Here are some Pics from various gigs, recording sessions etc.
my first REAL band. The Off Beats. Left to right Mike Anderson, Mark Rebholtz, Dan Reese, myself, and Terry Trout. School dances, wedding receptions, parties ..etc. etc.
My friend Mike Anderson, a great sax player, got hired by a band in the city of Reading and when their guitarist moved on, helped me get that gig ..the band went on to be "Stoneground" ..the first horn band in Reading that played rock music.
IN 1971 I was looking to "find" a good band gig ...the band I was in, Stoneground ... was doomed. The members were moving on to various "life" decisions ... college..the armed forces .... etc. etc. and I would be "bandless" so I started giving out my name, qualifications and contact info on little cards. I had heard about the great band in the Lehigh Valley, called the Uproar. I went to one of their gigs and when they were on break, gave my card to the leader Tommy Zito telling him , "in case you ever need a guitar player, here's my contact info". A few weeks later, my mom came to me at band practice and told me ..."a guy named Tommy Zito called for you to go audition for his band" ... I went up to rehearsal ..it was at "King Arthurs Court" ..a sort of teen dance club in Quakertown ...and did the audition. I was scared shitless but I did pretty good. Then, Jim Keeler, the piano player called me and asked me to do a second audition. I was to come to a club called the Tenth Race in Wilkes Barre and play an entire set with the band. I went, played the set and Jim sat me down and hired me on the spot. This was the turning point of my guitar playing career.
We played EVERY NIGHT! ... the first stint was 100 nights in a row... ...with rehearsals in the afternoons...it was like boot camp. They were very skilled musicians and I learned a LOT from them. The singers ...their pitch was spot on .... the drummer and bass player ...,rock solid. I learned how a good rythym section plays and what it sounded like.
This was a huge turning point in my life ...I left the Berks County / Reading area as a kid that played the guitar ...and returned 2 years later .... a professional musician.
I also learned that being a professional musician ,... on the road ...was no way to have a solid life and future and at that point ... an idea popped into my head .....
Before I went on the road with the Uproar, I was teaching at a local music store and the owner of the store ...well he was a terrible businessman and I somehow figured that out and started to think that maybe I could do that ...somehow ...and the idea of starting Fred's Music Shop was born.
I played a BLUEGRASS GIG! ... well I don't think I was very good at it but I covered it decently ... East Side Dave Kline and the Pine Ridge Mountain Boys.
I was hired to be the Music Director and Lead Guitar player for performances of Tommy, the Broadway Musical at Genesius theater by the director Larry Fecho. We hired a great band, Buzz Saylor on drums, Jeff Miller on Keyboards, Tom Hampton on acoustic guitar...the band was great! We played something like 30 sold-out shows in a row over the course of 3 or 4 weeks. By the end of the shows run...I HAD MY CHOPS BACK ..for the first time in years .... it felt great to be a professional guitar player again.
On the sixth anniversary of my Music Store, Fred's Music Shop, I had a huge party and my friend Danny Lamb came and played and brought none other than Elliott Randall. Was of the best known guitarists in the world (think "Reelin in the Years") ... we had some great jams ... a night I will never forget.
