About Us

Playin’ With Fire Band is an Original Rock band based out of NY who write and perform music that comes from their roots of classic rock, punk, heavy metal, country , blues and pop. They also add select covers of bands such as Allman Brothers, Pink, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam and Fleetwood Mac into their diverse original repertoire. They are a performance based band that puts on a show! Led by their irresistible lead singer and guitarist, Kim, they light the stage on FIRE! Playin' With Fire Band includes professional musicians and performers Kim Cirillo-Wickham (aka Rocker)(lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion), Dan Wray (lead guitar/vocals), Al Kash (drums/ percussion), Dave Bacheldor (bass/vocals) and Travis Rockenstire (guitar/vocals). All of the band write original songs and have a diverse and unmistakable sound of their own! You can find their original songs on upstate NY radio stations such as WEXT, RadioradioX and Nippertown Music. Their music can be found on all digital platforms including ITunes, YouTube, YouTube Music and Spotify. Their songs have been spun nationally and internationally. Kim is a 2021 Thomas Edison Music Award Nominee for Songwriting and is also a writer for Nippertown Magazine in upstate NY.

Kim-2021 THOMAS EDISON MUSIC AWARD NOMINEE FOR SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

KIM CIRILLO-WICKHAM (ROCKER)

Dan

AL

DAVE

Kim Rocker
A Syracuse University graduate who graduated with a BFA in musical theatre, she learned the art of performance and reaching her audience through her singing early on.
She started singing at age 5 and never looked back.
Being trained by vocal instructors since she was 12 and learning how to sing in Italian, French and German, she participated in NYSSMA.

She decided long ago that her heart was in rock n roll, blues and country music. She has been with Playin With Fire Band since 2007 as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. She has written 2 of the songs on PWFB Closer Than We Know album and has a few more in the works! “Best moment was when we pulled up to our gig and the radio station WEXT was playing my song on the radio!!!! Wow!!!!”

Her vibrant performances and engagement with the audience guarantee an incredible show!!!!

At 21 years old she quit singing after her friends were killed on Pan Am 103. It took 10 years until the realization that her friend Nicole would have WANTED her to use her talents. So Kim started singing again at local coffee shops and open mics, just her and her guitar. She moved forward and always remembers that her singing honors them. “I remember them and act forward in their memory.”

“I am in awe of the talent around me onstage and that I have been allowed to be such an integral part of this amazing band! Our studio work and outside projects are also such an honor and let me know that I am perhaps doing something right .”

In her spare time she loves to hike, travel, kayak, play with her pups, spend time with family and friends and train in martial arts with her husband Dean.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lead guitarist Dan Wray is no stranger to the music industry. Dan's musical career has taken him to Gracie Mansion and many corporate events raising over $150,000 dollars for charities. He has a vast knowledge of session and studio work and has performed on Broadway.

Dan has performed with Travis Tritt, Richie Furay, recorded with members of Southside Johnny, Bryan Adams and Mark Knopfler and composed music featured on award winning HBO documentary 'Southern Comfort'. He was a studio player on over 20 CDs recorded in NYC, touring London for those recording artists and appeared on The Nashville Network, VH-1. Dan's band 'Grand Slam' was featured on Max's Kansas City album, opened for The Talking Heads performed at CBGBs, Max's and other NYC clubs.

He is one of our songwriters and brings with him a vast musical knowledge as a musician and producer. He keeps us all smiling onstage and is a driving force with Playin With Fire Band.
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Al Kash has been rocking, rolling and drumming with Playin’ With Fire Band for several years now: providing the backbeat for their highly acclaimed live performances, CDs and video projects.

Al began playing drums at 16 when he moved from the US to Australia. In Oz, he played with Blackfeather (with Bon Scott of AC/DC), Matt Taylor and Chain, Dave Hole, Steve Tallis, Innocent Bystanders, and Fatty Lumpkin, who opened for The Rolling Stones in 1973. He also backed Bo Diddley.

Back in the US, he was a founding member of Fear of Strangers, and toured with Savoy Brown, Commander Cody, and many others. Al played with Tiger Tiger, a Miccosukee Indian Band, as well as Fly to France, who became Blue Rodeo. He has also recorded two solo CDs.

Al also worked with Ernie Williams & the Wildcats, Ellen McIllwain, Billy C. Farlow, and other local and national acts, and continues to pursue a variety of creative musical projects.
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Bass player David Bacheldor-David has been playing bass and singing in Albany area bands since the 1970s, with bands such as the Bluz House Rockers (opening for Richie Havens, NRBQ, and Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, among others), The Andrew Wheeler Band, and The George Fletcher Blues Band. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, mandolin, banjo, and drums, as well as a songwriter. He went to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis with the Andrew Wheeler Band, who won the Capital Region competition in 2017, and works as a substitute bassist in additional bands. He is also an actor, appearing in numerous local theater productions such as Oliver, Man of La Mancha, and the Sound of Music, and has played bass in a number of local pit orchestras.

KIM CIRILLO WICKHAM (ROCKER)

STEVIE WRIGHT (FOUNDING MEMBER)

DAN WRAY

DAVE BACHELDOR

AL KASH