(or The Trouble With Drummers)
After a long break from the music scene, I realized I just couldn't live my life without performing in some manner, and finding myself in a position where I could afford both the equipment and the time, I looked back to see that I had already traveled a good way down this path.
Scared as hell, wondering if I still had the chops to do this, I auditioned for a local band. I made it. It was a Blues/Rock band, basically a power trio backing up a front man playing harp and singing. It was fun but I was itching to go further and he had no desire to play more than occasionally. I left in June of 2003 and not more than a week later the bass player and drummer asked what I was doing.
I told them I was going to start a new band, doing what
I wanted to do. Which could be anything at any given time, Rock, Blues, Country, Folk, Swing, or any combination of these. They asked if they could join,
and that became the first line-up of the Scott Lewis Band (SLB) with myself on Guitars/Vocals, Randy Veerhusen on Bass/Vocals and Alonzo (Gonzo) Davila on
Drums/Vocals.We went on to perform considerably more than the previous situation and I was becoming content. I was writing like a man possessed and it felt great but, as always, just when you feel everything is going good something happens to put a kink in the plan. A change was due and Kevin Howard came in to takeover the Bass Guitar slot. At the same time that Kevin was auditioning for the band, I was in search of a good friend and band mate from years ago, Randy Hagle.
Randy's guitar work has always been solid and I was in need of someone to help ease the load of guitar duties. Randy and I have worked together on many
projects in the past and I knew I could count on him completely. This formation lasted a little more than a year, and I guess that's pretty good for fairly
new bands.
In June of 2005, Alonzo left and returned to California to take care of some family matters. Being booked quite heavily at the time, we brought in a
friend of Randy's, Kevin Bullock, to take over on the drums, but in November, he had developed a back injury that would result in his leaving the band.
With a handful of bookings left to finish out the year, we turned to my son Jeremy, who had been playing drums on and off since I got him a kit for his third birthday. Jeremy would only be able to help us out for a short time due to other responsibilities of his own, namely a single father to my grandson. By the way, it was Jeremy, who is a friend to Alonzo, who introduced him to me and I hired for the band previous to SLB. Jer really helped us out of a bind and someday when the all the planets are aligned properly, he and I will definitely be doing a project together.
So here we go looking for a drummer again. Now, when you're a lifelong musician, most of your friends are musicians too, even though you may only see them
every few years between projects. As luck would have it, Randy just happened to bump into a childhood friend who played drums and when a perspective drummer
failed to show for his audition, we called in Randy's friend, Vance Sharette, to audition immediately. Vance came in cold, with no prior knowledge of the
band or material and outshined those who auditioned later and had received a disc to work from in advance. With Vance's abilities on the drums and his vocal
capabilities, as well as his enthusiasm, we asked Vance to join the band. We did make him sweat a bit though.
Through Vance we brought in Robert Reeves on Saxophone, which added a new dimension to the band. However, it was short lived as Robert moved on to another
band that was based on a horn section. As Robert was leaving the band, life seemed to get in the way again and we soon found ourselves searching for a drummer
once more.With new gigs on the horizon, I had contacted Alonzo to see if he might consider coming back to Michigan and the band. He said he had pretty much accomplished what he needed to in California and that he would love to come back to the band. We were expecting him around the end of February, just in time for a month long gig at the Springfield Inn. But February came and went with no word or sign of Alonzo. While waiting to hear from him, I hired Dan Chapa to fill in, until Alonzo arrived. Two months after we initially expected to Alonzo to return, we still had no word from him or any means to contact him. To this day I still don't know what happened to him. Unable to wait any longer, since bookings were coming in, we asked Dan to join the band on a permanent basis.
Sometimes life only gets a bit inconvenient. Due to financial burdens Randy has had to take on other work with other bands that sometimes conflicts with our schedule, so you may find that we are a three piece one night and a four piece band the next. Although this sometimes is a burden I will not replace Randy with someone else. He will always have a spot in this band for as long as he wishes to.
This is now the line-up for the Scott Lewis Band....
Scott Lewis - Guitars & Lead Vocals
Randy Hagle - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Kevin Howard - Bass & Backing Vocals
Dan Chapa - Drums & Backing Vocals
It's been four years since this thing started and we've been through a lot already, but we've accomplished a lot as well. Currently it seems we've found a home at the Springfield Inn in Davisburg, MI. We love playing there and we'll be helping them round out a rotation of bands. If you get the chance come on by and say hello, we'd love to see you, but check the schedule first to be sure about where we will be performing.
Thankx,
Scott