By Tracy Rasmussen
Eagle/Times
They're keeping their day jobs, but that doesn't stop them from jammin' all night long.The members of Kutztown area bands Retro Rangers and Elverson's Voodoo DeVille are still reveling in the very same things that drew them to music decades ago.
“It's fun,” said Buddy Cleveland, who sings and plays harmonica for blues band Voodoo DeVille. “That's really the only reason we do it.”
“We're at the stage now,” said George Paterno of nostalgia rock-a-billy band the Retro Rangers, “where we can really pick and choose what we want to do. That makes it a lot of fun.”
And while the music industry may have an expiration age for bringing bands out of the garage and into stadiums full of screaming fans, there is really no deadline for the kind of fun that Paterno and Cleveland have with their bands.
And, since members of both bands have left their 20s and 30s behind, they will tell you that while youth may be wasted on the young, those youthful dreams of making music simply never age.
Blues band Voodoo DeVille is comprised of Cleveland; Ray Bentley of Elverson on bass; John Gooding of Pughtown, Chester County on drums; Cliff Stackonis of Hellertown, Northampton County, on harmonica and vocals, and Steve Cocchi of Coatesville, Chester County, on keyboards.
The band was founded in the mid 1990s on a shared love of the blues. All of the band members work for Bentley Systems in Exton, and they practice at least once a week at Ray Bentley's barn.
“We're too big for a garage,” Cleveland quipped.
And despite the band's self-deprecating humor, they do have a following.
“Well obviously we aren't in it for the money,” Cleveland said. “But I think we have a great chemistry and balance. We all have similar taste in music and we have great personal chemistry. We like to have fun. We don't force it. I think that we have as much fun at our gigs as the audience.”
Cleveland added that his band mates are also accomplished musicians.
“Cliff has written a number of songs,” he said. “And we practice at least once a week. We are all really serious about continuing to get better.”
Voodoo Deville has traveled as far as Vermont for a gig, and, according to the Web site (www.voodoodeville.com) will perform just about anywhere for beer.
“We take the music seriously and some of us could have a future in music,” Cleveland said. “But we don't take ourselves too seriously.”
The Retro Rangers have had a similar attitude for all the years Paterno has fronted the band with vocals and guitar.
“We play a lot of music that people want to hear,” Paterno said. “But we also write our own music.”
The Retro Rangers have managed to fill more than two CDs with its retro rock-a-billy sound.
“The people in the band change once in a while, people come and go,” Paterno said. “But we always have a good group.”
The Retro Rangers currently includes Paterno, of Kutztown, Brian Wlazelek of Krumsville on guitar, Peg Speirs on keyboard and vocals, Greg Speirs of Reading on bass, Tom Stewart of Kutztown on drums and Bill Adamson of Emmaus on keyboards and vocals.
“Brian, Peg and Tom all have their PhDs,” Paterno said. “So we have a lot of doctors in the band.”
And although none of the doctoral work was done in music, it was education that brought the Retro Rangers together. All of its members work at Kutztown University.
The band plays in the Berks County area and practices weekly in Paterno's basement.
“It's better than a garage,” he said. “We just leave everything down in the basement and then when we are ready all we have to do is flip a switch. Also, this way my wife always knows where I am.”
Paterno said he's ready to leave much of the performing to younger musicians, but he's nowhere near ready to leave them the music.
“Most of the bar gigs want you from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., so we don't do a lot of gigs that way,” he said. “We do private parties and we've played at (resorts) Split Rock and fireworks shows. We get to pick and choose where we want to play.”
A favorite gig is at Piggy's in Lake Harmony.
“We even wrote them a song called Turn into Piggy's,” he said.
Paterno's musical dream now is writing.
“I want to write the songs that the young, good looking people can sing,” he said. “I'm in it for the original music now.”
Paterno wrote or co-wrote nearly all the songs on the Retro Rangers independently produced CD called Big Country Breakfast. Another Breakfast Donut has 16 original songs on it.
The CD that the Retro Rangers are working on (I'll Shut You Up) has eight original songs.
“I write almost all the lyrics and other people, like my son Stephen, write the music,” Paterno said.
Stephen, 17, is following in his father's footsteps by writing music for two songs on the new CD.
Paterno said he really doesn't have any big dream of giving up his day job as assistant provost at Kutztown University.
“My day job is great,” he said. “I've been doing music for 35 years, and I've met a lot of good people along the way. But it's a hobby thing.”
Cleveland, a senior vice president at Bentley Systems, echoes that sentiment.
“Most of us have high pressure professions,” he said. “The band allows us to be totally adolescent.”
Booking information for Voodoo DeVille is at the band's website, www.voodoodeville.com.
Booking information for Retro Rangers is available by calling George Paterno at 610-683-7571.
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