Cultural Corner
Local Bands and Their Origins
Kamelleon Live, The OtherSIDE, The Funkabilly Playboys
By Marla E. Schwartz
Music moves us, motivates us and inspires us. It’s also true that music means different things to different people.
The ability to exactly define music has eluded the best of the most noted musicians and even philosophers, sociologists as well as neurologists because its diverse use throughout history, regions and societies from all walks of life makes it difficult characterize. The easiest way to describe music is that it’s the art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. The most romantic notion at best that defines music is it is poetry sung aloud that literally touches the core of our very souls. Some turn to famous rock groups to fulfill this desire while others turn to cover bands to secure their own significantly meaningful relationship with music.
Cover bands usually play well-known songs written and recorded by other artists. Some cover bands play material from certain decades, such as the 1960s or 1980s. Others focus entirely on the music of a particular group and have come to be known as tribute bands. It’s not uncommon for example to find Pink Floyd or U2 tribute bands. Most cover bands play a wide selection of songs from a diverse set of artists, genres and various decades.
Today you’ll be introduced to three local cover bands and learn more about some of the individual artists in each rock group as well as where you can see them perform.
Kamelleon Live
The first band is from right here in Wellington and its called Kamelleon Live and primarily has a standing engagement at the Cadillac Ranch at the Villages of Gulfstream Park (921 Silks Run Road) in Hallandale Beach. It’s an all American Bar & Grill that has the most talked about mechanical bull in town. You can call for more information about the band or the restaurant, at 954-456-1031. The web address is: http://www.cadillacranchmiami.com/. Kamelleon Live band members include Robert Schiff, Scott Sander, David Francine, Tammy Welson Smith, and Roderick Kohn. This group can be found on Facebook as Kamelleon- South Florida’s Classic Rock Party Band and can be found at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kamelleon-South-Floridas-Classic-Rock-Party-Band/124703340890979. They are able to occasionally offer coupons for a 10% discount on menu items at Cadillac Ranch when you attend a Wednesday night performance from 7-11 PM of Kamelleon Live.
Lead vocalist Tammy Welson Smith she sat down and answered a few questions for us.
1. When did the band form and how did you come to be a part of the group?
I grew up in North Miami Beach and had been performing music and acting throughout high school and college. When I married in 1993 and moved here to Wellington, I lost touch with all of my friends from that time in my life.
Thanks to Facebook, I reconnected with almost every friend I’ve ever known…an amazing, life-changing experience! I was delighted to find many of my “arts” friends were still performing. Robert Schiff (keyboards), who also now lives here in Wellington, brought me in to the band.
2. Do you remember where you played your first gig?
My first gig with Kamelleon, early this year, was at The Newport Beachside Resort on Sunny Isles, North Miami Beach. It is an iconic N. Miami Beach hotel, so it was especially a joy to not only be back on stage performing again after all these years, but to be in a place special to my memories. (As a young teenager, I met Bruce Springsteen in the lobby when he performed in concert at The Sportatorium).
Also, as we were finishing our first gig, Dennis Rodman surprised us by jumping on stage to sing with us!
3. What’s your most requested song?
“Something” by Pearl Jam, requested by Dennis Rodman!
4. When did you become interested in performing/music?
As a very little child, I constantly performed (usually for no one) in my living room to my parents Broadway show albums.
I first sang professionally from age fourteen with the band “Johnny Milanese and the Interludes” at Turnberry Isle Country Club, The Fontainebleau Hotel, and summers at a dude ranch resort in Lake George, NY.
5. Is the band accepting any new recruits? I mean, if someone wants to join your band, can they; if so, how does someone go about contacting you for more information?
Yes, I’d love to hear from musicians and singers in this area! Robert Schiff and I have been jamming with other people here locally. We play classic rock and will be performing at venues like John Bull in West Palm Beach.
Also, my teenage sons, Danny and Jason Smith play lead and bass guitars. They also want to find teenaged musicians to jam and perform with.
Please write me at [email protected] or find me on Facebook “Tammy Welson Smith.”
Young musicians; please find the Facebook group page Palm Beach County Jams and join up with my sons.
6. Please feel free to add anything else.
I have also written a short film “Murder at Upminster K”, which is in the developing stages to be shot and entered in the Delray Beach Film Festival, as well as other exciting performing arts projects under way.
The OtherSIDE
The next band hails from Boynton Beach and it’s called The OtherSIDE and this group mainly can be seen rockin’ and rollin’ at The Irishmen in Boca Raton, but have also performed at the Havana Hideaway in Lake Worth, the City Pub in Deerfield Beach, private parties, corporate events and even played at the Deerfield Beach Founders Day Festival (it raises money for local charities, school and youth groups, and civic organizations) two years ago and would delighted to perform in Miami.
