The Gettys Band

                        

        There was a time in my life, that i could say with reasonable confidence, that The Wrong Bongos ruled the Joliet music scene. A lot of Jolietians would agree with me. Little did i know, a mere 10 miles away, in Plainfield, there was another band ruling the world. 

       The Dux  existed in some kind of parallel universe, to Joliet. Brothers, Mike and Don Gettys, along with Jim Szopinski, are from the local music scenes' heyday. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to see them play, in the 70's and 80's,but, I'm sure they've always had the same, seemingly perfect balance of cover and original tunes. 

    We started sharing the stage with them about 5 years ago. I was impressed right away by the drum/vocal handling by Don. Mike also sings,quite well,but what caught my attention, was the way he makes the bass playing look easy. As a fellow guitar player, I noticed right away, the efficient size of the equipment Jim carried in. 1 pedal and an amp the size of a medium dictionary, completely filled the room, the first time I saw him play. 

      As if that weren't enough, Don and Mike have since added the talents of their sons, Derek on vocals and Zain on guitar, respectively. This not only added to the musical ability that was already there, but, they added a level of energy i wish i still had.

    It's always a pleasure to share the stage with these good friends.



The Gettys Band will be appearing, this Saturday, the 22nd w/ Under D Influence @ Gerry's place in Joliet. 8:30 p.m.