In the beginning...

Greeting everyone! Welcome to our new blog!

As last week's announcement indicated, we are going to use this forum to discuss all things Wizards. We’ll chat about all of the rich elements of the Christmas season, our music and Holiday music in general.  While I will be leading the discussion, you can expect to hear from nay of  the band members at different points and even our extended family of lighting director, FOH sound engineer, agents, marketing team etc. Basically, an amalgam of everyone and everything that is part of the Wizards production.

You can expect the tone to be conversational. I will be expressing many of my own views and memories. As a disclaimer up front, the views and opinions presented are mine and don’t necessarily represent those of any other member, even Sharon :-) .  Everyone in the ensemble is free to speak for themselves.

Let’s jump in!

One of the most frequently asked questions Sharon and I get is a two parter “ How did the band get started and how did you choose the name?”

Those of you that have been following us for years already know most of this story. I will provide a few more tidbits that we usually don’t share to keep it interesting. For new fans, or those that have had only a casual interest in The Wizards, you will get some better insight into what we are all about and how we became what we are. There is a lot serendipity or divine intervention that lead to our creation. I still shake my head wondering how we actually got here.

Once Upon A Time/ How the Stars Aligned

Back in 2009 the country was still reeling from the impact of the “Great Recession”. The housing market had collapsed and many people were out of work…including me. Music has never been my career. I spent my working years as a serial entrepreneur in the software industry. The latest start up I created had come to a crashing halt when the venture capital community stopped making investments. It left Sharon and I pondering our next moves as a family.

In this same period, Sharon and I had the happenstance to meet Steve Ratchen ( a great bass player) who had come to one of my shows at cover band I was playing with. We got to chatting and became fast friends.  (Star Point 1)

It was getting close to the Christmas season. We heard through our church that our local food pantry was in dire need of support. Sharon and I talked about how we might help but really at that time we didn’t have the financial means to do much.  We had 2 kids and college and anyone that has experienced it knows the expense that brings!

One day we were speaking with our new friend Steve and the topic came up during our discussion. I mentioned that I wondered if we couldn’t put together a benefit concert. He liked the idea and said he was in. I told him that I always liked the music of TSO and perhaps we could perform music from their “Christmas Eve and other stories” album along with other Christmas classics. He and Sharon thought that would be great and so with the nucleus in place, we were off to the races.

Steve and I reached out to other local musicians we knew and soon we had drums, 2 guitars,  and both male and female vocals in place. We ran an online local ad and found our first violinist and we were all set.  We began rehearsing as much as we could and after several months we were ready to go….but we needed a name.

We never really intended to do more than a couple of shows or maybe even just the one benefit event.  The band name didn’t seem to be important, but we needed one.

Wizards?

We secured the local HS auditorium to do the  benefit show. That was the easy part. We then had to figure out where we were going to get a PA system, some lights, and how to sell tickets.  A few of us cobbled together a few dollars and 16 used Par Can lights from Craigslist. I was going to run them with my foot from a pedalboard beneath my keyboards.  How exciting! LOL Such a huge production!!

At the same time there was a very popular song from TSO called “ Wizards in Winter” being pushed on all the radio stations and even in a beer commercial.  I told everyone that since we were playing mostly TSO music that perhaps we should call ourselves The Wizards of Winter. After all the abbreviation was “ WOW” and we certainly would have the “ wow factor” with that fantastic light show we had just purchased.  Everyone liked the idea and that was that. 😉  (Star Point 2)

Long Story Short…

That first year we did the benefit  concert and raised a few thousand dollars for the food pantry. They were very grateful. People loved the show and suggested other places we should perform and so we did a few more.  When the season was over we all talked about how much fun we had and decided we would do it again the following season.

We kept the name and the next year we increased the number of shows. During the year leading up to that second season I thought seriously about writing some original music to put in the show. I had never done that before but that is a story for another day.

Year Two lead to Year 3 and so on.  Our shows started become mostly our own original material by that time with a TSO tune or two and some Christmas classics thrown in to fill the evening.  As time passed we built a little local following.  We kept the name. It seemed harmless. There was no long term vision of this little merry band of music makers turning into a national touring original artist. We were just happy to play our music and help those in need along the way.

Those Stars Again

Things really changed for us in 2013.   Three really big things happened in succession after that.

1:) We released our first studio album.

2:)I had an out of the blue conversation with Tommy Farese, one of TSO’s original lead vocalists ( Orament, This Christmas Day, Snow Came Down) that lead to 4 of their former members joining us on tour.  ( Star Point 3)  That initial discussion with Tommy while need its own story at some point.  Either divine intervention or serendipity lead us to a great long term friendship. (Star Point 3)

3:) We also connected with a music industry legend, Jonny Z ( Jon Zazula). He is the man that discovered Metallica and was the founder of Megaforce records. ( Star Point 4) He was a very kind soul that just loved our music.  Over time he too became one of my most cherished friends.  Jonny became our Manager. As part of our initial chats we talked about the band’s name and how closely it was tied to the name of a TSO song and wondered if we should change it.  He told us, sorry my friends. It is too late, that ship sailed. And so with that guidance in hand, we embraced the name. We went and registered it as a Federal trademark and never looked back.(Star Point 4)

And There You Have It

The alignment of all these completely random events set us on this journey. While it wasn’t something we were looking for, Sharon and I have fully embraced it. The Wizards is now part of who we and our family are. Many of our other performing members feel the same way too. It is hard to imagine life for us without The Wizards in it.

And one of the great things about this adventure is that we have been able to stay true to the original core value of giving back to those in need. Over the years we have been able to support many charities including a couple of key ones with are Backpack Friends ( www.backpackfriends.org) and Tunnels to Towers ( t2t.org).

So that’s the story….in about a 1000 words 😉   If you found it enjoyable, let me know. If you didn’t I would like to know that too. Also, if there are any particular topics you want to see us cover, shout 'em out.

Talk soon.

Best,

Scott