Members Of ACE FREHLEY’s Solo Band Celebrate Late KISS Legend At Rome, New York Concert
Written by megarock on April 10, 2026
Four of the musicians who played with Ace Frehley in his solo band — Ryan Spencer Cook on bass/vocals, Jeremy Asbrock on guitar/vocals, Matt Starr on drums and Derrek Hawkins on guitar — honored the legendary original KISS guitarist by performing Frehley‘s 1978 solo album in full, along with KISS classics, at their April 3 concert at Capitol Theatre in Rome, New York. Video of the concert — filmed and uploaded by JPL Productions— can be seen below.
In 2018, Asbrock, Cook, Philip Shouse and Christopher Williams performed with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons as the GENE SIMMONS BAND. The foursome were then invited to join Ace‘s band as Simmons was scheduled to return to KISS to prepare for the “End Of The Road” tour. Asbrock, Cook and Shouse accepted the invitation, but Willams could not do so due to a prior commitment with the German metal band ACCEPT.
“Gene [told Ace], ‘If it’s okay with them, it’s okay with me,'” Asbrock, who played with Frehley for seven years, recalled in an October 2025 interview with Rolling Stone. “Later on, Gene pulled me into his dressing room, and the KISS Kruise was coming up, and he told us that Ace was going to ask us to do the cruise. Then we went to Japan from there with Ace and he asked us to be the band. I joined in September of 2018, so I’ve held the guitar-player position longer than any musician he’s had, consecutively.”
