Elizabethton natives set stage for Rock Reunion cancer benefit concert Saturday

Published 8:06 am Friday, April 29, 2016

Contributed Photo Blue Fox Band members will reunite Saturday in Elizabethton for a rock reunion concert. Most members are pictured (front row from left) drummer John Gardner, percussionist Jim Bass, (back from left) keyboardist Andy Houston, rhythm guitarist Lee Gouge, bassist Randy Campbell,  lead guitarist Corky Hardin aka Berry Jolly.

Contributed Photo Blue Fox Band members will reunite Saturday in Elizabethton for a rock reunion concert. Most members are pictured (front row from left) drummer John Gardner, percussionist Jim Bass, (back from left) keyboardist Andy Houston, rhythm guitarist Lee Gouge, bassist Randy Campbell, lead guitarist Corky Hardin aka Berry Jolly.

A band of musicians that grew up here, jammed through the 60s and 70s and later dispersed has reunited and will perform live in Elizabethton Saturday night.

The Blue Fox Band, whose members are part of the Elizabethton graduating class of 1970, puts its own spin on familiar classics by artists like the Doobie Brothers, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, James Taylor, The Band, Eric Clapton, The Kinks, Jethro Tull and others.

Despite the broad array of genres they cover and the fact that they haven’t played together consistently in years, they have no plans of formally rehearsing before their performance.

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“I know we’ll go over some songs, but a lot is on the fly ad lib. There are a lot of nice accidents that happen that way,” said Tony Rominger, the band’s saxist, harmonica player and vocalist.

The Rock Reunion will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30,at the T.A. Dugger Junior High Auditorium and is open to the public. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is suggested to benefit the American Cancer Society and Carter County Relay for Life.

Band members at this year’s reunion include lead guitarist Berry “Corky” Jolly, bassist Randy Cambell, keyboardist Andy Houston, rhythm guitarist Lee gouge, Rominger, drummer Johnny Gardner, percussionist Jim Bass and friends.

They specify “and friends” as the band’s supple style is to adapt and incorporate the talent of each musician into a one-of-a-kind jam session. At the Rock Reunion in 2014, Bass’s great nephew, a saxist, ended up performing with them.

“When we were doing the sound check, he played with us,” said Bass. “He was 19 or 20 then, but music is music, you know. It’s amazing, you can just jump in and take off with it.”

While some of the members still live in Carter County, others are traveling from Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville for the show. Members have changed seomwhat over the years, at one point including Elizabethton City Councilman and drummer Sam Shipley.

Gardner has toured with Kenny Rogers and the Dixie Chicks, as well as recording with Taylor Swift, Don Williams and others. Rominger, like others members has played in numerous capacities with various groups including Chuck Berry and Sister Rose.

Though their lives and careers have developed in grown in different places, they said performing at the Rock Reunion is like reliving their garage jam sessions as kids in Elizabethton.

When the band first begun and members had fine-tuned their sets, they competed in Ohio at a national Battle of the Bands, where they placed second to a New Jersey group.

“That was wild,” Bass recalled.

They play songs like “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Long Train Runnin,’” “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “The Weight,” “Hey Joe,” “Wagon Wheel,” “You Really Got Me,” “With a Little Help from My Friends” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” among others.

Two years ago, the band performed its first Rock Reunion in Elizabethton, and percussionist Jim Bass said the show was a success, raising $1,500. He hopes to pack the house this year to raise even more money for the cause.

Raising awareness and funds for cancer research is a personal matter for each band member, as either they or their close family members have been diagnosed.

Rominger, owner of Note-Orious Sound Recording in Elizabethton, was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago and was given one year to live.

“So I play all I can for cancer fundraisers,” Rominger said. “The Lord’s been good to me.”

Bass’s first wife passed away following a battle with cancer.

“Everybody has either struggled with it themselves, or a close family member has,” Bass said. “We thought, ‘Let’s do this for a worthwhile cause,’ and that’s why we’re playing.”

Their next benefit concert will take place at the Down Home in Johnson City on May 21.