Band Biography

The Rumba Kings (See Wikipedia article on The Rumba Kings) formed in 2015 in Seattle, Washington (USA) by , Johnny Bacolas (bassist/producer/songwriter) and George Stevens (lead guitarist/bouzouki player/songwriter).   An article and video published in February 2023 on King 5 Seattle TV provides more insight into the the group's origins.  The songwriting has a diverse range of influences, from The Gipsy Kings, to the Mediterranean-inspired instrumental music of Yanni.  The band's name can be misleading though.  While some of the songs the band writes and performs are Rumba-based (think The Gipsy Kings' music), much of the music is not.  "Many of our songs have Greek, Latin, Italian, and Arabic music influences.  We're definitely not solely a Rumba band, the name is a bit misleading.  Our goal is to take people on a trip around the Mediterranean and we write and perform a myriad of musical styles," says co-founder George Stevens.  Co-founder, Johnny Bacolas, adds, "I see us as primarily an instrumental pop band, that plays a wide variety of styles and genres, with Latin and Mediterranean-music being at the core of our sound."

In May 2015, Bacolas and guitarist/songwriter George Stevens met through a mutual friend, and soon-after they set-up a meeting in Bacolas' home studio to discuss their visions for their dream group, revealing a shared interest.  A musical partnership began shortly afterwards.

A month later, in June 2015, Bacolas and Stevens recruited several studio musicians to begin production on their debut double-disc album titled, The Instrumental and Vocal Sessions, Vol I.  Bacolas recalls of the recording process, "Several of the musicians we collaborated with were overseas, mostly in Greece.  If I wasn't physically in Greece to record the musicians I would have an iPad in their studio (in Greece) siting on a chair next to the engineer and I'd communicate with the artist in the recording booth via the engineer with his talk-back mic."

In January 2016, Bacolas and Stevens had written enough music to create a live set-list, and began auditioning musicians in Seattle for their group.  In April 2016, they'd created their first incarnation of a live band,   and The Rumba Kings’ first version of their live show was ready to be tested. (see the band's first promo video from June 2016 here)

The Rumba Kings' began performing at small bars and bistros around the greater Seattle area to iron out any kinks in their new show and to allow certain elements of the show to evolve naturally.  By doing so, they quickly established a loyal fan base.  As the word spread about the band’s passionate and energetic performances, the crowds began to grow and the band began graduating to larger venues, ultimately leading to sold-out weekend shows throughout the Greater Seattle area, which included such venues as Seattle’s prestigious Triple Door.

In February 2018, The Rumba Kings released their debut double-disc debut album titled, The Instrumental and Vocal Sessions, Vol. I.  The album was engineered & produced by Johnny Bacolas and mixed and mastered by veteran mix engineer, Martin Feveyear.  The record received a great deal of attention and support from Seattle radio station KNKX, leading to The Rumba Kings performing several in-studio performances at KNKX’s studios in support of it (listen to the full interviews and musical performances recorded in June 2017, February 2018, and April 2019 here).  After the conclusion of band's April 2019 in-studio performance at KNKX, host Robin Lloyd finishes the segment by saying, "Happiness, that's what you spread whenever you play.  You guys are just so wonderful. I've seen this. I've seen people.....who are these guys?  And they leave with this big smile on their face."   In June 2018, KNKX presented The Bellevue Jazz and Blues Festival, featuring The Rumba Kings as one of the headliners. 

In 2019, The Rumba Kings released their sophomore full-length album, The Instrumental Sessions, Vol. II. The album was also engineered & produced by Johnny Bacolas and again, mixed and mastered by Martin Feveyear.  Like the first album, it also received a great deal of support from KNKX, as well as Seattle Newspapers, notably, The Bellevue Reporter, which ran a front page story on the band in the paper’s live music section titled, “Eastside Scene,” in the January 25th, 2019 edition, written by Evan Pappas (see the full article here).

During the production of both records, Bacolas traveled to Greece on two occasions to record several of the country’s top studio musicians for songs on both of The Rumba Kings' albums, which included several musicians from the groups of such legendary Greek vocalist as Notis Sfakianakis, Stelios Dionisiou, and the late Pantelis Pantelidis.   During these trips, Bacolas also filmed and directed eight music videos featuring Greek vocalist Sofi Alexandrou on the islands of Mykonos and Santorini, as well as throughout the mainland of Greece.  In a video podcast titled, A Conversation and a Scotch, Episode #4, Bacolas discusses his filming of the music video for the song, Mila Mou, featuring Sofi Alexandrou, and whereas Bacolas states, "I want people to associate the song with the beautiful colors of Santorini, the blue roofs, the white stucco buildings, the blue sea, the blue sky."  Building on Bacolas' decision to film the videos on the Greek islands, in an earlier interview in The National Herald by Taso Mouhteros, Bacolas says, "My ultimate dream is to build a small villa in Santorini with a recording studio."

Critically acclaimed mixing engineer, Martin Feveyear, who’s mixed all of the band’s recordings to date, describes the band’s music as, "A bold, spirited, diverse and romantic blend of all that's great in Latin music, with an added twist of Mediterranean magic!"

In March 2020, utilizing the downtime from to the pandemic, The Rumba Kings began the long and arduous process of taking several aspects of their live show to the next level, which included adding a string quartet, charting the scores for the quartet, new music, more dance segments, more vocalists, and several new musicians.  The band's music director, Johnny Bacolas, spearheaded the process by working closely with a brilliant composer/transcriptionist, Seth-May Patterson, to fully-integrate one of the Pacific Northwest’s top string quartets, Arcobaleno Strings, into their live shows.  "Seth is one of the most talented musicians I've met. Working with him has taking our live show to another level.  He's a valuable part of our team," says Bacolas.  (See article published June 2021 by KNKX radio station in Seattle: The Rumba Kings use pandemic pause to grow their show)

The purpose of hiring the quartet was for the songs to be performed as accurately as possible with respect to their studio recordings, and because as Stevens puts it, "That's how they're supposed to sound."  Bacolas says of the new show, “It now more closely resembles a Vegas production more than anything else.  This is how George and I always envisioned our shows when we were planning them early on.  It's pure class.  It's a night out at The Copacabana in the 40's like you see in the movies. This is the ultimate get dressed-up and have a classy night out show.”  Regarding the music in the band's live shows, Stevens says in a recent podcast, "If it isn't beautiful, it doesn't make the cut."

In 2022, The Rumba Kings released their single, "Love from Mykonos."  The music was written by George Stevens and produced by Johnny Bacolas.  The official music video was also produced and directed by Johnny Bacolas and filmed on location primarily in Greece on the islands of Mykonos and Santorini.  See video here>

KNKX 88.5 FM Seattle, presents the majority of the band’s shows in the Seattle area, and the band’s music is regularly played on the station. 
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The Rumba Kings on ​Allmusic Guide

The Rumba Kings' Wikipedia Page

The Rumba Kings KING 5 Seattle TV feature story on Evening

 The Rumba Kings' music is available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon.