The itch for any musician to perform again after years away from their passion never dies.
It can be put on hold for a full-time job or other life necessities. But when they hear the music, their fingers start to twitch.
Five years ago, Steve Hollingshead was listening to the band Chicago on television and their strong horn section combined with their jazzy, rhythm and blues and pop sound got his mind racing.
“I thought I would love to play that type of music again,” said Hollingshead, who played drums in several horn bands when he was overseas in the Army and with several jazz bands in college.
But he had not picked up his drumsticks in 44 years, and he had no local musician contacts to help form a band.
“I started making contact with a few other people in the music business that I found on the internet, and one person referred me to a couple other people,” Hollingshead said.
He went through several people until eventually finding the right mix of musicians he meshed with.
“All these people were very good at what they did, professional level, and we all read music,” Hollingshead said. “I contacted Charlie Philips, who plays sax, and he also became our music director. Then one person knew another person and it was a snowball effect until I finally got the people together that I have now.”
That’s how Pieces of Eight, so named for its original eight players, came to be. They will bring their full horn section and mix of covers and original arrangements to the New Tampa Performing Arts Center June 21 from 3-5 p.m.
“We love it there,” Hollingshead said. “This is our third time playing there. It’s a great venue.”
The band will be joined by former Chicago guitar player Keith Howland, who lives in Holiday in Pasco County. Howland was the lead guitar player with Chicago for 27 years.
“He played with us in Sun City and the crowd went nuts when he came out,” Hollingshead said.
A Jazzy background
Originally from Pennsylvania, the 73-year-old Hollingshead moved to New Tampa in 2009.
A filmmaker by profession, music has always resonated throughout his life.
“I have a jazz background,” he said. “I like horn bands, which are a rarity anymore. And I really enjoy playing with these guys. They are all very dedicated.”
A Latin percussionist has been added bringing the band to 10 musicians and a lead singer.
Band members mainly hail from Tampa Bay, with Philips commuting from The Villages in north central Florida. They rehearse at Masterpiece Studios in Carrollwood and perform locally throughout Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties. They have also played gigs in Citrus County, Fort Myers and Dunnellon.
Hollingshead said the band’s age demographic is 50-and-up, but they are now getting requests to perform at dances as well as concerts.
“Because of the quality of the talent in the band, in addition to Chicago we’ve been playing some Huey Lewis, Peter Gabriel, Blues Brothers, Tower of Power and other things in our set list to keep the energy going,” he said.
“Music is about emotions. When you have emotions, it stimulates the interest. If you don’t feel the music, you don’t enjoy the music, then you’re just listening to it and not experiencing it.”
Strong local following
New Tampa Performing Arts Center General Manager Keith Arsenault said Pieces of Eight is always a popular attraction.
“They have a great local following that is dedicated to them, and it always sells quite well,” Arsenault said “They usually play here around this time of year. As soon as their tickets go on sale, we have a real rush. It becomes a bit of a party. They have a really good rapport with their audience.”
Arsenault said the center, which seats approximately 343 people, can host a variety of concerts.
“We have two types of concert series,” he said. “We have our regular in-concert, then we have what we call unplugged, which is done in a much more intimate setting because we have a facility that is sort of a chameleon, where we can adjust where the seating is and how we set up everything.
“This [Pieces of Eight] is a full concert, except down in front of the stage we have 10 tables that hold eight people each. The rest of it is regular theatre seating.”
Arsenault said the main stage is not used for the unplugged series.
“We build a smaller stage down in front where the orchestra pit would be and we dress it with oriental rugs, antiques and potted plants,” Arsenault said. “I joke that it looks like a Bob Dylan concert in the ‘70s.
“Some of the unplugged concerts we stretch it a bit to use the stage because we have a beautiful almost brand new Steinway Concert Grand Piano that we can’t move from the stage down to the lower level because it weighs 1,000 pounds.”
Arsenault said in the three-and-a-half years the busy theatre has been open they have hosted shows in Farci, Indie, Japanese, Ukrainian and Spanish.
If you go
What: Pieces of Eight Chicago cover band concert
When: June 21, 3-5 p.m.
Where: New Tampa Performing Arts Center, 8550 Hunters Village Road
Tickets: Available at all levels, with $10 and $17.50 seats also available
Phone: 813-829-2760
Website: NewTampaArtsCenter.org
Email: InfoNTPAC@HCFL.gov.
Concessions: Available in the theatre so you don’t have to return to the lobby