I started playing the accordion at the age of 8. When I was 14 the studio where I took lessons paired me up with a couple of their guitar playing students to play a gig for someone that called the studio asking for a band. That was the start of what evolved into a 4 piece group. One played guitar and sang, one played bass and we added a drummer. We played weddings, proms, anniversaries, bowling banquets, lounges, etc. almost anything you could imagine. We took second place on the Morris B Sachs Amateur Hour. That was the 50’s version of American Idol which played out in black and white on TV in Chicago. The guitar vocalist and myself even hooked up for a period of time with a couple of country boys and played at a road house bar for several months on the weekends. This experience forced me to develop some improvisational skills because these two country guys would sing a chorus or two and then turn to me and say ”take it Gene” and I’d have to run with it. We had fun for a while but these guys were married and in their thirties and Ed and I were in our teens. They liked to flirt with other women and usually got in trouble with their wives. The bar actually began to stock milk for Ed and myself. However, after witnessing a couple of bar brawls, we decided to quit that gig and focus on more normal gigs. Over the years Ed sang and played guitar, I played Cordovox and we used a bass player and a drummer. The rhythm section would change from time to time. They seemed to be less stable, especially the drummers. After synthesizers came out, I bought a Yamaha DX7. For a while I took both the Cordovox and the DX7 on the jobs but soon the group told me I could leave the Cordovox home. I added a Roland D50 and that worked well with the DX7. More recently, it got a lot harder to get 4 piece gigs so Ed and I began using a Roland rhythm machine and became a 2 piece group. People liked it. Then, a few years ago, while on a cruise with my wife I heard one of the entertainers playing a Solton X1. I talked with him on his break and investigated further when we got home and learned that the Ketron SD1 would be coming out soon. I waited until it was out about 10 months and bought one. It’s been terrific and people seem to like it a lot. I’m looking to purchase an Audya probably within a year. Ed and I are now in our 60th year of gigging together and have each raised our families and made many friends in the business. We have a bit of a following and have played several generations of weddings and anniversaries for various families. Along the way, I’ve been involved in the music ministry at my church. We were always just weekend warriors with the music. We both had full time jobs to support our families. (I had six children) The music was a great supplement to our incomes and a great release from the normal tensions of the week. Ed and I will probably continue to gig together as long as the Lord allows.

Gene