Thursday, July 15, 2010
and don't forget kickstarter!! People have already been SO generous, but we don't get any of the money unless we meet our goal. 18 says left. 7% of the way there. If you have an amazon account, you're already set. If you don't, it's very easy to set up (then you can buy books and stuff online too, or even a kindle...that's my favorite).
Even if you can only donate $5, it will help us get to our goal of TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION!!
Thank you!
:)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
"The Music Man" from SSB Reunion/Giant Jeff Tribute '10
Here's the first of the videos and pic from the reunion that you all have been sending me. I'll be posting them over the next few days so they're all centralized. Thanks!! SSB love you all!!
I'm also planning on adding a proper description and details to the video notes on youtube. There's just a lot of information I'm trying to centralize :)
I'm also planning on adding a proper description and details to the video notes on youtube. There's just a lot of information I'm trying to centralize :)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Memories of Giant Jeff by Joel Ferguson
'Giant’ Jeff Roberts
I first met Jeff at the Pickin Parlor on May 15, 1974. That was the first night Steamboat Springs began playing a 3 ½ month gig in Myrtle Beach. He and I became fast friends and we hung out it seems like daily. He was working at a music store and turned us on to many recording artists who would later become major influences in my musical development.
To say that the Summer of ’74 was wild would be a vast understatement and I take the 5th in anything anyone might say about that time, but Son! (as Jeff used to exclaim) we had a very large time! The good times had by all who entered the Pickin Parlor and experienced the Steamboat Springs Band are still etched in our hearts as some of the best times of our lives. And Jeff was in the middle of just about everything.
Steamboat left at the end of the summer and returned many times to play at other clubs and concerts. The band became very well known in the Southeast for hard driving original electric bluegrass and country rock music. We stayed together for 2 years and then just got worn out by the constant touring and trying to live on $25 a week. The band got back together in December 1980 for a reunion concert in MB, which Jeff orchestrated.
We all followed our dreams or nightmares to various parts of the country. I moved to Los Angeles in January 1979 and lived there for 8 years before moving to Las Vegas where I still live today. While in LA I played with a band, The Midnight Riders, which won the Non-Touring Band of the Year in 1979 and I was nominated for Steel Guitarist of the Year. Steel guitar maestro Buddy Emmons won it. I won a few similar awards from the California Country Music Association and Nevada Country Music Association. But awards don’t pay the bills or feed a young family. So, after several years playing with various bands I moved to Las Vegas in1987 and went to work in 1989 with a group that owns several businesses in the Las Vegas airport and for 7 years owned all the Pizza Huts in San Diego. I have been VP of Operations and Business Development for many years. I also own 2 jewelry stores in the airport here, and I am a business coach. I also have a beautiful daughter who is the apple of my eye.
I returned to MB 3 times over the years to see Jeff and called him often. There was something about him that just made you want to be around him. Never judgmental, never upset, always encouraging, always had something new to listen to or something good to say about somebody. It just felt right to stay connected with him.
There have been a couple of strange incidences related to this reunion/benefit concert. The way I found out about Jeff’s passing was from my 8th grade girlfriend, Pam Hartsell O’Connell, who is a nurse at the hospital where Jeff died. It was the Thursday after Jeff died and I had my phone in my pocket and bent over to pick something up off the floor. The phone dialed Pam’s number but she was at work so she didn’t answer. She called me when she got off work and we chatted. Then she said “Didn’t you say you had a friend that works at Sounds Familiar?” I said yes. She said, “I hate to tell you this but I think he just passed away.” I was stunned as she told me the details but I later sent an email to my brother and the other members who I had emails for. That got us talking. Les (Burnett) and Gary (Davis) and I had not seen or spoken in many, many years. We started talking about what we could do to honor Jeff. We had to do something. So we came up with the only thing we know, playing music. Becky Warren and Les started talking and it just exploded into this awesome event to benefit SxSE and Jeff’s son, Hunter.
Had my phone not dialed Pam’s number by itself, we probably would not know that Jeff had passed and none of this would be happening. So now all 8 members and 3 road crew members and all of our families will be there on June 12th. We have not played together for 30 and with one member 35 years. We are diligently working with rehearsal cd’s to get polished up so that we will be able to put on our best show ever. It is sure to be another very large time. Everyone will be there enjoying the reunion except the one person that brought us all together… ‘Giant’ Jeff Roberts. But, ever the jokester, somehow I think he’s had a big hand in getting us all together.
Joel Ferguson
Steel guitar/Banjo
I first met Jeff at the Pickin Parlor on May 15, 1974. That was the first night Steamboat Springs began playing a 3 ½ month gig in Myrtle Beach. He and I became fast friends and we hung out it seems like daily. He was working at a music store and turned us on to many recording artists who would later become major influences in my musical development.
