Strange Loves
spinning04.gif
Calendar
Songs
Pics
Bio
The Band
The New River Valley Current
Special to The Roanoke Times
This band just wants to have fun
The Strangeloves are living their dreams - one song at a time.
By Michael Miller
981-3341
Guitarists shuffled about making small adjustments to their tunings, microphone stands were moved, amplifier knobs tweaked. Finally, the band members looked at each other expectantly.
"Ready?" asked Dr. Disco Danny Dunlap.
Four drumstick taps later, a driving dance tune was shaking the floor and rattling the windows as the Strangeloves launched into another Tuesday night practice session in a Blacksburg basement.
In a town filled with college-age combos, this band is four adults with families and full-time jobs who are living their dreams - or at least part of them - playing popular songs from the 1960s and '70s in clubs and at private parties.
And so far, the neighbors' only complaints have been "to tell us to turn up the volume so they can hear better," said Dunlap, lead guitarist, vocalist and founder of the Strangeloves. An early fortysomething who taught science at Blacksburg High School, Dunlap now does research into human-computer interaction at Virginia Tech while working on his Ph.D.
Joining him in the band are rhythm guitarist and vocalist Lee Worley, who has a master's degree in art and currently teaches at Blacksburg Middle School, singer De-dee Brookshire, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital, and bassist Greg Bump, who in his mid-30s is the youngest member of the band. Bump has a master's degree in Electrical Engineering and a full-time job writing software used in cell phone communication systems.
If these don't sound like the typical ages and occupations of a bunch of rockers, consider that each of the band members is actually in at least one other band as well, all listed on the strangeloves.com Web site. The Strangeloves is their recreational band, so to speak.
"I started the band as a sort of joke," said Dunlap, who has been in bands around Blacksburg since 1985. "I was tired of being so meticulous with the music."
"Yeah," added Worley, who has also been in bands for at least 10 years. "I found I was not having enough fun during practices."
While Bump and Brookshire are relative newcomers, Dunlap and Worley have a long history in the local music scene. Dunlap was an early member of the Electric Woodshed, a sort of legend among local bands. Worley was a member of another band that, while playing a different style of music, still competed for the local jobs.
"They were evil." said Worley. "They were very popular, and got all the good jobs. We considered them the enemy. Plus, they were a cover band, and we played a lot of original music. Naturally we looked down on them musically."
That all changed one day when Dunlap helped Worley out by making some alterations to his guitar. The resulting professional friendship eventually led to the Strangeloves.
But Dunlap and Worley still have different musical backgrounds and opinions, and practice sessions often turn into marathon philosophical and music history discussions. Brookshire and Bump sit back and watch the verbal sparring.
It uses up a lot of practice time, but "We find that practicing doesn't really help us that much anyway," Dunlap said.
The point of the Strangeloves, after all, is to have fun, and interpreting songs like "Mustang Sally" and "Somebody to Love" does it for this band.
"This music bridges generations," Worley said. "It's very rewarding to see such different people together. Many nights you can see 14-year-olds and 50-year-olds dancing together. It brings out fun in people that you wouldn't expect."