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When members of the band Area 51 heard that the traditional Pittsburg fireworks display might not be presented July 4, they decided to do something about it.
“We decided to call the city and offer to put together a show,” said Jon Bartlow, who plays sax in the band and has a day job as assistant director of admissions at Pittsburg State University. “Ever since I can remember, there has been live music at Lincoln Park on the Fourth of July, and we played there last year and had a great time.”
Besides that, Bartlow said, five of the six current members of Area 51 are Pittsburg residents.
“We just wanted to give back a little to the community,” he said.
The band will start performing at 8 p.m. Saturday at the J.J. Richards Band Dome, and the show will continue until the fireworks start.
The six members of Area 51, in addition to Bartlow are Bob Golay, who plays keyboard, Jon Sherman on drums, Todd Hastings on trumpet, John Gobetz on bass and Jim Green, who recently joined the group as guitarist. Charlie Maiseroulle played guitar with the band for nine years, but recently retired from the group.
“There just aren’t many bands around that have two horns, which we have,” Bartlow said. “This enables us to do so much more than rock n’ roll. I think the beset thing we have going for us, along with the talent of the members, is the versatility.”
Another good thing is the fact that five of the six members live in Pittsburg, and Green lives in Columbus.
“So many bands have folded up because of geographical distance,” Golay said. “It just makes it so difficult to get together to practice. Right now we’ve been practicing at Jon Sherman’s house.”
And then there are the wives.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of our wives,” Golay said. “They put up with us being gone to rehearse, and they come to our shows.”
Bartlow and Hastings are the two youngest members of the band, while the others are somewhat more mature.
“Bob and Jon were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2009,” Bartlow said.
Both have played for years in many area bands, Golay with the Sensational Showmen, and Sherman with Fatty Lumpkin. Sherman also spent several years in the band scene in Los Angeles.
“We worked at a showcase club near Disneyworld and played with Fats Domino, Little Richard, Sonny and Cher and the Turtles,” the drummer said.
Hastings, a member of the PSU music faculty, has played with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Doc Severinsen and Henry Mancini. However, he tries to downplay all that.
“I’m a sideman,” Hastings said. “I play my trumpet, take the mouth piece out, put it in the case and go home.”
Gobetz has played in Loose Change and The Heaters, and Jim Green has played with Solid Gold.
Bartlow said this year marks the 10th anniversary of Area 51, which takes its name from a top secret government site used for testing.
“There’s all kinds of conspiracy theory about that place, including that the government is keeping alien cadavers there,” Golay said.
“We play up this theme, and say that we play out-of-this-world rock ‘n roll, swing and blues,” Bartlow said. “Todd McGeorge has done about 15 great posters for us, a lot of them based on old flying saucer movie trailers.”
The band has been thriving.
“We’ve been playing at the Downstream Casino, and we did the CLASS LTD Crystal Ball,” Hastings said.
But their July 4 gig at Lincoln Park is very special to the band members.
“This July 4 is different for me because of the political scene and the economy,” said Sherman, who is retired from SEK-CAP, Inc., and served as a Silver Haired Legislator. “The country needs to band together. I don’t like fireworks, but I’m going to tolerate them this year. After all, this is America.”
When members of the band Area 51 heard that the traditional Pittsburg fireworks display might not be presented July 4, they decided to do something about it.
“We decided to call the city and offer to put together a show,” said Jon Bartlow, who plays sax in the band and has a day job as assistant director of admissions at Pittsburg State University. “Ever since I can remember, there has been live music at Lincoln Park on the Fourth of July, and we played there last year and had a great time.”
Besides that, Bartlow said, five of the six current members of Area 51 are Pittsburg residents.
“We just wanted to give back a little to the community,” he said.
The band will start performing at 8 p.m. Saturday at the J.J. Richards Band Dome, and the show will continue until the fireworks start.
The six members of Area 51, in addition to Bartlow are Bob Golay, who plays keyboard, Jon Sherman on drums, Todd Hastings on trumpet, John Gobetz on bass and Jim Green, who recently joined the group as guitarist. Charlie Maiseroulle played guitar with the band for nine years, but recently retired from the group.
“There just aren’t many bands around that have two horns, which we have,” Bartlow said. “This enables us to do so much more than rock n’ roll. I think the beset thing we have going for us, along with the talent of the members, is the versatility.”
Another good thing is the fact that five of the six members live in Pittsburg, and Green lives in Columbus.
“So many bands have folded up because of geographical distance,” Golay said. “It just makes it so difficult to get together to practice. Right now we’ve been practicing at Jon Sherman’s house.”
And then there are the wives.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of our wives,” Golay said. “They put up with us being gone to rehearse, and they come to our shows.”
Bartlow and Hastings are the two youngest members of the band, while the others are somewhat more mature.
“Bob and Jon were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2009,” Bartlow said.
Both have played for years in many area bands, Golay with the Sensational Showmen, and Sherman with Fatty Lumpkin. Sherman also spent several years in the band scene in Los Angeles.
“We worked at a showcase club near Disneyworld and played with Fats Domino, Little Richard, Sonny and Cher and the Turtles,” the drummer said.
Hastings, a member of the PSU music faculty, has played with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Doc Severinsen and Henry Mancini. However, he tries to downplay all that.
“I’m a sideman,” Hastings said. “I play my trumpet, take the mouth piece out, put it in the case and go home.”
Gobetz has played in Loose Change and The Heaters, and Jim Green has played with Solid Gold.
Bartlow said this year marks the 10th anniversary of Area 51, which takes its name from a top secret government site used for testing.
“There’s all kinds of conspiracy theory about that place, including that the government is keeping alien cadavers there,” Golay said.
“We play up this theme, and say that we play out-of-this-world rock ‘n roll, swing and blues,” Bartlow said. “Todd McGeorge has done about 15 great posters for us, a lot of them based on old flying saucer movie trailers.”
The band has been thriving.
“We’ve been playing at the Downstream Casino, and we did the CLASS LTD Crystal Ball,” Hastings said.
But their July 4 gig at Lincoln Park is very special to the band members.
“This July 4 is different for me because of the political scene and the economy,” said Sherman, who is retired from SEK-CAP, Inc., and served as a Silver Haired Legislator. “The country needs to band together. I don’t like fireworks, but I’m going to tolerate them this year. After all, this is America.”
