|
|
|
PITTSBURG —
“Not Bad” is actually pretty good.
Pittsburg High School has a talent show at the end of each school year, and Reece Burns, Malory White, Mason Bayliss and Matthew McMaster decided they would enter the show as a group.
“We didn’t start out to be a band, it was just for the talent show,” said Bayliss, who will be a senior this year.
All busy with other activities and, of course, school work, they didn’t get much time to prepare for the show.
“We all pretty much practiced our individual parts and brought it together at the end,” White said.
“We did it with five hours of practice, and that was the day before,” Bayliss added. “It was scary.”
The group played some classic rock from the 1980s, including some Arrowsmith and Night Ranger, because Burns and Bayliss especially like this genre.
“The crowd went crazy,” Burns said. “They were cheering and they didn’t even know the tunes.”
After that response, the group decided that they might stick together as a band. They decided to call themselves “Not Bad.”
There was a fifth person, a bass player, with them in the talent show. However, she had an extremely busy schedule, couldn’t make a lot of band rehearsals and finally dropped out.
“She’s our good friend and left on good terms,” Bayliss said.
“Not Bad” also performed during the Pittsburg Art Walk in May at Pritchett Pavilion, and has been at Fat Daddy’s open mic nights.
“We’re on the on-call list for Musicians for Miracles, and recently set in for a benefit for a two-month-old baby with medical problems,” Burns said. “They had a silent auction and we threw in a two-hour gig. A local guy bought us and we’ll play at a party for him in September.”
They may even be playing in Dallas later on.
“My aunt showed a video of us to her co-workers and it got up to managerial levels,” Bayliss said. “Her boss wants us to play at his club in Dallas. It’s called the Eden Lounge, and they haven’t fixed everything yet for it.”
Burns said that the group is also working on some original music.
“We’d like something with our names on it,” Burns said. “We haven’t played it live yet.”
It’s not surprising that the group has done so well.
“Not Bad” is actually pretty good.
Pittsburg High School has a talent show at the end of each school year, and Reece Burns, Malory White, Mason Bayliss and Matthew McMaster decided they would enter the show as a group.
“We didn’t start out to be a band, it was just for the talent show,” said Bayliss, who will be a senior this year.
All busy with other activities and, of course, school work, they didn’t get much time to prepare for the show.
“We all pretty much practiced our individual parts and brought it together at the end,” White said.
“We did it with five hours of practice, and that was the day before,” Bayliss added. “It was scary.”
The group played some classic rock from the 1980s, including some Arrowsmith and Night Ranger, because Burns and Bayliss especially like this genre.
“The crowd went crazy,” Burns said. “They were cheering and they didn’t even know the tunes.”
After that response, the group decided that they might stick together as a band. They decided to call themselves “Not Bad.”
There was a fifth person, a bass player, with them in the talent show. However, she had an extremely busy schedule, couldn’t make a lot of band rehearsals and finally dropped out.
“She’s our good friend and left on good terms,” Bayliss said.
“Not Bad” also performed during the Pittsburg Art Walk in May at Pritchett Pavilion, and has been at Fat Daddy’s open mic nights.
“We’re on the on-call list for Musicians for Miracles, and recently set in for a benefit for a two-month-old baby with medical problems,” Burns said. “They had a silent auction and we threw in a two-hour gig. A local guy bought us and we’ll play at a party for him in September.”
They may even be playing in Dallas later on.
“My aunt showed a video of us to her co-workers and it got up to managerial levels,” Bayliss said. “Her boss wants us to play at his club in Dallas. It’s called the Eden Lounge, and they haven’t fixed everything yet for it.”
Burns said that the group is also working on some original music.
“We’d like something with our names on it,” Burns said. “We haven’t played it live yet.”
It’s not surprising that the group has done so well.
“Music is just kind of in our backgrounds,” Burns said. “I had always wanted to be in a band when I was little, but thought it would never happen.”
He, Bayliss and White are in the PHS jazz group, and McMaster will be in it this coming year.
“I’m in the orchestra and I play flute in the marching band,” White said.
McMaster and Bayliss are also in the marching band. White and Bayliss will be taking part in the 2012 Kansas All-State High School Marching Band, which will take part in several performances connected with the 2012 Kansas High School East-West Shrine Bowl Football Classic.
All four plan to continue the band during the upcoming school year, though it will be challenging to find times when all four will be free for rehearsals.
“This takes a lot of commitment,” White said. “We’ve all had to make sacrifices.”
But it’s worth it for the band mates.
“We just like to get out there and play,” Burns said. “It’s not about money.”
Bayliss hopes for a career in music.
“I dream of making music, producing music, or I could major in music education and teach,” he said.
White isn’t sure yet what she wants to do for a career, but does know one thing.
“I want music to always be in my life,” she said. “I just don’t know how.”
McMaster said that he wants to be a designer for drums.
“I’d like to custom-make drums for people,” he said.
He will be a PHS sophomore in the coming year, and Burns will be a junior. White and Bayliss, as seniors, will graduate in 2013, but if they attended college in the area, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of “Not Bad.”
“If we could stick together through college, and maybe get together once a year after that, I’d be happy,” Burns said.
