Behind
The Band
After a brief retirement from Lex Byers
and Vegas, R*Gang was originated by Kevin Knapp (Keyboards/Guitar), and myself (Guitar) in
1988. The original concept of the group was to do classic rock. John Deyeager, on bass and
vocals brought his 50's style singing with him. John and I played together in a fifties
group back in the early 70's called Fever. Check out that page in this site. The band
practiced at my parents house in Gates, diagonally across from Karl Laporta's house.
Karl and I go back to high school days where we had a very popular band called the
Last Rites. He stopped over during a few practice sessions and added his opinions of the
songs and how they sounded. It was clear to see that Karl was getting very interested, for
there is a spark inside every musician that never dies.. Within a couple of weeks, Kevin
and I asked Karl to join up. He accepted.
During the practice sessions, I came down
with Pneumonia, and was out of it for at least six weeks. Band practices dwindled
down. I returned to practice, still very weak. During one of the rehearsals, a
booking agent come down to audition the group. He liked what he heard, and began to cite
off some opening gigs. Over an "available to play" issue, John Deyeager was
replaced by Dean Miller's friend, Ron Tropiano. The band made it's debut at a small bar on
Lake Avenue by Charlotte Beach, and was well received. In attendance at the debut was an
old high school acquaintance of Karl's and mine, George Cocchini...now a Memphis studio
musician. He liked what he heard.
Well the band was off and running, with me
doing the fronting. We began playing some of the better clubs in Rochester. And as always,
issues come out that required the replacement of band members. The band finally stabilized
musician wise around around 1990. At that time, we had Gary Terwilliger/Harry Ford on
Bass, and "Uncle" Lenny Colantoni on drums. Karl, who had been doing all
the booking for the band, finally got to the point where the club owners were calling him.
The group became in constant demand. Things were going great and then the axe fell.
No, not my Axe. Harry and Kevin finally had called it quits. In one night, close to half
of the band was gone. Since we had always had the luxury of two keyboard players, we
pushed on. Steve Galucchi had just ended a gig with his current band and was available.
With me having taught guitar to his younger brother Anthony, his enthusiasm made it a pleasure to
scarf him up. We needed to replace Kevin's vocals. After auditioning a few players, and
female vocalists, Paul Fricano joined the group. Now the group was more sold than ever. R*Gang began to perform for more
events. Whether it was a wedding, concert, or a party, R*Gang was great at getting the
audience involved. Even tear-downs at the end of the night were lively sounding.
It was with R*Gang that I received my "Sweet-Lou" nickname. During the
first couple of songs, I made my way out to the dance floor during a
ballad to do a sound check of the band, and usually asked a Lady to dance
with me.
Then MY axe did fall. In the Spring of
'93, with high tech employment in Rochester at an all time low. I
was laid off along with forty seven other colleagues after fourteen years with
Kodak/Digital,. So here I was, after 14 years with Kodak/DEC, no job, a
mortgage and family, paying child support, and totally depressed so bad I
didn't want to even get out of bed. And then I am told by a band member whom I
thought was a friend that I am self centered. Can you image?
The most self centered person I had ever encountered in my life tells
me I am self centered. If I was depressed before, you can only imagine
how low that made me feel. But I found out much much later how this guy
operates. It seems bridges were burnt well beyond repair. So, unable to find suitable employment in Rochester, I was offered an
excellent position with a major company in Falls Church, Virginia. It
was a tough decision to make, having to leave family, friends, the
band, and my home town, to start a new life in a different state. The
alternatives were dim, so I packed up the family and we relocated to
Fredericksburg, Virginia. But that's another story.. check out the "Wise
Guys", Glass Onion Band, and
Coverup
.
Well, as it always happens
in the music biz, R*Gang finally called it quits. New Years Eve, 2001 was
the final performance of R*Gang. Currently, Karl has left "Another
Perfect World" and is performing as a solo act on the piano and
recording his own material. In fact, Rich Fiordeliso (on keyboards) from "Vegas" and Kevin
(on guitar) performed with Jay Capossi (Brass Buttons , 1960's era) to
record a couple of ballads (June of 2005).
As an update, members
held in high esteem of R*Gang got back together again to perform at the
7th annual Pumpkinfest held by Randy Wolf and the PumpkinFest committee.
Unfortunately due to conflicts with one member of the band while it was
still together, all
members of R*Gang will never step on stage with this person. And
so, Karl Laporta, Lennie Colantoni, Steve Gallucci, and myself (Sweet Lou)
took the stage at 6pm and opened the festivities with American Band by
Grand Funk. R*Gang's harmonies and solos never sounded better. I was
totally enthralled at how well we performed after only a two hour practice
in which we had tunes like Soul Man, Long Train Running, and Knock on Wood
and others ready to go but unfortunately we ran out of time. R*Gang is
scheduled for the upcoming 8th annual PumpkinFest in October of 2011 and
can hardly wait to do it again. R*Gang would also like to thank our former
fans for coming out to see us!
As
of October 2010, Karl has been at work mastering a recording of his very
own music. I have gone to the studio and listened to one of his tunes It
was fantastic. I am back performing with the Glass Onion Band.
Also, now whenever I come
up to Rochester, which has been frequently lately, we all get together and
jam. It's a blast and a real temptation to visit every month.
At the 9th annual
pumpkinFest in 2011, Steve Gallucci's brother and my student from when he
was 14, Anthony Gallucci joined R*Gang on stage and added his excellent
guitar to the performance!!
Pictures coming shortly !!! We will see you again next year