Band members include Greg Moore, Rick Voorhees, Jeffrey Cripe, Jorge Rodriguez-Baz and on lead vocals is Barb Dyer. Here’s a little bit of background information on the band members:
Greg Moore has played drums in the local Ft. Lauderdale/South Florida area since 1975. Playing since the age of 12 Greg played in his High School marching band, Symphonic band, and Jazz band before joining his first rock band in 1975, Ten Miles High. He played and recorded with local bands Dyamond, Satin Steel, First Run, and East Ocean. His various styles cover many music genres. Greg is presently playing with local rock band The OtherSIDE and is also involved in reuniting ‘Dyamond’ after over 30 years!
Rick Voorhees started playing guitar in the sixth grade. Rick spent a short time in the junior high school jazz band, but left to pursue rock music in bands Pegasus, Black Rose, and later Starliner. In college, Rick played in the Boston-based original power pop band The Normalz. Rick’s favorite genre has always been rock music, and he now plays with the classic rock cover band The OtherSIDE.
Jeff Cripe was taught to play piano at the age of 5 by his favorite Aunt Rhea. Never having any formal training, Jeff created his own style being influenced by artists like Dave Brubeck, Billy Joel and Elton John through high school in Chicago. During that time Jeff played for the not so appropriately named Acapella choir. One of the most defining moments in his life occurred while playing at this graduation on a grand piano at Orchestra Hall right on Michigan Avenue. Being totally calm playing where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays (well maybe not so calm after knowing 1500 people doing nothing but listening to you!!!) caused Jeff to realize his passion for performing. College at University of Illinois found him playing at local residence halls by himself or with the JD Club Band (soon banished from renting the practice room at Illinois Residence Hall). After moving to Florida, Jeff has played with many local bands as the Hippy Cowboys and The Flyers and currently drinks Jack Daniels and rides Harley Davidson motorcycles between gigs with The OtherSIDE. You may catch him playing open mic nights in Lake Worth or Boynton.
Jorge Rodriguez-Baz has played the guitar since he was a boy in Cuba where his mother used to take him and his brother to different venues to play. In high school and college, he was a drummer for cover bands and seven years ago started playing the bass. Jorge enjoys and plays many types of music from Latin Ballads to Salsa to Country and Rock n Roll. He is currently the bass player for a local Classic Rock band called The Other SIDE. Jorge is also a Director in a fortune 500 company in South Florida where the job takes him to many different countries with different cultures enhancing his music diversification.
While Barbara Dyer has focused her career as a procurement manager, a native to Baltimore, Md., she began her part-time singing debut some thirty-five years ago as a lounge singer for the Intercontinental Hotel at BWI Airport. Barbara is the founder of Bella Enterprises and is best known for her “sultry vocal” styles entertaining at restaurants such as Thaikyo and Café L’Europe in Palm Beach. However her breath of vocal ability ranges from rock-n-roll to country, swing to jazz, and R&B to contemporary “pop”, as she currently sings in the Classic Rock-n-Roll cover band, The OtherSIDE. In her current role as a Sr. Commodity Manager for a Fortune 500 company, she has traveled extensively to countries outside the US such as Germany, The Czech Republic, China, Taiwan and Mexico where she has expanded her varied musical talents by experiencing such diverse cultures and music styles.
Please contact The Irishmen for more information on upcoming gigs for The OtherSide at 561-368-1129. This Irish Pub is more than a just a neighborhood sports bar that features outstanding cover bands, it serves a tasty outlet for delicious beers such as the outstanding American brew Yuengling draft, and hands down you cannot get a more authentic Shepard’s Pie for miles around. The Irishmen is located at 1745 NW Boca Raton Blvd., and its web site is theirishmenpub.com.
The Funkabilly Playboys
The third and final group, a band that I’ve seen perform many times is none other than the outstanding Delray Beach group called The Funkabilly Playboys. It’s a full-on-party band hybrid that mainly performs at Boston’s on the Beach in Delray Beach. Band members include . . .
Chuck Farthing – Bass and Vocals, Michael Vullo – Guitar and Vocals, Scott Henze –Keys, Guitar and Vocals, Tim Kuchta – Drums and Michael “Bongo” Hawn – Percussion and Vocals. Their musical style ranges from Rockabilly to Blues to Louisiana Swamp Funk to Classic Rock to Heavy Metal.
