Side By Side

TWENTY YEARS. That's a long time to even remain FRIENDS, let alone band mates, but ... here we are. It was in the summer of 1988 that Sal Bruno, our fabulous sax man, suggested that we three girls learn a few Andrews Sisters tunes to perform at the Camp Stoneman Reunion Day stage door canteen show, for which he was the talent coordinator. Camp Stoneman, which closed it's doors for good in 1958, was an active military camp in Pittsburg, CA during WWII. A few of us actually have ties to it, in the form of parents who worked there or traveled through on the way to their war destinations; Jimmy was actually BORN in the Camp! Little did we know that, after having hunted through war surplus stores for pseudo-military WAC uniforms, and doing our little quot;one timequot; stint as quot;The Andrews Sistersquot;, aka quot;Vocal-Ease and the Fly Boysquot;, that we'd fall so much in love with the music of the '40s, we'd be performing it for another twenty years?! Julie, Betsy, Carol, Sal, and Jimmy all met as children, singing and playing guitar for the Good Shepherd Folk Choir in Pittsburg. The Choir was also where we three girls quot;clickedquot; as a trio, arranging many church songs in harmony to suit our three voices. Ned, who is the only original quot;Fly Boy/Boogie Manquot; still working with us today, played in high school bands with Sal. Several good friends and talented musicians added much to the group over the years, including Jimmy and Peter Riso, Cyril Eshabarr, Lou Esposito, Martin Johnson, Larry Widener, and Nick Woodson on drums; Mark Lavezzo and Brian Leber on guitar; and Alan Revello and Erwin Balsa on piano and synthesizer. We have performed close to home in East Contra Costa County, and as far away as San Francisco and Monterey, and throughout the Greater Bay Area. We've played in sweltering heat, rain, wind, and snow; at fancy hotels, in parks, and at biker bars. Learning to sing ANYTHING by the Andrews Sisters proved daunting at first, but we did it, spending hours with our heads cocked over record and tape players, listening and listening to the old albums we'd found in our parents' stashes and dug up at local record shops! When people mention that we make it sound quot;easyquot;...well, that's just about the best compliment we could receive! We also appreciate when people tell us that we quot;sound just like the Andrews Sisters!quot; Well, who ever COULD besides Patty, Maxine, and Laverne? We keep those three ladies on their pedestals, exactly where they belong. The Boogie Men are our little BIG band. They provide us solid support and their musical versatility on multiple instruments and vocals enhances every performance. It's been an amazing joy to put these recordings together for you and for us... a sort of documentary of the last twenty years to celebrate our anniversary ... and it's been nothing if not an incredible and sentimental journey.