To say that the Summer of ’74 was wild would be a vast understatement and I take the 5th in anything anyone might say about that time, but Son! (as Jeff used to exclaim) we had a very large time! The good times had by all who entered the Pickin Parlor and experienced the Steamboat Springs Band are still etched in our hearts as some of the best times of our lives. And Jeff was in the middle of just about everything.
Steamboat left at the end of the summer and returned many times to play at other clubs and concerts. The band became very well known in the Southeast for hard driving original electric bluegrass and country rock music. We stayed together for 2 years and then just got worn out by the constant touring and trying to live on $25 a week. The band got back together in December 1980 for a reunion concert in MB, which Jeff orchestrated.
We all followed our dreams or nightmares to various parts of the country. I moved to Los Angeles in January 1979 and lived there for 8 years before moving to Las Vegas where I still live today. While in LA I played with a band, The Midnight Riders, which won the Non-Touring Band of the Year in 1979 and I was nominated for Steel Guitarist of the Year. Steel guitar maestro Buddy Emmons won it. I won a few similar awards from the California Country Music Association and Nevada Country Music Association. But awards don’t pay the bills or feed a young family. So, after several years playing with various bands I moved to Las Vegas in1987 and went to work in 1989 with a group that owns several businesses in the Las Vegas airport and for 7 years owned all the Pizza Huts in San Diego. I have been VP of Operations and Business Development for many years. I also own 2 jewelry stores in the airport here, and I am a business coach. I also have a beautiful daughter who is the apple of my eye.
I returned to MB 3 times over the years to see Jeff and called him often. There was something about him that just made you want to be around him. Never judgmental, never upset, always encouraging, always had something new to listen to or something good to say about somebody. It just felt right to stay connected with him.
There have been a couple of strange incidences related to this reunion/benefit concert. The way I found out about Jeff’s passing was from my 8th grade girlfriend, Pam Hartsell O’Connell, who is a nurse at the hospital where Jeff died. It was the Thursday after Jeff died and I had my phone in my pocket and bent over to pick something up off the floor. The phone dialed Pam’s number but she was at work so she didn’t answer. She called me when she got off work and we chatted. Then she said “Didn’t you say you had a friend that works at Sounds Familiar?” I said yes. She said, “I hate to tell you this but I think he just passed away.” I was stunned as she told me the details but I later sent an email to my brother and the other members who I had emails for. That got us talking. Les (Burnett) and Gary (Davis) and I had not seen or spoken in many, many years. We started talking about what we could do to honor Jeff. We had to do something. So we came up with the only thing we know, playing music. Becky Warren and Les started talking and it just exploded into this awesome event to benefit SxSE and Jeff’s son, Hunter.
Had my phone not dialed Pam’s number by itself, we probably would not know that Jeff had passed and none of this would be happening. So now all 8 members and 3 road crew members and all of our families will be there on June 12th. We have not played together for 30 and with one member 35 years. We are diligently working with rehearsal cd’s to get polished up so that we will be able to put on our best show ever. It is sure to be another very large time. Everyone will be there enjoying the reunion except the one person that brought us all together… ‘Giant’ Jeff Roberts. But, ever the jokester, somehow I think he’s had a big hand in getting us all together.
Joel Ferguson
Steel guitar/Banjo
Thursday, June 10, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Memories- Part 4 Steve Brown
I’m Steve Brown former “roadie” for Steamboat Springs Band and yes; I’m Bucky and Joel’s brother.
To speak of the present, I’m always inclined to include some of the past. How much detail depends upon the audience! I first met Joel Ferguson in 1968 or 1969 when I helped him prepare for his Life Guard Exam. He passed and spent the summers flexing for the girls poolside. Joel, I’m not sure you ever thanked me properly.
I may have misinterpreted Leary’s phrase to Turn on, Tune in and Drop out when I left Presbyterian College after two, less than stellar years to do my thing in Macon, Georgia. After all, there was a war to protest, an historic music scene to enjoy and a counterculture to explore.
A couple of years later, someone from SSB contacted me (Bucky, Joel?) looking for a place to shower. They had just move to Macon and the utilities had not been turned on at their place. They ultimately moved to the Big House and I moved into the “Brown” house located on the same property. What fun . . .
SSB soon began traveling enough to warrant additional road crew. Bucky promised that I would meet more women than Frank Sinatra . . . I joined. He lied.
The band returned to Myrtle Beach for the second of the Pikin’ Parlor stands. That’s when and where I met Jeff. – Giant Jeff, soft spoken with a big grin. For years, if I were in MB, I would stop by his record shop to say hello. Eventually I stopped: a lesson to be learned.
