The Murphy Brothers Band was made up of Garry(guitar), Ty(bass), and Lonnie(drums). We all grew up playing music at Half Moon Lake near Casnovia, Michigan. Garry(me), being the oldest, started playing guitar at about 15 yr old. I played in highschool bands at school functions…sock hops, home-comings, etc. The first band was “the Rubber Band”. It included Garry on guitar, Eddie Rodriguez on drums, Chuck Bergman on guitar, and Leon Pratt(bass). Leon actually played bass on a 6-string. ha. We entered, and won the local talent show. We played mostly popular radio songs and a couple of originals. Later, I formed “Soul Ambition” with me on guitar, Vince Reyna on guitar, Steve Wilde on Drums, and Rick Baker on bass. We did mostly originals and played a lot of high school events and parties. We were in our late teens to early twenties at the time. Through the years since, I have been part of several bands but none seemed to stick together long. So, when my younger brothers grew up a little, we got together as the “Murphy Bros Band” and that stuck for many years. We played many high school events, parties, some bars( including Westgate Bowl), lots of weddings, etc. This band played all the good old classic rock tunes from Bob Seger, John Cougar, Bad Co, ZZ Top, etc. In more recent years, I played a couple of years with Area 96 out of Coopersville and now I am jamming with my son, Matt, on drums/vocals, Erica Woods on lead guitar, John Woods on bass, and myself on lead/rhythlm guitar and vocals. Not sure what our name is but the sound has come together really well and we cover classic rock tunes as well as a few country songs. It’s all good!
Where Nostalgia and History meet to create a perfect bond!
MUSICIAN –BAND OF THE WEEK
Hysterical's Musician Pick of the week - Bob Reinhardt from Bob and the Rockbillies, the Oldest Rock Band from Grand Rapids
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Hysterical Tidbits
These are examples of short stories that we have collected from interviews and discussions with West Michigan musicians. We find them interesting and hope you will, too. We don’t have the time to write long articles about all these stories, but hope that you enjoy the tidbits as much as we do. Click on stories below:
Entertainment writer, music critic and Local Spins Live host John Sinkevics comments on the West Michigan and national music scene. Double Click on Record to see more....
The Murphy Brothers Band was made up of Garry(guitar), Ty(bass), and Lonnie(drums). We all grew up playing music at Half Moon Lake near Casnovia, Michigan. Garry(me), being the oldest, started playing guitar at about 15 yr old. I played in highschool bands at school functions…sock hops, home-comings, etc. The first band was “the Rubber Band”. It included Garry on guitar, Eddie Rodriguez on drums, Chuck Bergman on guitar, and Leon Pratt(bass). Leon actually played bass on a 6-string. ha. We entered, and won the local talent show. We played mostly popular radio songs and a couple of originals. Later, I formed “Soul Ambition” with me on guitar, Vince Reyna on guitar, Steve Wilde on Drums, and Rick Baker on bass. We did mostly originals and played a lot of high school events and parties. We were in our late teens to early twenties at the time. Through the years since, I have been part of several bands but none seemed to stick together long. So, when my younger brothers grew up a little, we got together as the “Murphy Bros Band” and that stuck for many years. We played many high school events, parties, some bars( including Westgate Bowl), lots of weddings, etc. This band played all the good old classic rock tunes from Bob Seger, John Cougar, Bad Co, ZZ Top, etc. In more recent years, I played a couple of years with Area 96 out of Coopersville and now I am jamming with my son, Matt, on drums/vocals, Erica Woods on lead guitar, John Woods on bass, and myself on lead/rhythlm guitar and vocals. Not sure what our name is but the sound has come together really well and we cover classic rock tunes as well as a few country songs. It’s all good!