  He has mixed for several bands in small to medium sized venues with different hardware/software combinations.  For The Ante Up Band, he uses Presonus, Sennheiser, and EV equipment as both front of house and on stage monitor engineer.