I left the band in 1977 or 1978 and moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We had passed through this area on the way to a gig in Blacksburg, Virginia (Steve Mc Broom at 117 South Main). It was Mid-October and the trees were on fire with the most vivid colors. Living in Georgia and Texas the seasons went from green to brown to green – I was hooked on this new palate. I still enjoy those beautiful trees every year and reminisce about the first time I saw them.
I cobbled my two years worth of college credits with three more into an engineering degree and worked in a development group for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrical connecters. After four years, I left for a better fit to a small upstart company. An acquaintance that recruited me promised I would meet more women than Frank . . . not really, but I joined anyway, leaving a company of 25,000 employees worldwide to become employee number-7. More school ensued and I was soon directing the marketing and advertising activities. That was almost 25 years ago. Today, we’re employee-owned with about 70 employees.
My wife Judy and I have a ten-year-old daughter, Hannah and a four-year-old Schipperke, Olive. Judy loves to garden and I love watching her. Olive loves to dig in Judy’s garden and I love watching Judy chase Olive. Hannah’s our gift. She shows us the wonder in the ordinary as well as how to walk on stilts, ride a unicycle, play soccer and field hockey. In turn, I show her how to divide fractions . . .
We live in a Historic District of Winston-Salem in an eighty-year-old Craftsman bungalow that we’ve spent the last couple of years renovating. Any spare time is spent cycling, fly-fishing or back packing, activities unique to this area. Our life is elegantly simple filled with family, a few close friends, good food (wine), laughter and those same beautiful trees.
To speak of the present, I’m always inclined to include some of the past. The time I spent with the guys, the people I met along the way, including Jeff Roberts, are special pieces in the mosaic that’s forming my picture.
To speak of the present, I’m always inclined to include some of the past. How much detail depends upon the audience! I first met Joel Ferguson in 1968 or 1969 when I helped him prepare for his Life Guard Exam. He passed and spent the summers flexing for the girls poolside. Joel, I’m not sure you ever thanked me properly.
I may have misinterpreted Leary’s phrase to Turn on, Tune in and Drop out when I left Presbyterian College after two, less than stellar years to do my thing in Macon, Georgia. After all, there was a war to protest, an historic music scene to enjoy and a counterculture to explore.
A couple of years later, someone from SSB contacted me (Bucky, Joel?) looking for a place to shower. They had just move to Macon and the utilities had not been turned on at their place. They ultimately moved to the Big House and I moved into the “Brown” house located on the same property. What fun . . .
SSB soon began traveling enough to warrant additional road crew. Bucky promised that I would meet more women than Frank Sinatra . . . I joined. He lied.
The band returned to Myrtle Beach for the second of the Pikin’ Parlor stands. That’s when and where I met Jeff. – Giant Jeff, soft spoken with a big grin. For years, if I were in MB, I would stop by his record shop to say hello. Eventually I stopped: a lesson to be learned.
I left the band in 1977 or 1978 and moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We had passed through this area on the way to a gig in Blacksburg, Virginia (Steve Mc Broom at 117 South Main). It was Mid-October and the trees were on fire with the most vivid colors. Living in Georgia and Texas the seasons went from green to brown to green – I was hooked on this new palate. I still enjoy those beautiful trees every year and reminisce about the first time I saw them.
I cobbled my two years worth of college credits with three more into an engineering degree and worked in a development group for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrical connecters. After four years, I left for a better fit to a small upstart company. An acquaintance that recruited me promised I would meet more women than Frank . . . not really, but I joined anyway, leaving a company of 25,000 employees worldwide to become employee number-7. More school ensued and I was soon directing the marketing and advertising activities. That was almost 25 years ago. Today, we’re employee-owned with about 70 employees.
My wife Judy and I have a ten-year-old daughter, Hannah and a four-year-old Schipperke, Olive. Judy loves to garden and I love watching her. Olive loves to dig in Judy’s garden and I love watching Judy chase Olive. Hannah’s our gift. She shows us the wonder in the ordinary as well as how to walk on stilts, ride a unicycle, play soccer and field hockey. In turn, I show her how to divide fractions . . .
We live in a Historic District of Winston-Salem in an eighty-year-old Craftsman bungalow that we’ve spent the last couple of years renovating. Any spare time is spent cycling, fly-fishing or back packing, activities unique to this area. Our life is elegantly simple filled with family, a few close friends, good food (wine), laughter and those same beautiful trees.
To speak of the present, I’m always inclined to include some of the past. The time I spent with the guys, the people I met along the way, including Jeff Roberts, are special pieces in the mosaic that’s forming my picture.
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