BTA - THE "BEGINNINGS"
by Dennis Pedde
One day while at home practicing my trumpet, I looked for something different to play. I looked around the office and came across my music sketchbooks from the first seven albums of a group called Chicago. While "jamming" with the recordings, I began to reminisce about my college days in the city of Chicago. During "the good ole days", I played in a band that played a lot of this music.

In the early part of 2012, I approached Dennis McPartland with the idea of starting a band that would play the music of Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. (Dennis and I are both adjunct music instructors at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.) I shared that I had played in a Chicago band back when I was in college. He was interested in the idea and thought there would be a good market, especially among the baby boomer generation. We briefly talked about what other instruments would be needed, and who might be interested in playing in a tribute band like this. A few months later, Dennis called to tell me he had found several rhythm section musicians, and asked me to find a trombone and sax player to fill out the horn section. I contacted Matt Driscoll, who teaches with me at Central College in Pella, and Saul Lubaroff, who is also a music lesson instructor at West Music. Matt was finishing his D.M.A. in trombone performance at the University of Iowa, and Saul is one of the top saxophone players in the area. They were both interested in joining a band like this.

With all the musicians in place, the band's first rehearsal was on June 14, 2012 in the band room at Kirkwood Community College. As we rehearsed our first tune, there was such excitement in the room! Later Greg Young (an excellent trombone and trumpet player) joined the group, as another trumpet player was needed so that all of the horn parts would be covered. The band rehearsed every week after that, and then played our first gig on Saturday, August 25, 2012 at Parlor City in Cedar Rapids.

CLICK HERE to read an article about the band in HOOPLA.

CLICK HERE to view the March 2015 issue of the Linn County Blues Society, which includes a review of BTA's show at the Cedar Rapids Library.

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Past Gigs