TBUBlog - Updated News From BackUp Band Central

TBUB Turkey Day Extravaganza

2005-11-15T21:21:00.000-05:00

Most of you probably didn't notice that I was absent from our Halloween weekend end of the month appearance at The Greenville. I don't usually blow off gigs when I'm sick, but (a) I had bronchitis and the smoke that permeates The Greenville was not something I wanted to endure; and (b) we had Jefferson Rice booked on sax for the night. Jeff also happens to be an excellent keyboard player, so I knew I wouldn't be missed. Thanks to Jeff for bailing me out and allowing me to breath easier - literally!

Well its almost Thanksgiving, my favorite time of the year. The Reverend's house is finally close to being rebuilt after the turkey deep fryer incident last year.

This year is especially exciting as The BackUp Band has two entries in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Pictured to the left is our float, the TBUB Deathmobile. Watch for it as we head down Broadway, right behind the Bullwinkle Balloon.

Next, as featured below, we have the "Reverend Lawrence J." balloon, with Larry flying high, right next to his special friend, Kermit The Frog.

(TM) Jim Henson Productions
The Reverend Lawrence J. balloon will be immediately followed by the Kenston High School Marching Bombers (pictured below).

But don't let the excitement end on Thanksgiving... Catch us live on Friday November 25th at The Greenville Inn for a post Macy's Parade celebration. Just look for the Reverend and Kermit floating high above the parking lot.

Later!

Keith

www.thebackupband.com

PS: To my knowledge, The Kenston High School Marching Band is not appearing in the Macy's Parade this year. Sorry!

Happy Halloween From The BackUp Band

2005-10-24T18:19:00.000-04:00

Celebrate Halloween early with The BackUp Band Friday, October 28, 2005 at the Greenville Inn, Chagrin Falls.

Larry says:
"Hey; If I knew brooms were this much fun, I would've been a janitor!"

Triumphant Return To Wilbert's

2005-10-15T14:03:00.000-04:00

Last night we played downtown at Wilbert's to a crowd of about 15. We have only played the new Wilbert's once previously, and that was probably a couple of years ago. The evening featured Tommy Sharper on guitar.

Being surprised at the last minute booking, I asked owner Mike Miller if he had had a cancellation. He acknowledged that he did and felt that "since there was a Cav's game", he "ought to at least have something" meaning a live band, just in case someone actually showed up post game. I commented, "Yeah, we're definitely something".

I want to thank the friends who did show up, who are too few to mention by name (they made up about 50% of the audience.) Thanks also go out to Barry Weinberg for a great job running sound and Craig Clasen for rejoining the band for a night and playing great bass.

Check us out Friday October 28th for Halloween weekend. You never know what The BackUp Band will come dressed as. Usually, you don't want to know.

BackUp Band at Greenville Inn Halloween 2004

Saxophonist Michael Brecker In Need of Help

2005-10-05T12:03:00.000-04:00

Get Tested to Save a Life! Help saxophonist Michael Brecker and countless others with life-threatening illnesses—get tested to donate bone marrow

Saxophonist Michael Brecker has been diagnosed with MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome) and it's critical that he has a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant. The initial search for a donor, including Michael’s siblings and children, has not resulted in a suitable match. In tribute to Michael, M-Audio will pay for the testing of as many people as possible at any National Marrow Donor Program center. Please read on for more information and specific details about getting tested.

You will be signing up to save the life of anyone needing a transplant due to leukemia, lymphoma, MDS, sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia and more.

Important Information About This process: Screening involves only a blood test to identify your tissue type—which is completely different than blood type. It’s easy to get screened at any donor center of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). The cost for the test is generally $40 to $95, but the fee will be waived if you tell the center you are getting tested in connection with M-Audio. (Please note that testing is already free for minority groups). A match for Michael would be most likely come from those of Eastern European Jewish descent. If you or anyone you know are so affiliated, please make a special effort to get tested immediately. After the initial testing, all medical expenses will be paid for by the patient (Michael) or the patient’s insurance.

Go to www.marrow.org or call 1-800-MARROW-2 to find the donor center nearest you. If it’s difficult to make it to a blood center, private kits are available from Tepnel Life Codes (800-915-3695). Order the “HLA (A)(B)(DR)” kit for $140. You will need to have a small vial of blood drawn. Be sure to indicate to Tepnel that your test is for “Michael Brecker.”Should you be selected as a potential donor for Michael or any other patient, please understand that there have been tremendous advances in "bone marrow transplants" and the term itself can be misleading. In almost all instances, blood stem cells can be harvested directly from your blood at major cancer centers.

