Meet the Band!

Back to Home

Originally formed in 1993, Rachel's Hippo was a downtown Peoria staple band. After a good four year run, everybody went off to school, or started new careers or families. In November 2003 the Eric(h)'s –the only original members remaining in the Peoria area – reformed "The Hippo Band". Our “new” set list is centered on old Hippo standards, 80's pop songs, one hit wonders and fun cartoon songs from the 70's. If you see a song on our list that looks pretty cheesy… it probably is. But we’ve likely “freshened it up”. Come out and check out a show

Members:

Jen Richrath - (Vocals) Professor of English by day, and rocker by night... our front woman has got it going on.

Don Mabus - (Lead Guitar) You may know Don from Star69. We know him as The King of Rock.

Eric Richrath - (Vocals/Rhythm Guitar) Culled from a solid Central Illinois music family, Eric is our front man. The way Eric and Jen sing together you would think it's "brother's harmony" but they like to think of it as Harmonious Matrimony.

Erich Smith - (Drums/Vocals) Veteran drummer and singer from Peoria.

Ralph "The Prez" Perez - (Bass) Ralph's first exposure to git-fiddlin' is similar to ER's... leared it from his daddy. Ralph's been doing it for over 20 years, and the cool thing is: he's a bass player. Never had an inclination to mess with the smaller 6-string cousin.