HOWZAT - BAND BIOGRAPHY
HOWZAT is a five-piece original rock band from London, Ontario, Canada, blending classic rock, modern hard rock and progressive rock. The band’s 2025 EP, REVOLUTION, delivers six high-energy tracks backed by powerful songwriting, dynamic musicianship, and a distinctive sound.
HOWZAT has opened for Canadian rock legends HELIX on multiple Ontario tour dates along with many other national recording artists and performed “REVOLUTION” at the 2025 Forest City London Music Awards with The Shout Sisters Choir. Their music and videos for “HANG ON”, “BURN,” “FIGHT,” and “REVOLUTION” are gaining international attention.
HOWZAT – London, Ontario original hard rock with a classic foundation, modern edge, and explosive live energy.
Classic Rock Magazine praised the title track, stating:
“HOWZAT’s ‘Revolution’ encroaches on GHOST territory with its spooky keyboards, celestial backing vocals and church-based video — but there’s a nice urgency to the song and the guitar solo rips!”
KEVIN RUDY - VOCALS
ERIC BROADBENT - GUITAR
JRAD STERLING - DRUMS
Kevin Rudy was born in St. Marys Ontario and is the vocalist and half the songwriting team for HOWZAT.
Kevin started out at 15 playing guitar and quickly realized he has a natural talent to sing. His early music career took him west to Vancouver B.C. where he attended Columbia Academy of Recording Artists studying recording engineering. He took vocal lessons from well known vocal coach Jan Cooper.
Kevin spent 10 years in BC playing with a few different original hard rock bands and released a couple independent albums and toured extensively. He is heavily influenced by Ian Gillan and David Byron.
Returning to Ontario in 1999 he started HOWZAT as an acoustic act. In 2013 he decided to go back to his roots and start rocking.
Eric Broadbent is a seasoned professional guitarist with decades of live and studio experience, serving as lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the Canadian hard rock band HOWZAT.
Strongly influenced by Eddie Van Halen, along with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, AC/DC, DIO, Black Sabbath, and Dokken, Eric’s style blends technical skill with melody, groove, and a song-first approach. While primarily focused on original rock music, he has also performed extensively in cover bands and tribute acts, including projects dedicated to Van Halen, further refining his versatility and professionalism.
Eric uses and endorses Marshall Amplification to ensure tonal consistency from stage to stage. He also endorses Gibson and Epiphone Guitars, EVH Gear, Jim Dunlop Pedals & Accessories, Mission Engineering Pedals, D’Addario Strings & Cables, and PedalSnake, reflecting his long-standing dedication to high-quality gear and professional performance standards.
Jerad Sterling, AKA “J-RAD” Was born and raised in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. At age 7 J-Rad was given his first drum kit for Christmas.
When J-Rad was 10, his father took him to see Kiss live in Detroit. After that day he played his drums everyday determined to improve and learn more about creating music and being in a band.
After many years of drumming for cover, original and tribute acts all over Ontario, he settled in London, met up with, and brought the thunder to HOWZAT !
He plays Pearl drums, Paiste cymbals and uses Speed Cobra pedals, and is proudly endorsed by Sweet Spots,
Attack Drumheads Canada and Los Cabos Drumsticks, the best drumsticks around \m/
PETE MITCHELL - BASS
DAN RANSOM - KEYBOARDS
Born in Nova Scotia and raised in London Ontario, Pete started playing bass at the age of 13 and played in mostly metal and rock bands for years. Covering everything from Iron Maiden, Priest, Sabbath and DIO to more progressive bands like RUSH and YES, helped shape Pete’s tone & style giving a truly unique voice that fits seamlessly into HOWZAT.
Pete’s favourite bassists include, Jimmy Bain, Doug Pinnick, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, & Bob Daisly.
He has performed in numerous original bands and in the early 90’s shared song writing duties with one band, which their first CD release gained interest form Atlantic Records, leading to a showcase show at the Gasworks in Toronto.
His gear mainly consists of Warwick and Spector bass guitars as well as Traynor and Hartke amps and cabs. This combination of basses and amplification sets the tone that is a pleasure to hear with HOWZAT.
AKA “Handsome Dan” studied the piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
After years of touring North America and Europe, Dan settled in London, Ontario and continued to polish his craft with numerous studio musicians.
In 2018 Handsome Dan became a permanent member of HOWZAT. His classic rock and classical training have brought an incredible sound to the band. Being a multi-instrumentalist, Dan possesses the know how to bring seamless musical elements into the band’s original compositions, without fighting any of the other instruments.