Vintage Performs Live at Fox and Hound in Southaven, MS
Vintage performs at the Fox & Hound in Southaven, MS
As most of our readers know, Char and I perform music together in a band called Vintage. Both of us have been performing most of our lives in some capacity or another. I recall growing up in a family with two older brothers – both of them were musicians. I was about 10 years younger than them and I’d go to sleep many nights per week listening to one of their bands practice music in the downstairs den. My oldest brother invited me as a young child to jump on stage with his Blues Brothers imitation band a couple of times. My middle brother spent a lot of time showing me how to play keys, bass, and write songs. It was a great childhood for me – a kid who at the age of three had Elvis and Billy Joel posters hanging all over my room. I remember piano lessons as an elementary student. The instructor wanted to teach me to play piano by showing me songs such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I wanted nothing to do with that – I begged to play “Love Me Tender” instead at the recital.
The shades go on during ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses"
As the years went by, I found that when I listened to music I was drawn to the bass lines. It’s what I still heard in my head after songs were done playing. I became a huge fan of Sting and The Police in the 1980s around the time Synchronicity was released. I LOVED Sting’s bass lines – the international punk reggae style in which he played was so different from anything I’d heard from other bassists. And the way he played off of Stewart Copeland’s drumming was equally unique. At the age of 12, I basically just wanted to be Sting. Songs such as “Message in a Bottle” sealed it for me.
The first band I was in that began performing regularly in public was Kiss Me Quick, a three piece pop punk band with roots in power pop and new wave bands. We played mainly original songs that I wrote in the early 1990s. Covers we performed included Cheap Trick’s “Surrender,” “Just What I Needed” by the Cars, and “Destroyer” by The Kinks. Around the same time, I recorded a few songs with a friend of mine who is probably the most talented song writer I’ve ever met. He expanded my interest in power pop and greatly influenced my style of song writing. Ironically, since those days I’ve performed and recorded mainly cover songs with various groups around Memphis including Oracle, Cash Flagg, John Glenn and the Rock and Roll Superheros, and Tuesday Sun. In addition, I’ve played with church bands occasionally over the years.
Louis almost always wears a hat when performing with Vintage.
Char began singing at a young age and performed with bands throughout her early life as well. In her late twenties, Char began singing with the worship band at her church and in 2007 she joined Memphis based Tuesday Sun as its lead singer. After Tuesday Sun performed its last show, Char and I started Vintage.
Char’s musical interests are just as diverse as my own. She is just as comfortable singing Patsy Cline as she is Cheap Trick. When we first started Vintage, we set out to be a 1950s band. It quickly evolved into a 50s – 60s band, then continued to evolve into what it is today… a band performing music from all of Rock’s Finest Eras. Today, we play songs from the 1940s to the 1990s. We perform at both private functions (wedding receptions, corporate parties, fund raiser events, etc.) as well as in public settings.
Vintage is led by Char singing and playing hand perc. I play bass and sing, Lendon Balch plays guitar and sings, my oldest brother, Keith Magnifico, plays drums, and John Fitzgerald plays keyboards.
This picture of Char reminds me of Mr. Roboto for some reason...
We decided to do a Traveling Twosome blog post on one of our Vintage gigs. We performed at the Fox and Hound in Southaven, MS on October 9, 2009. We took lots of pictures which can be viewed in the gig photo gallery.
The Fox and Hound in Southaven, MS showcases live music on Friday nights from 9pm – Midnight. Bands have to bring in their own sound system so we arrived around 6:00pm to set up and run a sound check. Next, we broke for dinner. The Fox and Hound has some tasty entrees from which to choose. Char, Keith, and I went for the steaks. Nothing like a belly full of beef before going on stage, right?
We went on right at 9pm opening with “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” performed Rolling Stones style. Other songs in our first set included hits from Badfinger, The Beatles, T. Rex, Queen, and The Pretenders. And playing in Mississippi, not too far from Tupelo, we had to throw in “Black Velvet.” We added some entertainment by throwing on the shades for “Cheap Sunglasses” by ZZ Top and Char went all out on the cat sound effects during Stray Cat Strut.
Vintage performs at the Fox & Hound in Southaven, MS
During the break between sets, we chatted with some friends who came to see us and learned that three of us in the band all had mutual friends who had shown up as well. Small world, indeed.
Set 2 brought on more Beatles, some Heart, and even Donovan. I’ve always wanted to play Donovan songs in a band and Vintage is the first time I’ve been able to do so. Char closed out Set 2 with rocking versions of Keep Your Hands to Yourself and Proud Mary.
Set 3 held a little bit of everything. From Peter Gunn to Elvis, from The Beach Boys to Rob Thomas… and of course we threw in The Monkees! Lendon closed the night with “Turn the Page” right at the stroke of midnight.
It was a fun night…. but finally, it was time to break down the equipment and load back up. We had a 45 minute drive back home ahead of us. I absolutely love being in a band with my wife, sharing my passion of music with her and having a great time together with it. We went to sleep looking forward to doing all over again at our next gig in a couple of weeks.
For more information on Vintage, check out our website at www.TheVintagePeople.com
Folks, if you are local I beseech, implore, entreat you to come and listen to us perform at Fox and Hound on Friday, November 27th! What better way to cap off a long and exhausting day of shopping!! Hang with us and be thoroughly entertained! I know I’m looking forward to it! See you there!!
Yes – I implore, beseech, and supplicate you to come join us as well! Friday, Nov 27th 2009 at 9pm