f549422f9ef7a26bf1bfec5003b2845c.jpg

Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll

There’s no age limit when it comes to rocking out on stage

By Kristin Boyd
Some are grandparents. Others receive senior discounts at their favorite stores and hangout spots. A few are retired. But don’t let their AARP cards fool you.
   When over-50 rockers like Linda Newport hit the stage, they know how to shake, rattle and roll better than Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers combined. And they’ve got the oldies-but-goodies to prove it.
   Whether fulfilling childhood dreams, or simply having a good time rocking out with friends, adults are joining grown-up garage bands and proving age ain’t nothing but a number.
   ”I feel like I’m in my 30s,” says Ms. Newport, 58, of Hillsborough, who formed the country rock band Whiskey Girls in summer 2007. “I’m having fun.”
   Since their first performance in March, the Whiskey Girls have hit a high note, surprising even Ms. Newport, who had no interest in music until a few years ago. Her only musical memory is playing the accordion when she was a young girl; when she became a wife, mother, cheerleading coach and den mother, performing in front of a live audience was never a priority on her daily to-do list.
   ”I was a busy mom and wife in my 20s,” says Ms. Newport, now a grandmother. “I never had time to think about myself.”
   The soundtrack of her life, however, changed when she re-married in 1993. Her husband, Rick, is a lifelong musician, and soon she was tagging along to all of his gigs. She became fascinated with the bass guitar; she doesn’t know how or why, simply describing her feelings as love at first sight.
   ”Just before turning 55, I turned to my husband and said, ‘I think I’m going to learn the bass guitar.’ It looked like a good instrument,” Ms. Newport says.
   Since learning how to play, she occasionally performed with her husband’s band, Tequila Rose. He later suggested she start an all-girl band.
   ”Hmm, that sounds like a good idea,” Ms. Newport thought, and the Whiskey Girls were born. “We were throwing around a bunch of names, and one girl suggested that. It’s a country thing,” she says, laughing. “It has nothing to do with drinking.”
   Chris Mayes, 54, of Ewing, on the other hand, always dreamed of becoming a guitar player. He grew up listening to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
   Eventually, he played guitar in a string of teen garage bands with friends. But as he settled into adulthood, got married and took a job as a state trooper, he became a “bedroom guitar player,” he says. “Then, it was a hobby.”
   Now retired, he’s playing a new tune with country-rock band SunDog. “You don’t feel 54 when you’re playing; you don’t feel the age so much,” he says. “It’s like a dream come true. Sometimes, I just smile. Here I am playing all the songs I used to listen to as a kid, and I’m good at it.”
   His bandmate, Phil Gambetta, 59, of Sewaren, also grew up surrounded by music. Now, he’s a dispatcher for an oil company by day, and a kick-butt drummer at night.
   ”Everybody in my family played an instrument. My father played the accordion, my brother played the accordion, my mother played the accordion and my other brother played the drums,” says Mr. Gambetta, who also plays keyboard.
   Raised in New York City, he’s played in several rock ‘n’ roll bands, including the Konvix. His personal style is southern and classic rock, he says, adding one of his favorite songs is “Hold on Loosely” by 38 Special.
   Mr. Gambetta, who looks like he’s in his 40s, has never had any problem letting loose. But playing with SunDog, he says, has taught him music has no age limits.
   ”If you get the audience going, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” he says. “With any band, they’ll stick around to hear what you got, and if you give it to them, it doesn’t make any difference how old you are. They don’t care. Music is international. It breaks down barriers.”
   Jerry Rife, 58, of Ewing, has been breaking barriers for 25 years with his band the Rhythm Kings, patterned after traditional New Orleans’ swing bands.
   Not your typical idea of a band? Maybe, but Mr. Rife and his musical cohorts rock out, nonetheless. “We can play traditional jazz and Dixieland, or we can play standard swing jazz of the 1930s and 1940s,” says Mr. Rife, a professor of music at Rider University in Lawrence. “It’s a creative outlet, the creative side of my life.”
   Mr. Rife has played music since he was a child. He started with piano lessons, but after hearing jazz records by Dukes of Dixieland, he chartered a new musical course. In high school, he formed a band, the Mason Dixies.
   What makes the Rhythm Kings great, and what sets the band apart, is the group’s mastery of ensemble playing, Mr. Rife says.
   ”Our real magic happens when we’re playing together,” he says. “It’s what happens between the instruments, and what’s happening collectively as a band.
   ”Jazz is, at its nature, improvisational,” he continues. “So we never rehearse, it’s all improvised. It’s music of the moment, and that’s the exciting thing about it. I want the spontaneity of the moment. And when the audience recognizes it and hears that and gets into that, it’s just a magical moment.”
   While Mr. Mayes and the others like performing, getting into the swing of things wasn’t always easy. Initially, Mr. Mayes, who also plays saxophone, felt a little rusty. Then, there are the occasional aches and pains that come with fast-paced performing.
   ”You’re only as old as you feel, except for the days you have aches and pains, or you’re really tired,” Mr. Mayes says. “But you don’t really give the age that much of a thought. Music is universal, so once you’re playing and people are dancing to your music, all the aches go away.”
   Mr. Rife, who also directs the Blawenburg Band, agrees, saying music sooths the soul.
   ”I am really about 23 when I play,” he says. “Aches and pains, concerns of the worlds, worries, whatever, stress, tragedies, friends that are not doing well, whatever it is, they go away when you put that clarinet in your mouth.
   ”You’re communing with the gods,” he adds. “You’re sending energy into the world and changing things. When you do a concert, and you’re stressed or whatever, you come out of it, and it’s not there anymore. You’ve worked through it. It’s music therapy, really.”
   No matter what age, though, the performers all feel at home on stage. They love getting lost in the music and interacting with audience members, who often sing along with the lyrics or jump out of their seats and begin dancing.
   ”I enjoy getting the crowd into it,” Mr. Gambetta says. “One feeds on the other. We feed off of that energy.
   ”That kind of interaction, when I see somebody really responding to me, and interacting with me is great,” he continues. “You can tell by the look on their face that they’re really enjoying themselves. That bond right there is really everything.”
   Mr. Mayes agrees, adding, “When you see people dancing to your music, when you get applause and just the feeling you have when people are enjoying something that you do — that’s the best.”
To book a band: Whiskey Girls, www.myspace.com/whiskeygirlsbandwww.sundogcountry.com