The B.O.A.R.D. performed Saturday evening, March 6, 2010, in Winfield, WV, our second concert, following our debut gig in August of 2009. Our line-up expanded a bit for this show; Chris Amick (guitar), Jeff Anderson (bass/vocals), John Boggess (bass/vocals/sound), Loren Claypool (guitar), Lee Hines (drums/vocals), Robin Romanek (keys/sax/vocals), Laura Sypolt (vocals), Tim Sypolt (guitar/keys/vocals), Mark Wade (bass). For those of you reading the fine print, only one bass player performed at a time!

The core of the band rehearsed together for several weeks while I stayed up to speed with personal rehearsal and a stream of emails from the team members. I managed to make two rehearsals, including the all important dress rehearsal on Friday night. I dialed in my pedals and guitars with Dr. Jeff Boggess' killer Reverend 60 watt head and Avatar 2x12 Custom cab with two Eminence Red Fang speakers while we ran the set. Thanks to Jeff for lending me one of his amps for the weekend.

We received a bit of publicity prior to the show with two prints of a newspaper article written by Kara Moore and two spots on the local TV news, WCHS, to be exact. We were visited by Troy the videographer at Friday night's rehearsal. He shot some live footage on a couple of songs, plus interviewed some of the band. He also attended the beginning of the concert on Saturday and shot the first couple of numbers, as well. Thanks Kara and Troy for your support!

We set up and did a full sound check early Saturday evening and all was ready to go for our 8:30 kick off in the gymnasium of Winfield High School. At about 8:00 we inexplicably lost power to much of the stage. The local maintenance guys worked with us to re-route the power and we were able to start on time with a raucous introduction by none other than Mark Coppala. It was a beaut, too! Our set list for the evening consisted of

• Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin
• The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy
• What I Like About You by The Romantics
• Centerfield by John Fogerty
• All Summer Long / Sweet Home Alabama by Kid Rock / Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Your Mama Don't Dance by Loggins & Messina
• Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
• Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar
• 867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone
• Walk This Way by Aerosmith
• La Grange by ZZ Top
• Hotel California by The Eagles
• China Grove by The Doobie Brothers
• Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
• Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey

In many ways this set list was a snapshot of the soundtrack of our youth.

The power gremlins returned once during the set but the issue was quickly resolved by the maintenance guys. The band executed the materially honorably, accurately, and with much enthusiasm. To execute Carry On Wayward Son with a single full group rehearsal takes a certain amount of honor, accuracy, and enthusiasm! We had a great and supportive crowd for the evening consisting of many of our classmates, family and friends, students and boosters from Winfield High School, and folks who saw the newspaper articles, TV news spots, or Facebook buzz. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us in particular and live music in general. We hear the cheers!

It's always fun and rewarding to play with talented musicians. Four-part vocal harmonies and three-part guitar harmonies don't happen in every band but they sure happen with this one, backed by a killer rhythm section. Besides oodles of talent, these folks are wonderful people and I am privileged to call them my friends. I look forward to our next performance together.