Memories- Part 5 Bob & Donna

Here is a bio that Donna and I both approved.....of course, that's why it took so long to get it out.......Thank you for all the work you've put into this.....

Bob Wharton (keyboard) and Donna Nash Wharton (singer)


Although Donna and I only played with the Steamboat Springs Band for a little over a year, mostly in 1976, we had many ties to the band.  Donna was a singer in Athens Georgia who had joined Paul, Denny and David Zauner in the original Steamboat Springs Band which was all acoustic.  I was a friend and fellow trouble maker in high school with Bill Pruitt, the first drummer of the band, and had played with Gary Davis, our singer, in a cover rock band called Ravenstone.  In fact, the first time I met most of the band was the winter and spring of 1974 when Gary and I rented a farm in Colbert, Ga. which became a favorite hangout as the band formed into an electric/bluegrass group.  Gary tells me the summer of 1974 in Myrtle Beach was "wild" and I will take his word for it but the energy that formed the group was in full swing long before that summer.

I left the farm in the spring of 1974 and eventually met Donna (again) when she agreed to sing with me at a "supper club" in Athens.   I was a journalism major with a quarter to go to graduate from the University of Georgia when we were invited to join the band in Macon.  Apparently someone had finally convinced them that everybody in the band didn't have to play some sort of guitar.  Naturally we said yes -- who needed a college education when you could play in a band?  We played with Steamboat from the end of 1975 thru 1976 and, as I understand it, that was probably the most touring the band did....playing from Tampa to Washington DC, in clubs, as the backup group for many bands in concert and at clubs---the most memorable being the Pickin Parlor.

Despite being voted the couple "least likely to succeed" by the band Donna and I got married in 1977 and have been married now for over 32 years.  When the band decided to take a break in 1977 I finished up my degree and went to law school at Georgia.  Since 1983  we have lived on Lookout Mountain, a beautiful place to live and raise kids.  Except for a couple of years when I decided to try my hand at the real estate development business around Tampa I've practiced law in the Chattanooga area.  We've had our ups and downs but we have three great children.  Anna is our oldest, married to Carl Streck and lives in Atlanta.  Their son, our grandson, Trey is almost 2 and has more than enough energy and showmanship to dance all night with the music if we could bring him along.  However, since Anna is due to have a second child at the end of June I don't think they'll be coming.  Rachel is 21 and is the artist of the family.  She just graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design and, like any good artist, is trying to find work while working part time (sound familiar?).  Dan is about to graduate from high school and getting ready to go to college. He has no clue what he wants to do but he's turning into a pretty good guitarist.  He'll probably do what I did to my dad....drop out of college with one quarter to go to play in a band.
 
In addition to raising three children, Donna taught the childrens choir at church for many years, has sung with several choirs and occasionally lets me accompany her singing solos at church/weddings etc.  Donna is also an avid gardener and her gardens are a constant source of compliments on Lookout Mountain.  Looking at her gardens makes it almost worth being the gofer and general hole digger that is, unfortunately, my only talent in this area.   She also says that she still hasn't decided what she wants to be when she grows up.......she'll figure it out next year when our youngest goes off to college.

We've both missed playing in a group like Steamboat Springs over the years.  Donna has worked on and kept up with her singing better than I have; however, I still love to listen and play and even attempt a little writing now and then.  I have enjoyed playing with my son, Dan, who, ironically, loves to play the "old" rock songs most of all. 

Steamboat Springs was an intense experience for all of us.  Even though the band was very young (I think the oldest member was 24) it was like a family.  When we weren't on the road we even lived together in a big dilapidated "estate" near Macon with Brian and Linda cooking and tending house.  Myrtle Beach was like a second home and the hospitality and love of the many people there who loved the new kind of country rock/bluegrass we were trying to do was tremendous.

  Even though we did not spend the months and years in Myrtle Beach like some band members, we remember Giant Jeff as a great friend and a fantastic source of musical knowledge.  I personally remember his distaste for "disco" which was popular at that time (a distaste which I continue to share) and yet, if anyone came in the store wanting disco music he'd rattle off groups like it was his favorite kind of music.  Jeff was a legend among members of the band and we are both proud to be able to contribute to his memory.

We will also miss Paul Seagraves, one of the founding members of the acoustic band.  Donna, of course, worked with Paul and Denny before "electric was cool"  and I got to know him both in Colbert and later, after he'd left the band and returned to Athens because of his arthritis.  Paul was true "country" with all of the ups and downs that make those stories so compelling.  We will also miss the presence of David Zauner, writer extraordinaire and the most optimistic person in the band for many years, who will be unable to come to the reunion.  He was a vital member of the Steamboat Springs family.

It's hard to believe it's been over 30 years since we played at the Pickin Parlor, but every now and then I'll find myself moving (I never could dance) to those hard driving country/rock/bluegrass songs.  For a moment or two, I"m taken back to the raw excitement of those hot summer nights where the music came together and the dancing started and each night took on a life of its own. 

We both look forward to every moment of the reunion. 
Bob and Donna (Nash) Wharton