If you check out the group’s website at www.funkabillyplayboys.com you’ll find more information about this band, each band member, when/where they’ll be performing and you can even subscribe to their mailing list in order to receive an occasional newsletter updating you on the bands performances, and more. And don’t forget to check out the website for Boston’s on the Beach for information on bands scheduled to perform and more, at: www.bostonsonthebeach.com. Also check out band member Tim Kutchta’s website for more information on all of his work including drum lessons that he offers as well as music samples at, www.timkuchta.com.
Michael “Bongo” Hawn who is a percussionist and a vocalist for the band took a few minutes to answer some questions for us.
1. When did the band form and how did you come to be a part of the group?
The band formed in 1998 and it started as collaboration, my friend Chuck and I had been in a couple different two-piece and three-piece little things, we used to play at the Acapulco Grill and different places around town for happy hour. Then we took a break but we were still in contact with each other and we both had businesses in the same area so we used to meet for lunch once in a while. We had a discussion one day talking about how we were getting an itch to play again and he had this idea of putting together a really good band and I said ‘yeah that sounds good’. One of the local bands we used to see all the time called The Groove Things had broken up and gone their separate ways and the lead singer moved out of town, and we thought they were a really great band that played a different selection of music than most bands played locally. So we wanted to fill the hole and put together a really great band that played really great music – and that’s how it started. We started to put together a list of names of people we wanted (to be in our band) and we got very lucky.
2. Do you remember where you played your first gig?
We actually played our first gig at a private party. A friend of ours was having a Halloween/Birthday party for himself as his house and his name was Chuck King and he is a Boca resident and has worked for IBM and is also a writer and is really into minor league baseball. His brother is a minor league baseball player, and we had a really good time. He still shows up at our gigs and we see him from time to time. {In 2004 Chuck wrote a book called The Funniest Thing I’ve Ever Seen: More than 100 crazy stories from minor league baseball. You can check out his website at MinorLeagueDugout.com.}
3. What’s your most requested song?
Probably Mustang Sally. But we refuse to play it. This is an example of how we select the songs we play. Our central core as to how we select our songs is that we refuse to play the standard thirty songs that every bar band plays and at the top of that list is Mustang Sally. If you go to our website (www.funkabillyplayboys.com) it explains in detail that the number one rule is NO Mustang Sally. We’ve refused that request probably a hundred times including a request by Dan Marino at his own … well, we’ll just leave it at that, yes – we refused Dan Marino. But there are a lot of things we’ll try. If it’s a decent song and one of us knows it, we can usually (figure) our way through it. Saturday night we had a request for The Monkees. Now, we’ve never played a Monkees song in our lives but guitarist Mike Vullo knew the song pretty well and everybody kinda knows the song and we did I’m a Believer for a woman who was celebrating her forty-ninth birthday.
4. You have a beautiful singing voice and I really enjoy your bongo playing – when did you first become interested in music?
My musical career started by accident. I’ve always liked music and in college planned on studying broadcasting and possibly (how to become) a DJ, but the music playing came by accident. I had a friend named Matthew Craig and he and I used to play at the Grill all the time. He’s a guitar player and I used to record him at my house. I had a nice cassette deck and he would come over and write a new song and he’d want to record it, so he could listen to it and work on it some more. We’d record music and one time he came in with a new song that had kind of a different rhythm pattern than usual. He asked me if I would help him by keeping time on a pair of bongos that be brought with him. He wanted me to keep time so he wouldn’t fall off meter and he took that recording and said it turned our really well and he shopped it around looking for a couple gigs. One of the places that he ended up getting hired at right away was the former Blarney Stone, which is now The Duck Tavern (ducktavern.com) on Federal Highway. It was at that first gig where the bar owner said to him, “hey, where is your bongo player?” He heard the bongos on the tape and wanted a bongo player so I was hired the next week as the bongo player for Matthew. We played the Blarney Stone for two or three months in a row. Then we got hired at several other places and ended up having a really long run at the Acapulco Grill back in the day.
5. What does music mean to you? How does it inform your life?
First and foremost it’s a way to get out of the house and have some fun and play some music for people who really appreciate it. The pay isn’t too bad but the main reason I do it is to share some fun with some people who seem to enjoy it.
