August 3, 2005
Dixieland Devotionals
Backroom Gang performs summer shows at Presbyterian Church
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
For a dose of boogie-woogie, finger-snapping and foot-tapping music, the place to be Wednesday nights is the Dixieland Devotionals.
The Backroom Gang gives five shows during the summer at the Presbyterian Church and packs the pews every week with fans and fans-to-be.
Last Wednesday, just under 500 people attended the 90-minute event, which also featured a talk by Dr. Homer Nye, pastor of the church, and some sing-along tunes for the crowd. A free-will offering by attendees garnered just under $2,000 for area charities including the Goodwill Inn, Love INC, the Women's Resource Center and the Grand Traverse Regional Health Coalition.
Music, devotion and helping others is a mid-week combo that can't be beat.
"We enjoy it and we'll be back," said David Richards of Plymouth, who attended the event with his wife, Milanne. "We've been trying to get up here for years, this is the first time we've made it but we'll be back."
The Dixieland Devotionals began in 1997 and has raised more than $37,000 for these agencies since then. Beginning with a four-week session, the run soon expanded to five Wednesdays and attendance builds each week during the summer.
"What we've discovered is that it's become a night out," said Nye, pastor of the church for 28 years.
The church teamed with the Backroom Gang as a way to give back and the audience is drawn from the community at large. The church adds to their mailing list every session and sends a reminder every year before summer begins. Their list includes addresses downstate and in Chicago, people who have attended while in town and want to make sure they return on a future vacation.
"Probably the vast majority are not from our congregation," said Jim Seidel, director of music for the church. "There's no recruiting, no push to come back, just an evening of fellowship and a little devotion."
The Backroom Gang is already well-known locally as they have been playing Dixieland in the region for more than 35 years. While the current band does not include any original members, the seven musicians and two vocalists have been playing together for decades.
"It's been fun because I've been doing this for a long time," said Don Frost, the drummer for the group, which also includes trombone, tuba, piano, trumpet, clarinet and banjo. "It's just fun music, happy music. You can't just play the notes, you've got to feel them."
The Backroom Gang is so named because they began in the backroom of the former Abby pizza parlor on 14th Street.
"The owners decided they wanted to put together a Dixieland band so they put an ad in the paper," said Jan Fisher, a vocalist with the group. "Most Dixieland bands have the same instrumentation but the odd thing was the ad asked anyone interested just to show up. Basically they got one of everything."
The original musicians clicked and later played at Little Ceasar's before moving to Dill's Olde Towne Saloon, where they played for 30 years. They play traditional jazz and blues as well as Dixieland and perform locally at weddings, parties and public venues. In previous years, they toured jazz festivals extensively, an unusual Dixieland band because they had two female vocalists.
The band enjoys their summer sessions at the church, meeting old friends there and making new ones.
"The Presbyterian Church is fun because we get to see so many of the same people year after year," Fisher noted. "There were a couple of ladies last week who had been fans of the Backroom Gang since the late 70s so these people follow us wherever we go."
The remaining summer Dixieland Devotionals with the Backroom Gang will be held Wednesday, August 3 and 10, at 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church, 701 Westminster in Traverse City. A free-will offering will be accepted and church members serve cookies and lemonade after the program. It is best to arrive early to allow time to park and find a seat.