by Larry Flick
Billboard Magazine
27 September 1997

WHAT A DRAG: Well, kids, we have now officially seen it all. If you think RuPaul and Kevin Aviance are bold or wild, then you need to brace yourself for Kinsey Sicks (we'll leave greater sociological minds to dissect the crafty relevance of such a brilliant band name), which is arguably the world's first drag barbershop quartet -- though the group actually prefers the term "beauty shop."

The San Francisco-based act, made up of Ben "Rachel" Schatz, Maurice "Trixie" Kelly, Irwin "Winnie" Keller, and Jerry "Vaselina" Friedman, is raising many an eyebrow within the West Coast club circuit with its current homemade disc, "Everything But the Kitsch N' Synch," which is an endlessly amusing chronicle of its live show. For a moother representation of the group's music, seek out a copy of the studio set "Dragapella," available Oct.9.

Kinsey Sicks was born three years ago when the four friends -- along with one-time fifth member, Abatto Avilez, who died a year ago -- went to see a performance by Better Midler and were stunned to be the only drag queens in the audience. That evening inspired the lads to organize an effort to help spread "the love vibe" of drag to the mainstream world.

"[Midler's] show is the best role model we could have," says Friedman. "She is music, she's vaudeville, she's burlesque, and she's drag."

He adds that the idea to harmonize came naturally, since "we all come from failrly musical backgrounds." Seemlingly seconds later, they were gathering critical roses from nightclub audiences.

At this point you can find music by Kinsey Sicks in gay specialty shops like A Different Light and in several Tower outlets in California. Everyone else can purchase Cds directly from the act. For more info, contact Ksicks@aol.com or visit the act's World Wide Web site at http://members.aol.com/ksicks."