Local band to play at Monterey Blues Festival
Gene Parodi started out playing music when he was a student at
Hollister High School with his friend Chuck Fike. Parodi played the
drums and Fike played the bass.
”
We played in various bands,
”
Parodi said.
”
But then we both got married and separated and went our merry
way. After we retired we connected and started up again.
”
Local band to play at Monterey Blues Festival
Gene Parodi started out playing music when he was a student at Hollister High School with his friend Chuck Fike. Parodi played the drums and Fike played the bass.
“We played in various bands,” Parodi said. “But then we both got married and separated and went our merry way. After we retired we connected and started up again.”
Parodi taught at the high school for 30 years, were he taught drafting and computer drafting before he retired.
Parodi, 70, who does vocals, Fike, a bass player, and several other musicians formed the blues band the Bornia Boys about two years ago. The other band members include Chris Berry of Hollister on guitar, David Parodi of San Jose on drums, Alan Eglington of Los Altos on harmonica, and Erik Hoyer of San Jose on keyboard.
And this weekend they all agree that one of their musical dreams is coming true as they will play at the 25th annual Monterey Blues Festival on June 27.
“It is a very big festival,” Parodi said. “It is a three-day festival. It has some big names in the main arena and then they have other stages. It is kind of an honor for us. We just started out as a little garage jam band.”
Parodi said he and his son David have gone to the festival every year since it started.
“We went very year and would sit and listen to the blues,” Parodi said. “Here we are – now we are going to be playing there. This whole thing is crazy.”
In fact, Parodi first got started playing again when his son, who is also in the band, invited him up to San Jose for a jam session with some other musicians from the Bay Area.
“It was almost just ordained to happen,” Parodi said. “We’ve developed a nice sound and basically what we do is kind of a tribute to the traditional classic blues – the Muddy Waters era back in the ’50s.”
Parodi recalled that even as a child he didn’t care much for rock and roll.
“I liked the music from the south, the Black blues artists,” he said. “I always had an affinity for it.”
Chris Berry who joined the group almost two years ago as the guitarist said he got into the blues when he was in college.
“I went through classic rock, listening to where all that stuff came from – the original writers,” he said. “I went back to the music in the ’20s and ’30s and it sounded familiar to me. It’s been hard finding people my age interested in that same kind of music so that’s why this has really worked out to be a perfect match.”
Berry, a 39-year-old middle school English teacher, connected with the band through an unlikely source after the bands original guitarist died. The band’s original guitarist was John Firman, who was married to Parodi’s cousin.
“He was very instrumental in naming our band,” Parodi said, of the Italian-inspired name. “We had gone to Italy together.”
When Firman died of pancreatic cancer, the other band mates were devastated.
“We used to call him ‘Slidin’ Slim,'” Parodi said. “He was a tall, skinny guy. We never got over his death.”
But one day when Parodi needed a washing machine repaired, he happened to mention the band’s need for a guitar player to the repairman. The repairman connected Parodi with Berry, who had been playing in another band at the time.
Berry started playing with the Bornia Boys and “it started gathering steam and eventually I ended up leaving the other band and playing with these guys full time.”
The band has performed at venues around the Bay Area and they have a monthly gig at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club.
To get into the Monterey Blues Festival, the band members had to submit a demo record of four songs, a biography about the band and pictures. They were all surprised when they were accepted to perform on the garden stage.
“I was obviously really excited and kind of shocked,” Berry said. “This really is the premier blues festival on the West Coast.”
The band will play Sunday, June 27, from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., and for Berry the biggest excitement is that their set is sandwiched between two-well known blues performers who have just come back from touring. He also mentioned that a mentor of his will be performing on one of the other stages the same day and he looks forward to catching up.
“It is exciting for us because it is an audience of people who really want to hear what we do,” Berry said.
Parodi said he is also looking forward to hearing the other bands performing that day.
“This thing is just like a dream,” Parodi said. “I’m 70 years old, retired from the high school and it’s just like a dream. I want to pinch myself sometimes.”
Upcoming events:
The Monterey Blues Festival, June 27, from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., at the Monterey Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairground Road, in Monterey, on the Garden stage. Tickets are $30 for a Sunday grounds pass, with additional charges for the arena performances.
The Hollister Downtown Association Street Festival and Car show, July 17, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., in downtown Hollister. Admission is free.
Ridgemark Golf and Country Club, 3800 Airline Hwy., July 31 and Aug. 21, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. $5 cover.
For more information on the Bornia Boys and for upcoming gigs, visit www.eyebone.com/bornia_boys.html.
