Thursday, January 2, 2003

Music rocks studio

Musicians join in New Year's jam at Ernie's

FRACKVILLE - Some things are made sweeter the longer you wait for them to happen.

So when Shenandoah's Samuel "Sammy" Koury joined other musicians New Year's Eve - notably members of the Tucker Young band - and sat in on drums for the group's last song, the moments were the sweetest.

Koury, owner of Koury's Music Store on East Centre Street in Shenandoah, has given music lessons for musicians throughout the area on instruments ranging from the electric guitar to the trumpet, drums and fiddle.

"Sam has probably taught every musician in this room," said Cindy Turner, Frackville, who hosted the gathering with her husband, William. They own and operate Ernie's Photography at Seventh and Frack streets.

"But they've never really gotten the chance to actually play together," she said of Koury and his former students.

Koury sat in with the members of the Tucker Young group that was popular in the area during the 1970s and '80s. The band released an album titled "Sure Know How to Live" in 1981.

During the New Year's Eve jam party, two of the group's original members, Thomas "Karp" Karpovich, Morea area, and Dennis Schott, Frackville, were joined by John "Pewe" Damiter, Frackville, Edward "Edju" Mahalik, Shenandoah, and Ronald McCloskey, Frackville.

They invited Koury to join them throughout the night, but he'd resisted until the end.

But right before he was about to leave, they convinced him to sit in on the drums for a song and he finally obliged. It ended with enthusiastic applause and hugs all around among the musicians.

Throughout the night, Karpovich led the group through a wide range of selections, including songs by artists like Jimmy Buffet and Willie Nelson.

"This is not a reunion (for Tucker Young), it's a bunch of great musicians jamming," Bill Turner said. "Most of these guys played in groups and never stopped playing, and love the chance to get together and see friends they know, play the songs they all loved to play.

"We (Turner and his wife) came here five years ago, met some of the musicians and invited them to a New Year's Eve party," he continued. "And then it was like, Hey, why don't you bring your instruments?'"

Just up Seventh Street, Cindy Turner's brother, James F. Heime, played in a group called Smokehouse at the Friendship Fire Company's New Year's celebration. The group includes Heime and area musicians Harold Bowe, John "Chuch" Webb and Forrest Oudderkirk.

"Smokehouse was actually born in an Ernie's jam session," she said. "Music is a big part of all our lives."

The music started casually, as Karpovich played a few songs and the other musicians gradually tuned up and plugged in to join him. Meanwhile, Cindy Turner adjusted the professional lighting that's set up for the photography studio, where the jam session took place, and her husband and some guests carried pieces of a drum set downstairs and set it up.

In the kitchen area, Cindy's mother, Helen Heime, Frackville, and other party-goers enjoyed spicy chili and other covered-dish items and snacks that covered the tables.

Once the band was gathered in full force, though, food took second place.

"Everywhere you go today, there's a DJ or some kind of synthetic computerized stuff to listen to," Bill Turner said. "For me there's still something very special about getting to watch good musicians play and sing."