LIVE MUSIC @ SONGTAN - A continuous stream of live music has become regular part of the downtown Songtan bar scene and has been so for more than 12 years. There have been numerous ebbs and flows in the number and quality of bands, depending upon the number of musicians and groups that formed along the way. Considering most of the musicians in the Osan AB area are active duty military in Korea on a one-year tour, it’s surprising there were many bands at all, let alone those that have been able to stay together for more than a few months. Music equipment is also an issue; ten years ago (B.I. "Before Internet"), not too many musicians were aware of the Songtan music scene before coming to Korea and thus didn't bring their equipment. You can therefore imagine how hard it was to find a drummer! The below represents a brief history of these past 12+ years, along with some pictures of many of the bands mentioned below...
FRICTION/ELIXIR (1996-2004) - Despite living on the far edge of the music world for some time, there were, during the last twelve years, enough musicians, equipment, practice spaces, venues and more importantly, desire amongst musicians to play live music. One of the mainstay bands during this time was a band known as Friction, whose remaining members (meaning those who remained in Korea) went on to form The 99 Band (see below). Friction had its origins in the old Golden Bell Club (now Jammers) on Aragon Alley back in 1996. At the time, the band went through one or two name changes and can best be remembered as “Elixir.” Original members included Chris Ginther (guitar), Mike Wehner (bass extraordinaire), Mike Bellum (drums, drums, drums) and yours truly (Tom Daly) on vocals. If anyone out there has any pictures from those Friday/Saturday night gigs, we’d be most appreciative to get a copy to post here. The actual attached Elixir photos came from a gig at the Xanadu Club, which was Friction’s “home” bar prior to the 99 and featured Clay Simmons on bass (following Mike Wehner’s PCS and Mark Twyman’s stint with the band). Elixir continued to play a few clubs downtown (to include Anjungni) as well as other on-base gigs such as the long ago Chin Mok festival on Osan AB. Things kind of broke up in late 1997, but following a few failed attempts to get the band going again, the band resurrected itself as "Friction" in early 1999 and went on to be the house band at the Zone Club, featuring some great musicians playing to full houses almost every weekend. Band members included Russ Brown (guitar), Darrin Horner (guitar), Trace McQuorkadale (bass, sorry on the name spelling Trace), Mike Bellum and myself. Great band, great music, great times…then the inevitable PCS’s began again. Chris Ginther rejoined and Shawn Kirkbride (of Violent Playground fame) came on-board on bass as did Josh Ferber (of the Minnesota Ferbers) on guitar. This started a great run playing gigs both on- and off-base. Friction could be found most weekends at the Xanadu Club, cranking out hard edged rock and roll to the sweaty, cigarette smoke-ridden masses. A shout out of thanks to the Mike and Yujin at the Xanadu for taking us in all those years.
We continued gigging through late 2003 and during those later years, a number of great musicians became part of the Friction legacy; Rocky (guitar), Mike V (guitar), Brian (drums), the aforementioned Clay and Josh for their second stint as well as Jon Seay (drums), who later joined The 99 Band. When we originally formed The 99 Band, we briefly considered resurrecting the Friction name, but quickly decided it was better to forge ahead with a new name that reflected a new start.
LAST CALL (2004) - In early 2004, an acoustic powerhouse duo emerged from dust of the Friction Experience. A talented, heavily experienced guitarist/singer decided to plant roots in the Songtan area, having previously made numerous trips to Korea as a member of various house bands playing at the famed Hyatt Hotel bar, JJ Mahoney’s. Shane Uttely, hailing from Brisbane, Australia (and points in between) and yours truly formed an acoustic duo known as “Last Call” that started out in the small Hurricane Club and ended up with weekly gigs at the Roadhouse Club and Piano Bar as well as on-base at the Mustang Club. Although more “intimate” in style than a Friction gig, it didn’t stop the pair from blazing through Metallica, Tool, Creed, Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters and Audioslave tunes along with more traditional acoustic renditions of your favorite rock and roll songs, all relying on one guitar and two voices….supplemented by large amounts of Jaegermeister kindly supplied by appreciative audiences. Shane’s departure for gigs elsewhere in Asia ended “Last Call,” but there is always the chance and hope there may be a reunion of some sort in the future. If anyone is interested in contacting Shane, stop by the 99 and I’ll pass on your message.
THE 99 BAND (2005-06) - Forming what became the first iteration of the 99 Band was a quest itself. Mike Bellum and I went on a “search and destroy” for new musicians and were lucky to meet up with Kevin Kunath (guitars) during the initial search phase. Lots of 3x5 cards and various adverts later, Scott “Lumpy” Lumpkin called me out of the blue to express his interest in playing bass. We had known each other for a number of years, but little did any of us know of the bass prowess Scott possessed (and still does). So there we were, four musicians looking for another guitar player to round out the band. In the interim, however, we started gigging and found it was equally as good with just the four of us and that’s how we decided to proceed. During Fall 2005, Jon Seay came on to play drums and that became The 99 Band thru June 2006, when Lumpy moved back to the States. During that time, Jon went off to the Air Force’s NCO Academy, during which time Adam Fillers “filled” in on drums. Have to give Adam a shout of thanks and appreciation for doing such a great job, learning lots of songs and maintaining a great attitude throughout. Look forward to playing together again someday. Once Jon returned from school, we added a new bass player (Jason Martin) and a new guitar player (Alex Murillo of Six Hand Jam fame). That’s where we stood going into Fall 2006.