As a donor, you would simply be connected to a machine that extracts the needed cells before your blood reenters your system. On occasion, such cells may have to be harvested directly from your hip. You may experience a bit of tenderness for a few days—a small price to pay for saving a life.As a volunteer donor, you are never legally obligated to donate. However, a late decision not to donate can be life threatening to a patient, and among the most disheartening news a family can ever receive. Please carefully consider your decision to be a donor for Michael and all others in need.

If you have any questions, please read through the FAQs About Stem Cell Transplants.

If you have additional questions after reading the FAQs, please contact Michael's management office at (212) 302-9200 or info@michaelbrecker.com, or visit one of the sites below.

To order a private HLA kit:http://www.bonemarrowtest.com/getting_tested/pricing_kit_ordering/index.asp

For further information on whether you qualify as a donor:http://www.marrow.org/HELP/marrow_eligibility_guidelines.html

For learning where to get tested at a National Marrow Donor Program blood center:http://www.marrow.org/cgi-bin/NETWORK/map.pl?ctr_typ=DC

If you’re Asian American:http://www.aadp.org or http://www.asianmarrow.org

If you’re African American:http://www.aachac.org/healthfactsheets/bone_marrow.html

If you’re Jewish:http://www.giftoflife.org

If you’re Latino or Hispanic:http://www.icla.org

Writer's Block

2005-09-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

The BackUp Band's Secret Weapon:

(Available at amazon.com - For Real!)

Click HERE for Keith's newest keyboard

Check out

The BackUp Band

Friday September 30, 2005

The Greenville Inn

16362 Arch Street

Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Like A Rolling Stone

2005-09-14T18:13:00.000-04:00

Like The Stones after Bill Wyman's exit, The BackUp Band has decided on a similar approach to the bass spot now that Craig Clasen has left the band. The BackUp Band, as an established entity, feels that it can have the luxury to pick and choose from an available pool of freelance bass players for any given gig.

We have recently played with some awesome bass players including Dave Huddleston, James Gatewood and Joe Russo, but my personal preference would be to take the approach of say, Weather Report who replaced Alphonse Johnson with Jaco Pastorius; or The Sex Pistols, who replaced Glenn Matlock with Sid Vicious; in other words, hire a permanent replacement (although one could argue that neither Jaco nor Vicious were exactly "permanent").

Anyway, I am outnumbered, and in The BackUp Band, the majority rules (on occasion), so freelance a la The Stones is the decision for now. This month on Friday, September 30 at The Greenville Inn, it will be the talented James Gatewood handling bass duties and we are all looking forward to it.

Later!

Keith

Lowly Keyboardist and assistant to the Assistant Marketing Director

Tom Shaper & The Mature Individuals

2005-09-07T11:32:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, September 2nd, BackUp Band guitarist Tom Shaper opened the show for Chicago Bluesman, Carey Bell at The Beachland Ballroom. The band, Tom Shaper and the Mature Individuals, was made up of Tom on guitar and vocals along with myself on keyboards, Joe Alessandro on drums, James Gatewood on bass, and a last minute unexpected but welcome addition of Neon Don Buchanan on guitar.

Tom did a great job leading the band through a short but energetic set mixing traditional New Orleans music and blues. Tom has visited New Orleans countless times and feels a close affinity with the city. The damage and destruction has had an effect on us all, and especially Tom. The music was a tribute to the City.

Special thanks to Gail, Loralai (sorry for the spelling), Ann Marie, Lauren and the gang for coming out and supporting us.

Headliner, Carey Bell and his band, The King Bees, played a couple of great sets of harmonica inflected Chicago style blues. Overall, it was a great night at The Beachland. For those of you who have not been there, it is a great venue for both national and local live music.

As usual, The BackUp Band will be at The Greenville Inn, Chagrin Falls on Friday, September 30th.

PS: Anyone with digital photos of the Beachland Show, please email them to me at thebackupband@aol.com for posting on this site.

In Memory of Darrell Campbell

2005-09-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

I know this is supposed to be a blog about The BackUp Band, but today I awoke to the news that my good friend, Darrell Campbell, had passed away at the age of 50 after a long battle with various health issues.

Darrell was kind and loving. He cared most about his wife Virginia, his family and his friends. He was a great lead singer and charismatic frontman of our band, Northstar, back in college at Kent State University in 1977 and 1978.

After college, I had lost contact with members of Northstar until my drummer, Mike Conwell, located me on the internet in the late 90's. Thanks to Mike, I have enjoyed great friendships that at one time seemed lost.

