Meet the group, from right to left.
Chris, the group's founder, started playing music in his teenage years. If you can find one, you will see his picture on an album cover featuring a folk group called the Towne Hall Trio. Only 200 copies were originally printed, and that was far too great a number. He dogged family and friends for months to purchase copies, as did the other members, Mike and Jeff. The Towne Hall Trio played at the Indiana State Fair, did a few college concerts, and specialized in political gatherings and post-prom entertainment. Hootenannies were huge in the mid and late sixtes and the trio came along at the right time. Fortunately, the early years of rock and roll were formative ones for Chris. You will find many early rock and folk pop songs in the Social Studs repertoire. It would be truly amazing if you recognized any of them.
Ryan, not pictured, is the true instrumentalist of the group and the only Plainfieldian. It is because of him that we have to play in tune He is an accomplished guitarist, lead and bass, and throws in the mandolin on a few of the folk songs. He is the youngest member of the group and is hated for that. Look for him in the background when you come to see us sing. He is the steady rock of us all, a source of envy and hatred.
Brian, who thinks he is the lead vocalist, hails from the south and sings like it. Fortunately for all of us, he can hit the high notes, knowing full well that if he doesn't, he will be expelled from the group. Actually, Brian has a church choir voice. One day when he was absent from church choir rehearsal, someone asked if the organ had been fixed. He does, however, do a mean interpretation of Bobby Darin, one which we all are sure will stick with you for a very long time to come. Some of you may not realize that Brian was the understudy for the principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Howard, the "senior" vocalist, does a pretty good Ricky Nelson, if the guitars are loud enough. He sings some bass and some alto. We're not quite sure which is which or when either will appear, but we're so glad to have him as our spokesperson. He is an original member of Three Men and a Brady and rumor has it that he can do a pretty good job playing the accordion. He is a wine connoisseur (really he is) and a martini virtuoso. He is the most congenial person you will ever meet though he hails from Arkansas. The girls love to watch him dance, and so does Ryan. Fortunately, seldom does he sing more than he talks.
Chris 2 is from Vincennes, but we don't hold that against him. He is the harmonica guy when called for. We have gradually weaned him off his favorite instrument, bass oats (come on, you have all seen the Quaker package). He would drum away for hours in a field of black-eyed susans and be oh so happy. Chris will drop an occasional funny bomb but, hopefully, never loud enough to be picked up by the mike. He is our intimidator when trouble is brewing; however, good taste prevents further discussion of this topic. He will accompany Howard on some of the low harmony and occasionally hits the correct note, although it may be an octave off.
Pat, aka Kojak, is Chris's brother. We have been regaled with all the brother stories from their childhood (there were six boys...bless their dear mother). He plays rhythm guitar and contributes a few solos. He likes Johnny Cash and whatever else he is told to play. Before rehearsals, you can hear the brothers dueting a Cash favorite or challenging one another to a game of rock-paper-scissors. No one ever wins because they invariably forget how to play it, much like the rhythm guitar.
Brady, Chris 1's son, is back in the group. We decided to add someone with rhythm and he's a pretty good drummer. He has made quite a jumpshift to this type of music since he quit, pretty much, playing rock music which involved the delivery of unintelligiblly harsh vocals accompanied by a constant assault on the inner ear by both bass and lead guitars. We're very happy to have him, but now we look like a "band', not a"group", so expectations have risen another level.