THE 99 BAND (2007-Present) - The beginning of 2007 saw the beginning of a full-scale change in 99 Band personnel. Jason departed for Germany and Kyle Ross (of the famed Ross Family Semi-Singers) joined on bass. We were lucky to land Kyle, who's smooth playing and demeanor (
) was a great addition to the band. Kevin departed for Misawa, Japan and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, who should appear but Shaun Field on guitar. Ballsy sound on guitar with multi-band experience kicked us into the Summer of 2007, when Adam (multi-band Adam: 99 Band, Bluetooth Blues Band & Six Hand Jam - wow!) left for Florida and B (Bernard), the shoeless drumming wonder, was now behind the kit thru 2007. Following Kyle's departure (READ: RETIREMENT!), we were EXTREMELY fortunate to add Neil Bacoski on bass....who's minimum #/strings required for ANY bass guitar is six strings. Energy, musical knowledge & experience and vocals combined with some of the most supreme bass playin' anyone's seen around these parts in quite some time made three-part harmonies a standard with The 99 Band...that and the only person I've ever seen playing a 7-string FRETLESS bass for the sweating, drinking masses. FINALLY, there we were....in need of a drummer....when who steps up the proverbial 99 Band plate but Mr. Dave Mattingly, of Fishbowl 5 & Presence fame. "I'm game for the gig," says he..."You're in," says I. This line-up continued through Fall 2008, with gigs at various festivals as well as in Pyongtaek and Seoul. Things military being what they are, reality set in when Shaun PCS'd (that's military reassignment to some) to Virginia in Nov 09. Down, but not out, The 99 Band was poised to begin gigging again in December 2008 with new membership primed to continue rockin' out The 99 Bar and the entire surrounding area.
BLUETOOTH BLUES BAND (2006-Present) - Musicians being restless as they are, there arose of group of grizzly musicians who felt the town needed a blues band. So the Bluetooth Blues Band (or "B3") was born in August 2006, consisting of members of the 99 Band and Six Hand Jam (Alex, Joe & Casey), along with Adam Fillers on drums and an old friend and co-worker, Rick Chaffin. There had been many conversations about playing the blues with Rick over the years, but this was the first time anyone in Songtan had ever been able to witness his axe prowess. BOY WERE WE SURPRISED!!! Bluetooth's focus was blues all the way, shaping songs from blues artists going all the way back to Robert Johnson. Many of the songs have been remade and reshaped by various artists and we just try to put our own spin on them for your listening pleasure. Bluetooth filled in on both Fridays and Saturdays and got its start as the opening act on one of the 99 Supershows, where we showcase two (sometimes more) bands in one night.
Beginning in Jan 07, we were fortunate to add Ray Armstrong to the B3 line-up on piano. Ironically, about 9-10 years prior, we had approached Ray about joining Friction; however, we were probably alittle too "ROCK & ROLL" to match up. Ray's jazz influence to the B3 blues sound brought a musical fluidity that expanded our repetoire to take advantage of his unique sound and talents. Soon after Ray joined, we began some band member transitions that added new members as original members returned to the States. On guitar, Casey Treadway and on bass, Kyle Ross. This carried us thru late 2007, when Adam (of Six Hand Jam & 99 Band fame) PCS'd (that's "Permanent Change of Station" to you non-military types) to Florida. Casey & Kyle had departed by this time as well and we had been carrying on as a one-guitar band. Chris St. Germain was now firmly entrenched on bass and holding down the bottom end (no pun intended Chris). We were also in need of a new drummer and after a few drummers over a short period of time (Rich G & Chuck M), we were blessed to add Robert/Bob/Bobby/Brotha' Numsi on drums. Why "blessed" you might ask? It's rare that you begin playing with someone and know right away that it'll work. The major part of 2008 saw B3 continuing to gel. Taek Song "Taxi" Chung (of Fishbowl Five fame) joined B3 to get that second guitar we'd been lacking for almost a year and B3 headlined the Osan Blues & BBQ Festival in September 2008 to rave reviews. However, good things can only last so long, and when a job opportunity became available for Rick in Germany, he grabbed at the brass ring and was thus able to join his significant other, Holly, who had moved to Germany earlier in the summer. Alas, a great friend and guitar player is now living on the other side of the world. Around the same time, Ray moved to Seoul, but is still (as of this day) a full-fledged B3 member, joining B3 gigs as his schedule permits (until he gets a day job of course). So there we were in Fall 2008 in need of a guitar player, when fortune, in the form of Kevin Armstrong on guitar, found its way to B3 and the band is back on its feet gigging again. Blues all the way baby!
LOTS OF GREAT BANDS (2005-Present) - When we originally started out playing live music at The 99 in 2005, we hadn't really given much thought to bringing in other bands -- we didn't know if there'd be much interest in playing at The 99 other than by ourselves. Lo and behold, that was not the case. Over the past four years, we've had some great bands (and great fans supporting them) playing at The 99: The Bad Moon Band (both JT- and JB-versions), Six Hand Jam, Fishbowl Five, Faded, Presence, Acme, The 40 Days, Pants Optional, Saturday's Here, Hush House, The Jaywalkers and more recently, Adam Cruz and his killer one-man acoustic attack. Add to that a number of All Star Jams with musicians from various bands coming together for a night of serious jamming and fun. We're always looking for new bands to take the stage at The 99, so if your band is ready or you know of a band that could "fit the bill," please let us know!
