An 80’s Cover Band by the name of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “The ReTRo Band”;

I’d like to introduce you to one of Virginia’s top 80’s cover bands.  They’re called “The ReTRo Band” and they are from New Castle, VA.  Covering artists such as Night Ranger, Bon Jovi, Toto, Journey, Bryan Adams and many more from the 80's classic rock era, they have done an excellent job capturing the essence of that decade along with the sound and the appearance, as far as I can see. 

The members of the band are by name and by instrument:

Mike Carper -Lead Vocals, Chad Campbell –Keyboard and Vocals, Jim Looney –Bass Guitar, Tim Leftwich –Drums and Vocals and finally their newest member from Erie, PA, Kevin Bort -Lead Guitar and Vocals.

“The ReTRo Band” from New Castle, VA

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I’ve heard a lot great things about “The ReTRo Band” but after hearing some of their recordings for myself, I am very impressed.  I must admit to a bias; guitarist and vocalist Kevin Bort is an old friend of mine.  Kevin and I played in a band together back in the 70’s that I have written about here before, called “JORDAN” . . . .

    

               Kevin Bort, rhythm and lead guitarist of JORDAN in the 70’s

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Here is Kevin as he looks today with his white hair, playing the guitar like he was 18 years old again. I remember how good a guitarist Kevin was in high school, and now I know he has become one of the hottest rock guitarists around. I am very proud to say that I once shared a stage with him.   

Kevin Bort, lead guitarist of “The ReTRo Band”

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I do not know the rest of the band members personally, but Kevin has told me a little about how they each have had  very active and successful local  music careers, and that being able to bring it together in this band has been a realization of a goal for all of them.  They are also writing and recording their own music, so we hope to hear a demo from them soon.

 

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Mike Carper, lead vocalist

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You can follow “The ReTRo Band” on www.reverbnation.com and on FACEBOOK, and you can stay informed about their upcoming gigs if you’re from Virginia.  Maybe we can convince them to come up into the Metro DC market and put on a show for all of us someday.  I know I’d love to hear them and see Kevin again; it’s been 30 years since we last saw one another.  Hey, maybe they’ll invite me to play a song with them.  Ha Ha Ha !!

They’ve got a few tunes on their ReverbNation website, so give them a listen.  The lead vocalist, Mike Carper, is very good and  so is Chad Campbell, their keyboard player. 

Now, don’t forget to give your kids a big hug tonight, show them that you love em’.  Then until next time;

Musician By Night

 

Finding Long Lost Friends:

Just recently, I reconnected with one of my old friends and member of our band Jordan.  Kevin Bort was our 2nd guitarist who also sang back-up vocals.  Now if you remember me mentioning our band in previous posts, we were quite successful back in the late 70’s which if I remember correctly, would have made Kevin just about 17 years old and finishing high school.  

This photo was taken at Erie National Airport as part of a promo shoot arranged by our business manager / agent, Frank Sonzala.  This is a close-up shot of the ‘Three Amigos’ that made up the entire rhythm through thick and thin (string) section of the band.  Kevin and I on guitar and Bobo jammin’ on the bass.

      Kevin Bort, Bob Janicki & Bob Anderson

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Our band stayed together as long as it could considering everyone had other priorities that kept them from staying with it and giving it their all.  We played some of the hottest night-clubs and concert venues from Cleveland to Pittsburgh to Buffalo and back to our home town in Erie, PA.

 

Kevin always looked sharply dressed, even when we were wearing matching outfits.  He played a beautiful 1974 or 75 Gibson Les Paul Custom with a Cherry Sunburst finish.  WOW what a beautiful axe; I’ve always loved that guitar of his. 

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I really enjoyed playing on stage with Kevin right by my side.  We put on a great show for our audience, always seeming to get them involved with what we were doing or planning to do. No to forget our two lead vocalists, Bob Wheeler and John Sonoga who always seemed to get everyone up and on their feet.

 

JORDAN rocks the house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     

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It is quite exciting to hear all about Kevin since the 70’s.  He’s stuck with his guitar and has played in a few ROCK bands which has allowed him to keep up on his chops and even better them.  He’s now playing in an 80’s ‘Journey’ tribute band called ‘ReTro’.  They’re based out of Roanoke, VA.  I hear good things about their band; I only hope to get the opportunity to catch their act someday.

