By: Maria Allard | C&G Newspapers | Published October 30, 2025
METRO DETROIT — The F-Hole Wreckers prove that sometimes all you need are rockabilly tunes and a vintage hearse.
Since 2018, the rockabilly band has built a following while gigging at Freddy’s Bar & Grill in Clinton Township; the Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., in Clinton Township; the Old Miami in Detroit; and the Diesel Concert Lounge in Chesterfield Township. Each time they’re on stage, it’s the 1950s all over again.
With a Gretsch six-string slung over his shoulder is Kurt J. on lead guitar, vocals and pompadour. Drummer Bradley James fuels the band’s backbeat at just the right tempo. Rounding out the trio is Adam Bob slapping the upright bass influenced by his idols: Lee Rocker, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry and Marshall Lytle of Bill Haley & His Comets.
At shows, the audience is treated to original songs that include “Change My Direction,” “Ride of Frankenstein” and “Death Wish.” The F-Hole Wreckers also toss in cover songs with enough retro rockabilly vibes and sorchin’ surf sounds to get people dancing. When seeing the band live, there’s a feeling that Johnny Cash is watching from up above and Jerry Lee Lewis, if he could, would travel through time with his piano to join them on stage.
The F-Hole Wreckers share family ties: Kurt J. and Bradley James, of Chesterfield Township, are brothers who grew up listening to music that ranged from George Gershwin to Elvis Presley to Led Zeppelin. Their mom, Diane Mogan, was a music teacher whose students came to the family home for lessons. The brothers graduated from Lutheran High School North in Macomb Township.
As young kids, all three guys were exposed to artists from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. Classical, jazz and rock made an impact. Part of their sound also stems from the heavy metal bands they like.
“There’s a lot. Slayer. Rammstein. Mastodon. Shining,” Bradley James said. “We go to a lot of metal shows. I think we play heavier than most rockabilly bands.”
Adam Bob, a 2006 Romeo High School graduate, started playing music when he was about 21.
“I started late,” he said. “I learned how to play electric bass first. My stepdad was a collector. I began playing bass by ear by listening to my favorite bands at the time.”
He switched to upright bass after listening to the Stray Cats.
“I ordered a cheap bass off eBay,” Adam Bob said. “I would play six hours a day. It’s different. It’s definitely harder to play. You need this kind of instrument to play jazz and rockabilly.”
Adam Bob also is “big on country music.”
“I can’t get enough ’90s roadhouse country,” he said. “Alan Jackson, Joe Diffie, Vince Gill.”
The F-Hole Wreckers also pay homage to rockabilly kings the Stray Cats, occasionally performing as the Strait Cats. Because of the two bands, they decided on a company name under the moniker the F-Hole Wrecking Co. As for the name, F-holes are basically a pair of sound holes on a guitar that are shaped like the letter f.
‘One of the slowest things I’ve ever ridden in’
While most bands use trucks or vans to transport their instruments to gigs, the F-Hole Wreckers stay in tune driving a 1984 Cadillac DeVille limousine hearse, a car meant for funerals.
When the group found the vehicle, “It looked like it had been dragged out of a swamp,” Kurt J. said. “You could see all the history and all the years from the different paint colors.”
No worries, though. Kurt J. is a mechanic and fixed it up.
“We brought it back from the dead. I just basically painted it with industrial enamel paint to make a nice white top,” Kurt J. said. “After that, I said, ‘I’m done.’ I like how it looks. I like that it’s not finished.”
The hearse fits all the band’s equipment: guitars, the double bass, drums and monitors.
“Those limos, they’re extra long,” Kurt J. said. “Because it was off a limo platform, there is a lot of extra space.”
The talented musicians travel by hearse locally and have cruised to Traverse City; Arcadia, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; and Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. The guys often let other people sit in it and take pictures. The ride brings out different reactions from people.
“We’ve had both experiences. One of sheer joy when they see us coming down the road. They look at this thing and go ‘I can’t believe what I’m seeing.’ Then you have the other people that look at it and freak out, clench their purse, back up, grab their dog and hold their kids tight,” Kurt J. said. “There’s people out there that are scared of it. There’s people out there that think it’s cool. Sometimes they ask, ‘Are there dead people in there?’ or ‘Aren’t you worried about any spirits?’”
Bradley James said the rig is a great way to promote live shows, because wherever you find the hearse, you find the band. The bandmates agree the car drives “low and slow.”
“One of the slowest things I’ve ever ridden in, zero to 60,” Adam Bob said. “Whatever gets us there.”
Rockabilly music, classic cars, junkyards and greased-back hair sync with each other, but why?
“It’s American rock ‘n’ roll. It’s American motors,” Bradley James said. “Everything popped big in the ’50s.”
“It’s been that way since the creation,” Adam Bob said. “When hillbilly and rock ‘n’ roll merged together, it attracted all the rebels.”
The F-Hole Wreckers are such big fans of the rat rod car style that they hold a Rat Rod Rally every summer at Three Blind Mice Irish Pub in Mount Clemens.
“A rat rod is a half-done vehicle that has an upgraded, hot-rodded engine but nothing else,” Kurt J. said. “It’s really bare bones. Usually a rat rod is something you kind of just climb into, but it runs. It looks gnarly.”
Check out the band at fholewreckers.com. The F-Hole Wreckers will perform Nov. 1 during the Spellbound Halloween costume party at the Caché Cocktail & Wine Bar, located at 23218 Greater Mack Ave. in St. Clair Shores. The Caché Cocktail & Wine Bar Facebook page said the party will be from 8 p.m. until midnight.