I hadn't seen or spoken to Northstar trumpeter, arranger and band leader, Dan McCarthy in 15 years. This morning he called to reminisce about the great memories of Darrell and the band. It was great talking to Dan; its just a shame that it took the loss of a friend to bring us back in touch. Darrell was always good at bringing people together.

Even with his declining health, his attitude was great. Darrell was always coming up with ideas for future musical projects and shows.

I was lucky to know Darrell. I will hold on to all the great memories. I can barely think to write this, and my words don't even come close to doing him justice. I already miss you, Darrell.

Greetings Poetry Lovers!

2005-08-25T17:09:00.000-04:00

As I sighted a moose on my recent trip to the Great White North, I was reminded of one of the greatest American poets, a resident of Frosbite Falls, Minnesota: Bullwinkle J. Moose. He inspired me to experiment with the Japanese art of Haiku. Below are some reflections on The BackUp Band in the form of Haiku:

can’t hear
voice in monitor
explodes my eardrums

feedback
from audience none
in P.A plenty

one sax
two guitars thrashing
keyboards played in vain

drummer
banging sticks on heads
put bullet thru mine

neon
lights in the window
spastic on stage floor

larry
mustang sally sang
one too many times

redneck
song is offensive
someone call the cops

backup
band only has one
gig a month too much

I know; that was pretty lame, but that's what came to me. Check us out at the Greenville Inn in Chagrin Falls Friday August 26, 2005.

Later!

Keith
Lowly Keyboardist and Assistant to the Assistant Marketing Director
And Poet Laureate
The BackUp Band of Cleveland, Ohio L.L.C. (c) 2005

You Pissed Me Off, You F*ckin' Jerk

2005-08-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

I was wrong in my last posting; Craig's last gig was last night at the party in Solon. As such, we had him pick the last song of the night. Craig chose "Let It Roll" by Little Feat. Great choice, but we barely got past the intro when one of Solon's finest exercised the Patriot Act to put us out of business.

It was going great until the Solon SWAT Team took us out. At least it seemed that way. I can understand the cops wanting us to shut it down at midnight, but rather than ask the hosts to have us quit, a gung ho patrolman aimed his xeon flashlight at our faces from across the pool and said, in one of the sternist voices I ever heard, "The band 's done! Right NOW!" It was like "put the guitar down real slow, right there where I can see it; and put both hands over your head, NOW! On the ground, motha f*cker!" Not quite that bad, but he did have an attitude. I think he watched one too many episodes of "COPS".

Actually, I don't know what took them so long. I would've thought they would have showed up five minutes after Larry sang "The Rodeo Song". (click on the title for the lyrics)

Don't forget: This Friday, August 26th at The Greenville.

BREAKING NEWS

2005-08-09T22:43:00.000-04:00

I have some unfortunate news to deliver to BackUp Band fans: Long time bassist, Craig Clasen, (photo - far right) has announced his upcoming departure from the band. Craig is a great guy and a talented bass player. We will miss him and wish him well in his future endeavors.

Craig has always been more of a straight ahead bluesman and recently has been playing side gigs with Wallace Coleman. Perhaps we played Mustang Sally one too many times. Its one of the downsides of the business. I love Wilson Picket, but you get sick of people screaming for that song night after night; sometimes having to play it two or three times in one night.

Maybe its my goatee. Could my new look have scared him away? Craig has had to get used to having to setup his rig next to a radical beatnik (as one business associate has become fond of referring to me). Maybe its my deodorant. I don't know. I feel like I should have done more; that maybe there might have been some way I could've reached out to him. Then again, maybe it was just Mustang Sally. (I would've been happy to drop the tune from the list, but The Reverend (photo - bottom row; leather; sunglasses) is persistent.

While virtually every musician on the planet is easily replaceable with the use of drum machines, samplers and digital sequencing, there is still something to be said for Craig's wild stage antics, dancing and wild acrobatic displays. I'll truly miss that.

In all seriousness, I have thoroughly enjoyed playing in a band with Craig. He is a great musician and a great guy. Keep in touch, dude!

I've not talked to everyone else, but I believe that the intention is for the band to continue on. If I hear otherwise, you will be the first to know, courtesy of tbublog (It would figure that I finally start a blog; then the band breaks up).

Anyway, please join us at 9:30 PM on Friday August 26, 2005 at The Greenville Inn in Chagrin Falls, Ohio to give Craig a wild send off. Craig's buying*. I guess he'll have to play Mustang Sally at least one more time.

