Joey O Band

By Mark Hunter

Players: Joey O., guitar; G Money, vocals; Vince Lutskus, drums; Matt Nowak, bass. Set: High Energy Blues. Mo Betta Blues. Rockin' Funkin', Texas Stompin' Blues O Delic. And More Blues. Booking: Joey O., 219-925-4010 For More: http://joeyoband.cjb.net

The windows of the Four Crowns bar in Auburn were rattling as I walked up the sidewalk toward the front door. A couple of people milled around outside soaking up the warm June night. Inside, the scene looked like something from a 1970s road movie. But not for long.

The bar was lined mostly with guys sipping drinks and watching the band. Biker types played pool in the back room while bartenders scurried to fill drink orders. One guy at the bar had stuffed twirled corners of napkins in his ears in an effort to block out the music.

"You're too loud," he yelled across the room.

No one else complained, though, and before long a steady stream of night people began pouring through the front door. Though the guy with the napkins in his ears was quite a sight, it was the band they were coming to see.

The Joey O. Band.

The Four Crowns is a good place to see the Joey O. Band. It has the right atmosphere, the right feel. I was saying this to Four Crowns co-owner Stuart Wilson when suddenly he excused himself, grabbed his wife and partner, Michele, and headed to the dance floor. They weren't alone.

The Joey O. Band has a way of igniting spontaneity in people. With band leader Joey Ortega on guitar, Vince "The Flying V" Lutskus on drums, lefty Will Rogers on bass and G Money on vocals, the current incarnation of the Joey O. Band is a force to be reckoned with. The guy with the napkins was right, the music was loud. But I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Ortega grew up in Michigan and began playing drums at an early age, then taught himself keyboards in 1980 after graduating from high school. He didn't start playing guitar until 1988. He's a fast learner. Ortega can make a guitar do what he wants it to do and over a wide range of styles.

Ortega burst onto the Fort Wayne area music scene exactly two years ago. But it seems like he's been around longer, probably because his band has played someplace in the area almost every weekend since then. Now, after a few tuneups and tweaks, the Joey O. Band is running smoothly on all four cylinders.

"The band had its first gig in the area before I moved here," Ortega said. "Things have gotten continually better."

Ortega got his first band, Valentine, together after high school. It was the first collaboration between Ortega and Lutskus, who lived near each other in Michigan.

"I've known Vince most of my life," Ortega said. "I met him when I was 12 or 13. He was out of school then. Once I got old enough to hang out, Vince and I became real good friends."

Throughout the 80s and early 90s, Ortega bounced around between L.A., Michigan and anywhere else he was asked to play. As good at dealing with the people in the music business as he is at playing, Ortega made good connections, impressed the right people and frequently found himself opening for bands such as Van Halen, Billy Idol, James Brown, Cheap Trick, Humble Pie and many others. He also did various projects with members from bands like King Crimson, Santana and David Bowie. He even played keyboards in a band called Secret Service with Jimmy McNichol, opening for James Brown at the Universal Amphitheater.

During all of that, he kept in touch with Lutskus, who by then had moved to Montreal with his wife. In 1988, Lutskus started writing lyrics and sending them off to Ortega.

"Joey's real good about keeping in touch," Lutskus said. "I started writing lyrics in '88 when I was living in Canada. I'd send them off to Joey and he'd send back complete demos. He used most of the stuff I wrote."

When Lutskus marriage ended, Ortega convinced him to move back to Michigan to continue their collaboration. About four years ago, they began playing together again in the first Joey O. Band lineup. When Ortega moved to Auburn, Lutskus wasn't far behind.

"I had not even planned on playing drums with him," Lutskus said. "I hadn't played drums in years. The main reason for getting together with him was writing."

But Lutskus started playing again and he and Ortega kept on writing songs. Now with some 50 songs the Joey O. Band is looking to get into the studio to record. It's a position Ortega has been waiting for.

"I think this is the best lineup the Joey O. Band has had in its three-and-a-half year existence," Ortega said. "I've had a number of real good players in this band, but it takes more than good players. It take four responsible guys who know their jobs."

These guys know their jobs. They have to, especially with G Money on vocals. G Money joined the band at the beginning of 1999, coming on the heals of a singer Ortega said was good, but who refused to do original material. G Money welcomes it.

"G Money comes from a free-form background," Ortega said. "Part of being a great player is listening to what the other guys are playing. When G Money goes off, and that can be at any given moment, we have to be ready. He and I are both real spontaneous."

Ortega said G Money has given the band a broader ranger of songs to play. From James Brown's "I Feel Good" to Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" to Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago," Joey O., G Money, Lutskus and Rogers roll along like they can read each others minds. Though labeled a blues band, the Joey O. Band is much more.

"With combination of players and influences we have a good cross-over of sounds," Lutskus said. Blues, rock, soul and funk. We're not strictly a blues band. The first two songs we wrote sounded like the Beatles. Probably the Beatles are Joeys all-time favorite band. Certainly the blues has a religious following. But it's a small congregation. I think we appeal to different types of people. We're lucky to be able to play the diversity we play. That's what allows us to play as often as we do."

By the end of the night, the Four Crowns had been well rocked. Ortega's blazing solos blended nicely with G Money's easy vocals and rolling intercourse with the audience while Lutskus and Rogers kept the back beat surging ever forward. The napkin man had even given up his battle with the volume.

For Ortega, the move to Auburn to live with his girlfriend has made him happy not only in his personal life, but his professional life as well. He's teaching guitar during the week and playing guitar on the weekends. He's assembled a band that can go where it chooses. And he's found a receptive and growing audience. July 10, the Joey O. Band will open for Duke Tumatoe and Henry Lee Summer at the Three Rivers Festival at Headwaters Park in Fort Wayne, a show not to be missed.

"I have roots, and I have a home," Ortega said. "I've never had any of that before. We're working on tons of original material and working on recording. This is the happiest I've been in my life."

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