With a style that touches on everything from rock to reggae to hardcore and even a little bit of honky-tonk bluegrass, Ribsy's Nickel is doing more than making waves. Growing up in one of California's premiere surf town's (Santa Cruz) these four guys are no strangers to creating music that represents the California lifestyle. For over twelve years Ribsys Nickel have been playing there catchy surf/reggae/rock music up and down the California coast. Sharing the stage with bands, Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, The Expendables, Fishbone, Travis Larson Band and The Chop Tops. With a hard core local following behind them. A Ribsys Nickel show is one to experience.


In the summer of 1998, four friends who grew up in Santa Cruz's West Side banded together to let their stories and music be heard. With songs illustrating the colorful events that take place every day in the famed "West Side", the band quickly gained a loyal following by playing house parties and bringing near havoc to every event they played. In no time, it seemed there was a buzz around the area, and people wanted to hear more. With a 5 song demo cassette tape and a 10 song live cd circulating the Santa Cruz music scene the band decided to give their growing audience something substantial to chew on. They met local producer Joel Steven and took their songs into Octagon Records to make their first full-length studio self title cd . The goal was to capture the energy of "The Nickels" live shows on the recordings. While their debut cd "Ribsy's Nickel" was released in March 2001, the band decided to enter the 104.3 KMBY and Vamp Magazine battle of the bands. A six month long contest featuring 44 bands from the South Bay area. When it was all said and done Ribsy's Nickel walked away with the grand prize totaling over 10,000 in cash and prizes. With the help of heavy airplay from KMBY and favorable write-ups from columnists in local papers. They have found themselves regularly booked in many Monterey/Santa Cruz venues.

The music off their debut CD "Ribsy's Nickel" has been featured in numerous extreme surf-skate-snow-bmx movies. You can hear their songs "Slacker" and "One Warning" on MTV's Road Rules/Real World: Battle of the Sexes and Road Rules: South Pacific. Play Transworld Surf video to the sounds of "Release Me". You can see and hear Ribsy's Nickel on the Fox Sports Net TV show "Core Culture" in a segment that featured pro dirt jumper Cory "Nasty" Nastazio. The words to their song "Victory the Flea" was featured in a six-page article in Surfing Magazine about their Santa Cruz brother Darryl "Flea" Virostko. After building a strong local following in a tough scene. In 2003 Ribsy's Nickel relocated to Southern California. The band landed in Huntington Beach and began working to broaden their fan base and open up some eyes in the entertainment industry. While playing numerous shows up and down the California coast, and having no management or record label support. Ribsy's Nickel started working with producer Evan Frankfort (Wallflowers, Sugarcult, Rancid, Turbonegro) at his North Hollywood studio called Would Work Sound. Recording Ribsy's Nickel's second full-length cd called "Going for Broke". In April 2006 Ribsy's Nickel released "Going for Broke", now based back in Santa Cruz. With their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground, the band hopes to keep the momentum rolling threw a town near you.

-RIBSY'S NICKEL