Later!

Keith
Lowly Keyboardist and Assistant to the Assistant Marketing Director
(c) 2005 BackUp band of Cleveland, OH, LLC.

*Craig's not really buying. Bring some cash if you want to drink.

P.S. Know a good bass player? Email contact information to thebackupband@aol.com.

Welcome to TBUBlog - The official blog of The BackUp Band

2005-07-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

Welcome to TBUBlog!

Well, I'm new to this blog thing and screwed everything up. I was trying to upload a graphics file and deleted all previous text, so I'm starting over from scratch. Those who logged in after 6:00 PM eastern time tonight saw only my photo. The intention is to get you up to the minute news, comments on recent shows, and backstage dirt on The BackUp Band. Here now, is the new official first posting to TBUBlog:

Last night we played our usual haunt, The Greenville Inn located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (actually, its located in Bainbridge, but Chagrin sounds better for marketing purposes). The band sounded good in a slightly stripped down format. I missed the sound of guitarist, Neon Don Buchanan, who was overseas on business, but on the other hand, it gave our other guitarist, Tommy Shaper a little more room to experiment.

Bassist Craig Clasen has been on vacation for the last three gigs. James Gatewood, of the Cruisemasters has been doing a great job while subbing for Craig. There are always some issues with fill-in musicians winging their way through the set list, but James has a quick ear and added some fine energy to the show, as anyone who was there at The Ville can attest. I'm looking forward to Craig's eventual return, but in the meantime, its great to have someone who can step in and play so admirably.

Sax player, Norm Tischler did a great job as he always does when he joins us for shows. With the great singing and inspiring presence of lead singer, Lawrence J. Polewchak, the fiery guitar work of Tommy Shaper, and the solid rhythm section of drummer Joe Alessandro, James Gatewood on bass and myself on keys, it was a great night (not to mention that The Greenville now carries my favorite vodka, Grey Goose!)

There was a good size crowd and their response and participation was inspiring. While not the greatest singers in the world (how difficult is it to go "hoo, hoo"?), no one seemed to mind all the beautiful ladies that jumped on stage to sing along on "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Stones. For some reason, they all hang out near the guitar player; never the keyboardist. So what am I; chopped liver? There was one guy playing "air keyboards" in front of me on "Dixie Chicken" by Little Feat, but its not quite the same. I start guitar lessons next week.

Last Tuesday, we played The Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood. The show was a benefit for Cleveland mayoral candidate, Judge Bob Triozzi, who is close friends with our guitarist, Tommy Shaper. The band sounded great on a full sized concert stage with professional front of house sound. Special thanks to soundman, Mike, form Eighth Day Sound, who did a great job for us in spite of the fact that he had just arrived from the funeral of a close friend. We felt bad for Mike, but the gig seemed to lift his spirits. Best of luck, Mike and I hope we have the opportunity to work with you again.

While at the Triozzi benefit at The Beachland, I was introduced to Cleveland attorney and Donnie Iris and the Cruisers keyboardist, Mark Avsec who is also friends with Judge Triozzi. Mark was a key member and songwriter in the Cruisers ("Ah Leah") and also played with Wild Cherry ("Play That Funky Music White Boy"). More recently he has been handling the keyboard chores with Joe Walsh and The James Gang ("Funk 49") at their reunion shows. Guitar hero, Joe Walsh as you probably know, is also a member of The Eagles ("Hotel California", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "The Long Run", Take It To The Limit", "Witchy Woman", "Desperado") OK... I'm being an asshole. Sorry!

Anyway; Mark was kind enough to send me his personal copy of the Dr. John New Orleans Style Piano instructional video. How generous (I thought), but then I wondered if he sent it because he thought I needed an instructional video. (You were just being nice, right?? My playing isn't that bad, is it?) Either way, thanks Mark!

Moving on; in August we play at a private, fully catered pool/cocktail party at a fancy house in Solon. Unfortunately, if you didn't get an invitation, your not on the list. You could always try driving around Solon, listening for loud live music, and try to crash the party (Just kidding, Bill and Jan!!) Anyway, fear not, as we return to The Greenville, where its always a party atmosphere, on Friday August 26. I hope to see you all then!

(re-created from memory)

To get on The BackUp Band's email distribution list, send a request to thebackupband@aol.com. You'll receive our e-newsletter, "News From BackUp Band Central" as well as links to this blog when there are updates.

Later!

Keith
Lowly Keyboardist and Assistant to the Assistant Marketing Director
(c) 2005 The BackUp Band of Cleveland, Ohio LLC.