- My
life has been anything but routine since I decided not
to perform for the
- general
public anymore. My day gig is going well and since it is only 30 - 32 hours a
week in the office, I still have time to work on other
projects.
-
- Those
"other projects" include performing on keyboards, bass
or drums with the gospel choir at our church;
Being asked to be on the 9 person Ministerial Search
Team which was a 9 month - 26 meeting project that
resulted in bringing a wonderful new minister to our
congregation; And, performing in a BAND again! (More
on that later.)
-
- I
still continue to be in charge of the Audio-Visual
Department at my church, handling everything from two
Sunday Services each week to weddings and memorial
services.
-
- I've
also been writing and recording new original material.
My latest is a song called "The
Little Things,"
which is going to be a part of a vocal CD I intend to
call, "The Voice Inside." Some previous material may
also be reworked for this project. One that I really
want to add is "We
Need To Be
Friends."
Some of you may recall the tune from a series of 4
that I wrote and recorded for a movie project that
never happened. It was still a very positive
experience because it shows me that I can "write on
demand" if the situation ever presents itself in the
future.
-
- Now,
on to the musical news for me in 2004.
-
- In
January, I was asked to play bass for our gospel choir
and one of the co-directors had found a drummer for
this particular Sunday. His name
is Willie
Carr.
It worked out well and that Sunday, the gospel choir
"rocked" the congregation into a standing
ovation...IN CHURCH! February and March saw me
performing a lot on drums, and whenever Willie could
play, I would go to bass.
-
 -
- In
April, my wife, Lonna, and I, were having dinner with
another couple. Geoff
Pomeroy
is an aerospace engineer who plays guitar and sings.
He also designed and runs the audio system at the
Grace Brethren Church - the church that has the HUGE,
nationally known Christmas show each year that
draws over 30,000 people in twelve shows from several
states around Ohio. His wife, Marcia, is a piano
teacher with about 70 students each week. Needless to
say, the conversation got around to music and Geoff
mentioned to me that he sits in with a band from time
to time and they had a gig coming up where they wanted
to know if he knew of a keyboard player that could sit
in. Geoff presents it to me and I said, somewhat
reluctantly, that I would. My reluctance existed only
because I wasn't sure that I would know enough of
their material to benefit their sound. As it turned
out, Geoff was the only musician on the stage that
could really play well. I decided that it would be my
first and last gig with this particular band. That was
May 1st.
-
 -
- A few
days later, Geoff mentioned to me that he was asked to
join a group that was just forming that was looking
for a keyboardist and a drummer, both with good vocal
abilities. He again asked if I would be interested and
he did state that this project would be far more
professional than the one night I spent with the band
that made my ears bleed.
-
- On
May 9th, Geoff introduced me to another guitarist who
was the person forming this band. There was no name
selected. This guitarist had invested a lot of money
in a sound system and owned many, many guitars. He
even purchased a $3000 keyboard so that when he found
a keyboardist, he or she would not have to spend big
bucks on a good keyboard. I sang and played a couple
of tunes for him and he seemed to be happy with what
he heard. He then asked if either Geoff or I knew of a
drummer with plenty of experience and who was a strong
vocalist that could bring a good selection of songs to
the band that he already knew. Geoff didn't know of
anyone, but I mentioned Willie, the occasional drummer
from the gospel choir gigs. I had never heard him
sing, but I knew, judging from his talent on drums,
that if he said he was a good blues/rock vocalist, I
could take him at his word. His was a vocal style that
was very different than mine and would add another
dimension to the band. He said he was
interested.
-
- On
May 29th, Willie Carr joined the group and we were now
officially a band. I also met the bassist,
Buddy
Campbell,
that day. He was a long time friend of the other
guitarist - the one with all the
equipment.
-
 -
- After
tossing around a bunch of names like TOFB (The Old
Farts Band), etc., we finally landed on FOG. (Five Old
Guys) A few days later, I came up with a logo. I also
purchased the domain www.F-O-G.net and started working
on a website. We also had a large stage banner made
with the new logo.
-
- Our
next rehearsal was on June 5th and after that, we
rehearsed approximately 20 times. Our first gig was on
October 30th. The response was excellent. But trouble
was brewing. We played 3 more gigs as "Five Old Guys"
and then the guitarist that put the band together
decided he did not want to continue with the group.
Long story short, we all agreed it was for the best
and FOG became "Four Old Guys."
-
- I
then purchased the domain www.FourOldGuys.com and made
adjustments to the logo. We had a new stage banner
made and it was official, we were now a four piece
group and things really began to gell. We kept all but
6 songs from the original list and we are currently
(January of 2005) in rehearsals. The gigs are starting
up in a few weeks.
-
- If
you would have told me this time last year that I
would be back in a top-notch band, I would have said
that, in this day and age, finding people who can
really sing and play AND whose personalities really
compliment each other, is nearly
impossible.
-
 -
- I
would have been wrong.
-
 -
- This
is a great group of guys that really enjoy what they
are doing and I am blessed to be a part of it. To
visit the FOG historical website, click
here.
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