IN THE GROOVE INTRO 1

Blues, Country, Covers, you name it, we got it! That is how it read on the bands business cards. On the bottom border, it also said, in small print “Weddings, Parties, All occasions” but that’s for another essay. In the Groove was the name of the last working band I was in. We were a diverse bunch, coming together over a number of years. All were very proficient on their respective instrument, had a “lead singer” quality voice with a command of vocal harmonies. To put it into perspective, at that time, I’d been playing guitar for about twenty-five years having switched from trumpet in 1969 and was the youngest band member with the least experience and the age of 45. We played just about everything. From Bill Haley to Jimi Hendrix to Patsy Cline to Hava Nagila (party mix- of course). Whatever the room called for, we could pull out of the hat. Usually by the middle of the first song, first set, we were “In the Groove”. The three types of music that seems to work well in most situations were the Blues, Country and Cover songs. They seemed to satisfy everybody concerned, players and audience. The key word was entertainment. Here’s how it plays out.

The Blues worked well in regulars bars and especially if we were doing an “open mike” type of gig.