FRANK BARBALACE
Trillion was founded by Chicago musicians Patrick Leonard (keyboards) and Bill Wilkins (drums); they initially went by the name of Whisper. Joined by alumni from Chicago area bands – Dennis “Fergie” Frederiksen (vocals), Frank Barbalace (guitar), and Ron Anaman (bass/vocals) – Trillion was quickly signed by Epic Records and went to work on their first album.
Following the break-up of Trillion, the bandmembers all went on to other musical projects. Guitarist Frank Barbalace was a member of Jinx that later became the UARB of June 2012, Wild Blue, where I have more info about him.
In 2007, Bill Wilkins, Thom Griffin, and Frank Barbalace along with a new keyboard player, CJ Vanston reunited to create some new Trillion music; Patrick Leonard has also contributed to the recordings. To date, perhaps appropriately, Trillion III consists of a 3-song EP, though a full-length album is still promised.
(October 2012)
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This is a photo of Frank Barbalace, who played guitar in another UARB, Trillion:
(June 2015)
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The post on Trillion in particular was long because this band is/was chock-full of extremely talented musicians that included Patrick Leonard, one of the major forces behind Madonna’s incredible musical career – and that was just the beginning. In my mind, this band is second only to Wendy Waldman as the most unexpected absence from having a Wikipedia article (the sole criterion I have for marking Under-Appreciated status). The only reason that it wasn’t even longer is that I had already discussed guitarist Frank Barbalace as a member of previous UARB Wild Blue.
(Year 3 Review)