Kevin sent me a few photos of his arsenal of guitars and WOW, what a collection.  He’s really become a true ‘Fender Guy’ as they say.  Now owning 11 Stratocasters of various styles and two Fender Telecasters. The last Strat and Telecaster that he purchased are Fender Squiers; unbelievable quality, Seymour-Duncan pickups, great finish on the bodies and wonderful necks. 

 

 

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As I stroll along getting my self back into the business, it makes me proud to see Kevin where he is in his music career.  After all, we spent days, hours, weeks and months upstairs in my house back in 1974, 75 and so on. Just practicing and learning songs so we can get our band out on the road where we wanted to be.

 

            Bob (Squirrel) Janicki on keyboards                    John (Pinhead) Sonoga on Percussion

 

                    Kevin Bort and Bob (Squirrel) Janicki both playing Gibson Les Paul guitars

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      JORDAN

Bob (Squirrel) Janicki  lead guitar/vocals

Kevin Bort                     2nd guitarist/vocals

Bob (Bobo) Anderson bass guitar

Dave Babo   keyboards

Tom (Nappy Head) Verdecchia drums/percussion

John (Pinhead) Sonoga lead vocals/percussion

Bob Wheeler   lead vocals.

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I hope you enjoyed this post, I certainly did.  it brought back many memories for me.  I know that Tom Verdecchia is still playing his drums in a classic rock band in Erie and yet is the Vice President of HAMOT Hospital in Erie, PA.  I’ve talked with John Sonoga and he is no longer in the business, but still wanting to bring Jordan back to life even if just for one last performance.  You know us musicians, we never die, just keep lingering on.

As far as Dave Babo and Bob Wheeler is concerned, we do not know where they live but maybe they find out one way of another.  Well, I’ve got to hit the hay now; I have to get up early tomorrow.  Have a great day tomorrow and don’t forget to hug your kids.

Take Care;

Bob

Home Recording Studio:

 

Building a Home Recording Studio so I had a place in our home to relax and concentrate on my own original music has always been a dream of mine.  My ultimate goal is to start writing and recording my original music once again as I did back in the late 70’s with our band “JORDAN”.   

“JORDAN” in concert

My oldest son, Dave has also been interested in Rap Music for some time now and back in 2005, when I started building my studio, he was living with us so he was quite involved with everything; especially the selection of keyboards that was purchased for the studio.  He did a lot of investigation before we chose the Yamaha DGX-500 Portable Grand Electric Piano and the Korg Triton LE synthesizer/electric piano.  They appeared to be the best set of keyboards that we could buy for the budget we were working with at the time.

 

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The next major purchase was the mixing board.  Working within our budget, the Yamaha MG16/6FX seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  A 16 channel board with all the whistles and bells required for what I was looking for in a studio mixing board.  I outfitted the studio with Marshall MXL-90 microphones for vocals and Marshall MXL-991 condenser microphones for the amplifiers.  Since there wouldn’t be an acoustic drum set used in the studio, deferring instead to electronic drum machines, there is no need for special microphones for drums.  However, I do expect to have our old lead singer, John Sonoga come and lay down a vocal track someday and he does play a mean set of congas’.  So I hope he brings them along and I’ll have to be prepared to properly mic them.

Now the next item we added to the system was the dbx 215 Graphic Equalizer which really enhanced the overall sound of the music and vocals. Then I added the Alesis 3630 Compressor which tightened up the sound and richened the tones.  Providing clean power to all the equipment is the FURMAN RP-8D Power Conditioner and light Module.

 

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In my next post, I’ll talk about the bass guitar and amplifier in my studio, all my guitar amps and of course, all the different guitar effects pedals that I’ve gathered and assembled on a Pedaltrain PT-Pro-SC pedal board in addition to a POD xt-LIVE.

Hope you join me again, I should be covering the “PLAYGROUND ETIQUETTE” performance (with photos) tomorrow evening if all goes well.   Until then, be well, be happy and don’t forget to hug your kids !!

Bob