I answered an ad in February for a band that was looking for a keyboardist to fill in for one gig. Before I came to the first rehearsal, I was offered the position as keyboardist. My first gig with "Enchanted" was May 1st. We had eight more dates booked through October 15th. When August rolled around, I noticed that no more dates had been added to the calendar and no one wanted to rehearse. It seemed this project was losing steam. I gave them a 2+ month notice that I was leaving the band, but rather than keep me through the remaining bookings, they went back to their previous keyboard player for the last two.

 

Joanne Blum was the minister of Unity East Church in Pickerington, Ohio for many years. She retired from that church but did not retire from ministry. Her musical group, In Spirit, continues to perform for special events and is often featured at other churches. They also have what they call a "First Saturday Chant with In Spirit" each month, which is held at the Unitarian Church on West Weisheimer Road in Columbus, from 5pm to 6pm. It is a spiritual service that revolves around music, with at least ten songs performed at each gathering. There's a message and a meditation woven with the songs that is very uplifting. Joe Lambert, Joanne's husband, handles the live sound and also performs with the group. I performed with them on Saturday, September 3rd . What a great experience! I played keys and was asked to sing John Lennon's "Imagine." Here's a shot of us preparing for the chant.

 

I remember Joe and Mary Stone from my days as a solo artist. They used to perform in many of the same venues that I played. Geoff Pomeroy, a very good friend, works with Mary. She was asking him if he knew a keyboardist that could fill in with Legal Tender. When Joe called, I gladly accepted the offer to work an outdoor gig with them in downtown Westerville, OH, on September 23rd. We only rehearsed once because I knew most of the tunes, having played them for so many years. It was fun working with them. We may do something again next year.

 

This is just as much about connecting with old friends as it is about playing music. Flashback's drummer is Pete Goldhardt, the man who started Reflection with me back in 1975. Their guitarist, Fred Francis, and bassist, Darol Gilkerson, started Flashback shortly after Reflection was up and running. They started with a female lead vocalist who was with the group for a short time and then replaced with Michael Bova, the former lead singer for a group called "Slinky & Surprise." Michael has one of the best falsetto voices in the country. For those of you with musical knowledge, he easily hits G above high C. Don't believe me? Listen to this live recording - especially at the end. BTW, he's only a couple years younger than me. The group needed a keyboardist for their gig at the Annual Italian Festival on October 8th, in downtown Columbus. I was glad to help out. We had a great time, especially during the two rehearsals. Many of these guys could easily do stand-up comedy. We had some great laughs talking about old times when all of us were performing for a living. I would enjoy working with them again.