6. Please feel free to add anything else.
There’s the whole as aspect as to whether or not you’re going to be signed by a major label or not and why people do what you kinda do. There are all these younger guys that are trying to write songs and become great big successes either on the radio or on television and now on the Internet. And then there are guys like us who know it’s probably not going to happen for us but we’re trying to have a good time while we’re doing it anyway. There are the serious, serious local musicians and we don’t really travel in the same circles but we have a great appreciation for those who are trying to make it big in the business. We’ve all, each of us in this band, have all known somebody who has gone on to have a major record label deal. Some of them have done well and some of them haven’t. We do a little bit corporate, but not very much, so we’ve done some corporate shows and we’ve done fundraisers and we try to go pro bono work at least a couple times a year because there are a lot of musicians out there who don’t have insurance and when something happens that involves someone we know we try to do a couple pro bono shows a year to help raise money for somebody’s medical expenses or unfortunately in some cases funeral expenses. It’s just one of those things that go along with the territory. Because we come from different backgrounds musically, we’ve all played in different kinds of bands, our network of friends is pretty widespread and if we don’t know every musician, we know somebody who knows every musician here and we’ve been around awhile. We’ve done several fundraisers including one for Dan Marino’s Autism Foundation (www.danmarinofoundation.org).
If you’re a fan of The Funkabilly Playboys or if you haven’t seen them perform yet, be sure to check out their upcoming shows:
Saturday
September 18th, 2010 9:00pm Boston’s On The Beach
40 S. Ocean Blvd. (A1A)
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Friday
October 1st, 2010 8:00pm ’til 11:00pm Oakland Park Oktoberfest
Jaco Pastorius Park
Oakland Park, FL 33334
Now that you’ve been informed about these three kick-ass local bands, Kamelleon Live, The OtherSIDE and The Funkabilly Playboys, here’s a little sidebar about another group you may want to catch – although they certainly aren’t a local band. If you’re a General Hospital fan and you haven’t heard of the band Port Chuck formed by some of the hottest daytime stars from this show – here’s what you need to know about this awesome group! The band members are comprised of Brandon Barash (Johnny Zacchara), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Scott Reeves (Dr. Steven Webber) and Steve Burton (Jason Quartermaine) and you can read all about what these guys are doing on their down time while performing in this new band at, www.portchuck.com. (Many GH fans secretly wish that Rick Springfield and other talented artists currently appearing on the show or from season’s past would make surprise appearances at some of these gigs – including some of the female actors from this long-running soap!)
Unfortunately, the group isn’t coming to South Florida, but they’ll be close enough. You can head to any of these locations to see them perform live:
Nashville, TN | Sept. 8, 2010
Zanies Comedy Club
Tickets: (615) 269-0221 – CALL FOR TICKETS
Wednesday, September 08, 20102025 8th Avenue S.
Showtime: 8:00pm/6:00pm Super VIP-photo, pre seating & more
– General Admission Added (show and Q & A only)
Veron Hills, IL | Sept. 9, 2010
Zanies Comedy Club
230 Hawthorn Village
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
Tickets: (847)-549-6030 – CALL FOR TICKETS
Showtime: 7:00 pm/5:00 Super VIP-photo, premium seating & more
– Super VIP, Reduced Prices, & General Admission Added (show and Q & A only)
Newtown, CT | Sept. 10, 2010
Treehouse at Edmond Town Hall
45 Main Street
Newtown, CT
Tickets: (203) 268-5857 – CALL FOR TICKETS
Friday, September 10, 2010
Showtime: 7:00 pm/5:00 Super VIP-photo, premium seating & more
Levittown, NY | Sept. 11, 2010
Governor’s Comedy Club
90 Division Avenue
Levittown, NY
Tickets: (516) 731-3358 – CALL FOR TICKETS
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Showtime: 2:00pm
– Super VIP, Reduced Prices, & General Admission Added (show and Q & A only)
Staten Island, NY | Sept. 12, 2010
Uncle Vinny’s at the Lane Theatre
168 New Dorp Lane
Staten Island, NY 10306
Tickets: (877)-862-5384 – CALL FOR TICKETS
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Showtime: 11:00am/9:00am Super VIP-photo, premium seating & more
– Super VIP, Reduced Prices, & General Admission Added (show and Q & A only)
One could say that it’s very exciting to discover all these talented groups that it’s ‘music to my ears’, or better yet, these bands are exactly what you want to hear when you’re looking for a good night on the town. After all, when you have a chance to listen to music that energizes you and tells stories of love, lost love, sorrow, bliss or brings back memories of special occasions while helping us live our lives to the fullest, these bands of choice are highly recommended for such musical inspiration that will definitely touch the core of your very existence.
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State University, Marla E. Schwartz is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine and is currently a freelance writer for Around Wellington Magazine and Lighthouse Point Magazine. Her photographs have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was produced in Los Angeles at both the First Stage and the Lone Star Ensemble theater companies, in Florida at Lynn University and then at an off-Broadway playhouse in NYC. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Please check out the re-print of her interview with authors Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson in the upcoming October 2010 issue of Duff Brenna’s ServingHouse: A Journal of Literary Arts at www.servinghousejournal.com. Please feel free to contact her at [email protected].