Music can travel much farther than the six-foot safe social distancing these days, and a couple of Sun City musicians let their neighbors in on the fun.
Bill Burkett and Eric Laubach, from the …
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Music can travel much farther than the six-foot safe social distancing these days, and a couple of Sun City musicians let their neighbors in on the fun.
Bill Burkett and Eric Laubach, from the trio One Eyed Ford, on March 29 performed an impromptu concert to about 25 friends and neighbors from Mr. Laubach’s Sun City driveway, located around the area of Cameo Drive and Boswell Boulevard. The duo, which is part of the One Eyed Ford trio that usually also features Jenn Steege, played about 75 minutes’ worth of live music at a safe distance from neighbors who watched and listened from equally safe distances across the street, on their front lawns and on their driveways.
“It was entertainment brought to them during a time when there is no live entertainment in Sun City,” Mr. Laubach stated through email. “The friends who attended also were pleased.”
Mr. Burkett and Mr. Laubach have been playing together since 1998 when they first met. One Eyed Ford has been around for three years as a trio after Ms. Steege joined up after the band’s original Native American flute player’s passing two years ago.
“He was a Pima Indian and gave us our name which came from a common greeting on the reservation, ‘Say, how is your One Eyed Ford?,’ meaning a pickup truck with only one headlight working,” Mr. Laubach explained.
The two played some country, oldies rock and roll, old standards and mixed in a few originals at their driveway show, including “Coyote Moon,” which Mr. Laubach wrote for Arizona and which they performed at the 2012 Centennial Celebration at the Arizona State Capitol.
Although they received a warm reception from their assembled onlookers, there was also one critic.
“A woman who didn’t attend made critical remarks about us having it and threatened to call the police,” Mr. Laubach noted. “(The) audience was never near the performers and their placement on lawn chairs across the street was at their discretion. We were adequately amplified but not as loud as a band at the Sun Bowl. No one complained about the noise.”
Steve Stockmar has been with the Independent Newsmedia team since 2017. An NAU alum and Peoria resident, Steve’s community journalism pursuits focus mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference. In his spare time Steve plays in a vintage baseball league using uniforms and rules from the 1860s, and also acts (badly) in community theater. In addition, he has an unhealthy obsession with baseball and the Chicago Cubs.
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