"Who doesn't love a good camel tone?" Apparently, everyone does, if you judge by the audience response to this fun, entertaining party band! Donna Cristy & The Camel Tones have been thrilling audiences all over Southern California and Nevada with their non-stop high-energy shows of current Top 40 Dance music with some classic rock thrown in.
Backing up the hottest, most powerful singer on the club circuit is Chris "Switch" Sobkowich on guitar and lead vocals. Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada, Chris was shocked to be playing in the desert so much. "I feel like a camel constantly crossing the desert and I have tones to the bones coming from my amp.....why don't we call the band The Camel Tones?" And so Donna Cristy & The Camel Tones was born!
Chris began studying guitar at The Royal Conservatory Of Music in Toronto where he completed Grade 10 Classical Guitar. He followed this accomplishment by winning the Manitoba Music Competition for Classical Guitar, Level 11. In 1999, Chris won Fender Guitar Warz. In the year 2000, he won the same competition in which he played alongside Jeff Healy, one of Canada’s premier blues and jazz musicians. He moved to Los Angeles to study guitar at The Musicians Institute in Hollywood where he graduated First Class Honors. He went on to tour the U.S. with popular 70's group, Boogie Nights. When he's not lending his dulcet singing talents and rocking out with The Camel Tones, Chris tours the world with 80's band Gene Loves Jezebel. He also performs with Space Oddity, a tribute to David Bowie and The Long Run, a tribute to The Eagles. He has played on recordings for House Of Lords, Rumble Tribe, Nancy Sinatra and Hemlok Bay.
On bass and lead vocals is none other than Dave Whiston! Dave also toured the world as the lead guitarist for Rick Springfield for 7 years and played on his recording "Shock, Denial, Anger, Acceptance" as well as appearing in Rick's "Alive" DVD of his tour. Dave also played on Paul Shortino's "Stand Or Fall", was a member and songwriter of the band Kottak which featured James Kottak, drummer for The Scorpions on lead vocals and Athena Von Crapp, sister of Tommy Lee on drums. He also played on Hemlok Bay's "Just Another Day", but has since traded all this for a pair of loafers and a fedora. Dave is also responsible for the live sound of The Camel Tones. He is such a perfectionist, he cannot stop touching the faders or the knobs, much to the chagrin of....
Nicki Carano on drums! She's a GIRL and she PLAYS DRUMS! When asked by fans "How did you learn to play drums?", Nicki answers sagely "I took lessons and I practiced." Wow!!!! Before laying down her sultry beats for The Camel Tones, Nicki toured the world in numerous shows as a dancer. She currently teaches dance at The Academy Of Performing Arts in San Diego. A deep thinker, Nicki is going to college to get her degree to become a counselor. She easily juggles school, drumming and teaching. She not only rocks the drums, she rocks a pair of fishnets.
