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Newspaper Reviews:
Monroe Journal Review; August, 2007
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The Silver Creek Band
By: By Mike McHone
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Chances are, if you’re one to get out
and experience the local music scene from time to time, or if you’ve been to car shows, apple orchards or church festivals,
or a VFW hall, you’ve probably caught a performance of the Silver Creek Band.
According to the band’s website (thesilvercreekband.com), “The Silver Creek Band has been entertaining audiences
since 1985. From its humble beginnings in a garage to its first show at Another Place Lounge in Point Place, the band has
become well known in South East Michigan and North West Ohio. Performing over 70 shows a year . . . the band is in constant
demand.”
The Silver Creek Band is comprised of five members, Rick Cochran, Ron
Bailey, Jess Hurt, Terry Owen, and Lee Repas, and their taste and performance of music can be categorized as wide-ranging.
“We have southern-flavored backgrounds, and traditional country music artists
seem to be our favorites, but some of that 50s and 60s rock and roll fits us too,” Cochran said.
It’s not only good music that’s prevalent in Silver Creek, good musicianship, experience, and professionalism
play key factors in each of the members.
Hurt (a resident of Temperance), for example,
has been playing steel guitar since 1950, and, according to Cochran, “just about everyone in lower Michigan and Toledo
music circles knows him.” Hurt has not only showcased his command of the steel guitar (not an easy instrument to master,
it must be said) in Silver Creek, but also by backing some of the foremost legends in country music history such as Patsy
Cline, Bill Monroe, Mel Tillis, and Buck Owens.
Bailey, from Toledo, plays lead guitar
in the band, and has been playing since he was a teenager, gigging in and around the area for many years.
Repas, also from Toledo, handles the keyboard for the band and has the ultimate respect from his band members. “He is
a very talented musician,” Cochran said.
Owen, another Toledo resident, is the
drummer and also contributes vocals. Owen has spent many years on the music scene, performing in Nashville with some of the
top writers, producers, and artists.
Cochran, bassist and lead vocalist, is from Temperance
and was the co-founder of the group along with Bailey.
“We have been playing professionally for 21 years,” Cochran said. “We got out of the bars and clubs
a long time ago. We now play Moose and Eagles lodges, weddings, festivals, private parties or just about anywhere people would
like us.”
The demand for the group has never waned. In fact, as the radio-waves
become oversaturated with bubblegum pop and rehashed, third-rate grunge rock, people find it refreshing to know there are
still a few bands around that keep musicianship and the fun of music alive and well.
“We have recorded two albums, been featured in the Toledo Blade, been interviewed on local radio stations several times,”
he said. “Our schedule is usually filled with over 70 dates per year, but we try to fit everyone in if they would be
interested in us.”
In a March 2003 interview with the aforementioned Toledo Blade,
keyboardist Repas explained the band’s appeal in a simple, straightforward way. “If you want to hear the new stuff,
you just turn on your radio,” he said. “You can’t hear our style anymore.”
But aside from keeping the spirit of down-home country going, there’s another perk from playing shows many times throughout
the year.
“It’s always fun meeting nice, new people,” Cochran said.
“We try hard to keep traditional country music and 50s and 60s music out there for everyone who enjoys it. Our music
stems from the Grand Old Opry to the car shows of today.”
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Toledo Blade Review
Published on March 29, 2003 The Toledo Blade Newspaper, (Toledo, OH)
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TRADITION IS FLOWING IN SILVER CREEK
The note was nice enough. Nothing special, just an invitation from Jess Hurt to come see the Silver Creek Band. Something
about playing around Toledo for a while. Something else about turning 78 years old in May.
That fact immediately made me think that the group's name probably came about because of the silver in members' hair.
"Nah,
we just had to have a hillbilly name," says bass player Rick Cochran a couple of weeks later in a crowded Fraternal Order
of Eagles hall on Jackman Road.
All their gigs are crowded, and they always have a gig. They played more than 70 dates last year. They're playing every
weekend this year for the foreseeable future.
"We started like anyone else. Someone offered us $20 a night, so we took it. Then they offered us a little more, then a
little more," Jess says. "I know most of the young people don't care for our music. Our crowd is usually 50 and up."
He's being modest. They play music from the '50s and '60s, a little Sinatra, a little Chuck Berry, but their bread and
butter is traditional country, and people of all ages seem to care for it.
"If you want to hear the new stuff, you just turn on your radio," keyboard player Lee Repass says in trying to explain
their popularity. "You can't hear our style anymore."
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They're another example of the musical talent buried in Toledo. Hurt has been playing in town since 1948, starting at the
Bubble Bar on 17th and Adams streets. He's a pedal steel guitar player, and he makes it ring out with such a pure sound. He
doesn't want to talk about himself, but he has played with bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, Mel Tillis, and Jimmie Dickens. Drummer
Terry Owens kicked around the clubs in Nashville for seven years. Lee has played for 35 years, and Cochran and lead guitarist
and vocalist Ron Bailey started the Silver Creek Band 17 years ago but have been playing in bands much longer than that. Ron
played his high school prom "because I couldn't find a date."
Hurt will be a special guest on the Sunday Afternoon Ramble with J.J. O'Shea and Jim Van Deilen at 7 p.m. tomorrow on WCWA-AM
(1230). Cuts from the band's new CD "Out on a Limb," will be played.
Listening to the band at that hall on a Friday night not too long ago, I felt kind of bad thinking the times might have
passed them by when Jess extended his invitation. New isn't always better, I guess. Sometimes silver is just fine.
Brian Dugger's column on country music runs the last Saturday of each month. He can be reached at mailto:bdugger@theblade.com.
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