Publication Date: Friday, July 01, 2005
A 'Super' experience
A 'Super' experience
(July 01, 2005) Palo Alto rock band to perform at Chili Cook-Off
by Tim Seyfert
At first glance, Palo Alto-based rock group Johnny Super seems to fit the mold for the standard cover band to a tee: a line-up of seven 40-something musicians with day jobs? Check. A repertoire of familiar rock tunes spanning everything from Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" to Smash Mouth's "Walking on the Sun?" Sure.
Still, what might not be so evident upon initial inspection is that when the members of Johnny Super take the stage to rock it isn't always about money; it might actually be for the benefit of a good cause.
This Monday, Johnny Super will bring its upbeat vibe and arsenal of party anthems to this year's Fourth of July Summer Festival & Chili Cook-Off in Mitchell Park. The band will perform free between noon and 5 p.m. with three one-hour sets spanning the 1960s through the 1990s. This time around, the band's main drive to perform, according to vocalist and Palo Alto resident Beth Marer-Garcia, is to give festival-goers a much-needed mood boost from the sour economic times.
"Palo Alto is suffering economically," Marer-Garcia said. "This is our response to that. It's our way of giving back to the community."
Armed with a collective love for rock 'n' roll -- as well as more than 10 years of experience -- Johnny Super has been known to wear different hats over the course of the band's existence. There is, of course, its most obvious face -- that of a band for hire, which gigs ranging from weddings to house parties. Then there's the band's other, quieter identity -- the one that's usually revealed via word-of-mouth from those who've benefited from the band's generosity.
With its high-energy live shows and penchant for playing classic booty-shakers, the band has so far helped raise "upwards to $50,000" for organizations such as California AIDS Ride, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the annual Benefit for Family Matters in Santa Cruz, to name a few.
Still, despite their philanthropy, the members of Johnny Super said their motivations for rocking out aren't always about charity.
"We play for all sorts of reasons," Marer-Garcia said during one of the band's rehearsals at her Palo Alto home. "We play for friends. We play paying gigs and we play for fund-raisers if we feel strongly enough about the cause. Whatever we do we always make sure that we'll have fun and it's something we all want to do."
"We think that's the best way to do that, by showing people a good time," added lead vocalist and guitarist Ken Peterson.
The need to have a good time is precisely what sparked Marer-Garcia and her husband, bassist Julio Garcia (both Cubberley High School grads), to form the band back in 1995. At the time, Garcia, who had played in different bands growing up, was looking for a way to break the monotony of his work life as an engineer for Amdahl Corporation in Sunnyvale, as well as to spend more quality time with his wife. He decided that playing music was the best way to accomplish both. After rocking out as a duo for awhile, the couple began seeking out other musicians to jam with and started extending invitations to friends and co-workers.
"We wanted to make it like a (playground) sandbox, where anyone who was interested in music could come join us and play," Garcia said.
Soon enough, a band was formed. Though the lineup has changed over the years, the band members agreed that their present roster has been the most enjoyable. Along with Garcia, Marer-Garcia and Peterson, Johnny Super is comprised of keyboardist Todd Reid, lead guitarist Mark Kentgen, guitarist Bob Maddoux and drummer Ken Higgins.
As for the band's name, inspiration came from a landmark near the group's original practice space in Santa Cruz. According to Peterson, it was easier to tell people to just turn right at the Johnny's Super Market off Highway 236, rather than give actual street names when inviting new musicians to come play with them.
"We just started calling ourselves Johnny Super," Peterson said. "Nobody in the band is named Johnny and I don't think anybody's actually super either, but we weren't about to call the band Highway 236."
Ultimately, the band moved its practice space to Palo Alto when the Garcias decided to convert the bulk of their garage into a music studio. Since then, the band members, who reside all over the Bay Area -- from Santa Cruz to Pleasanton -- have continued to make the trek each week to the Friday night practice sessions.
Just having the chance to play music with friends and disengage from the work week were initially reasons enough for the members to get together and jam, according to Garcia. Then, in 1996, a friend of Marer-Garcia recommended the band as an entertainment act for another friend's wedding. With mostly no prior stage experience, the band reluctantly accepted. After successfully rocking the wedding reception, the band felt confident enough to begin gigging at other venues and started playing in front of audiences regularly.
These days, the band maintains an "active enough" performing schedule, taking on whatever gigs they can, according to Marer-Garcia, referring to each member's various day jobs and family obligations. Even still, the demand for Johnny Super is growing, whether they want it to or not.
"I've had several people recommend them to me for the festival," Palo Alto Recreation Services Manager Shia Geminder said. "They fit perfectly, as far as musically, with what we were looking for. The fact that they are also playing to give back to the community was appealing to us."
Who: Johnny Super will perform at the City of Palo Alto's 24th Annual Summer Festival and Chili Cook-Off.
Where: Mitchell Park, 600 East Meadow Drive in Palo Alto.
When: Monday, July 4 from noon to 5 p.m.
Cost: Admission is free.
Info: Call (650) 463-4921 or visit www.johnnysuper.com.
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